While there is still a ways to go, much progress was made this week!

For starters, I fully modeled bases for all the interior pieces for the box. There will likely be some size alterations, and I need to put in the grooves for the El Wire now that I have tested it on the prototype, which was another thing I was able to model and print. Yesterday I was able to obtain the print, and run the wire through it. The notable ups were my idea to have an outcrop the wire “U”s under, worked much smoother than I anticipated it to, and out of the two groove variants I tested, the one where I carved a full sphere hole instead of just a quarter groove for the wire worked much better for using no adhesives along with it.
Unfortunately it wasn’t without downsides. I realized somewhere I mixed up the numbers for the size of the wire, and doubled up some of the hole sizes, so the true needed size of holes will need to be slightly adjusted, but now that I know the concept works, I’m not too worried about making a quick tune. The biggest issue, was how much the wires can bend. At the scale I am working at, it is hard for the wires to make a bend perfectly in line with the corner of the squares of the prints. so detail work will be far from smooth. I have some ideas for fixing this, though I may just make sure to account for some bend in the designs and roll with it.

I have obtained all the materials I should need, the El Wire should be here by tomorrow and some other adhesive materials will be here this weekend. Outside of those, it is merely assembly and me finding time to do it.

I also tinted another piece of glass, so I will be able to set up the background piece, throw the LEDS in, and put together a simple design to truly test the background theory. If all goes well, I’ll have my last question answered! If not, well I’ll simply put back the mirror and move forward. Unfortunately if the double tinted glass doesn’t hold a reflection and it isn’t something I can quickly solve with some simple different placements. I’ll likely have to deal with it due to time constraints, but I’ll figure out my paths over that bridge soon enough.