Pixel Tree Epiphany

[Ron Boyd]

   Last year, I set out to do a Pixel tree consisting of 16 legs at 50 pixels per leg. My plan was to do a Color Motion Tree that was designed by Walter Monkhouse. Since I was running short of time last year and the first attempt was a failure, I wrapped the pixels on ½”gray conduit, Drilled a hole in the top, slid an eyebolt through, and mounted them on the topper. Well the eyebolt did not work so well. There were a couple of the legs turned to the side just enough to really mess with my head. My viewers never noticed it, but I did, every time I looked at it.

 

 Move forward to this year. I still wanted to do the banding method that a lot of folks are doing, but how to get through the long, tedious task of taping 800 pixels on 16 strands of banding material. Things got a little easier since Darryl Brown at www.christmaslightshow.com came out with a series of connectors and toppers and anchors, all aimed toward the Color Motion style tree using the banding material, but still, no way to attach them. Darryl also came up with a marking tool for either 3” spacing or 4” spacing. $4.95 for something that will give consistent spacing. Thanks Darryl. It works perfect. I might mention, he worked with Walter Monkhouse and they came up with the ideas.

 

 Now, last year, Matt Ross (rainyoregonchristmas) developed a clip for the bullet style nodes. It did not pan out, so now we’re back to taping the pixels. Anyone who has tried this knows, it’s a major time consuming effort and will leave you with cramped hands and fingers. It’s also a major PITA to hold the pixel, put the tape on and keep it straight. And, of course, if your measurements are not right, adjustments are necessary. I decided to use the square WS2811 pixels since they would lay flatter to the banding.

 

   So now, tonight’s epiphany. I had all 16 bands cut yesterday and marked 4 of them. As I was driving home from work, it hit me like a ton of lights. Lay the banding material face up, then, tape each end to a solid surface. In my case it was the garage floor. Drop a small amount of hot glue on about 3 or four of the marks, and press the pixels in place. It took about 10 minutes tops to glue 50 pixels. Once that’s done, grab your tape and start taping. Took about 15 minutes to apply the tape. I will mention here that I only taped one side of the pixel, I chose the bottom. I didn’t have to worry about the pixels moving while taping. Total time for 1 strand, including cutting, marking, gluing and taping, was about 30-40 minutes, compared to last year’s approximately 2 hours per strand.

   

With this method I can lay out 4 legs side by side, mark them all, hot glue all 4 at the same time while attaching the pixels. By the time I’m finished, I’ll have 200 pixels done in less than an hour and probably another 30-45 minutes taping. This is of course an estimate, but 8-12 hours for 16 legs as opposed to about 15-20 hours or so from start to finish is a major reduction in time. When I do some this weekend, I’ll time it and see how long it actually takes. I might even video a few of them just to show how quick it is.

 

   Just thought I'd share for anyone planning a Pixel Tree this year.

[kzaas]

Or you can buy the Technicolor pixels that Ray Wu sells (50nodes DC5V 5050 SMD WS2811 LED technicolor pixel;waterproof, RGB full color;in BLACK color case and wire) and tyrap them to the straping. It works great, I suspend the straping then tyrap away, takes about a half hour per string if everything is pre marked. The thing I don't like about the taping method is that the glue on the tape gets old rather quickly and the tape starts falling off and the so will the pixels. I am using black straping, black color cases on the pixels and black tyraps. It is turning out really nice.

[plasmadrive]

Or you could use strips and just glue them to the banding..  Should take all of about 5-10 minutes.  Someone on one of the threads found some primer and adhesive that works on silicon quiet well. 

 

Just a thought!

[rainyoregonchristmas]

 

 Now, last year, Matt Ross (rainyoregonchristmas) developed a clip for the bullet style nodes. It did not pan out, so now we’re back to taping the pixels. Anyone who has tried this knows, it’s a major time consuming effort and will leave you with cramped hands and fingers. It’s also a major PITA to hold the pixel, put the tape on and keep it straight. And, of course, if your measurements are not right, adjustments are necessary. I decided to use the square WS2811 pixels since they would lay flatter to the banding.

 

 

 

Yup, I tried really hard to get it to go.  I've had three companies bid a mold for it, but all came back within $500 of one another.  If someone really wants to partner with me I'd still love to make the clips.  I've tried a crowd funding event/contest.  I tried kickstarter.  I tried to partner with one of our vendors.  I even asked family.  Sorry I couldn't make it go, but not from lack of trying...  Was even contemplating "Shark Tank," but saw how they treated another Christmas light guy...

 

Oh and this method is about 5 seconds a pixel...  just sayin' 

 

-Rainyoregonchristmas

[Ron Boyd]

Or you can buy the Technicolor pixels that Ray Wu sells (50nodes DC5V 5050 SMD WS2811 LED technicolor pixel;waterproof, RGB full color;in BLACK color case and wire) and tyrap them to the straping. It works great, I suspend the straping then tyrap away, takes about a half hour per string if everything is pre marked. The thing I don't like about the taping method is that the glue on the tape gets old rather quickly and the tape starts falling off and the so will the pixels. I am using black straping, black color cases on the pixels and black tyraps. It is turning out really nice.

After last years' fiasco with Technicolor pixels, (and yes I know the problem has been fixed) I'm still afraid to try it, not to mention the extra cost of having the mounting  apparatus on the same pixels I'm using. Only difference is, I'm using 5v pixels.

 

Or you could use strips and just glue them to the banding..  Should take all of about 5-10 minutes.  Someone on one of the threads found some primer and adhesive that works on silicon quiet well. 

 

Just a thought!

This is another option of course, I, just like the individual nodes. For someone who would rather use strips, yes, this is a lot less time, even than mine.

 

Yup, I tried really hard to get it to go.  I've had three companies bid a mold for it, but all came back within $500 of one another.  If someone really wants to partner with me I'd still love to make the clips.  I've tried a crowd funding event/contest.  I tried kickstarter.  I tried to partner with one of our vendors.  I even asked family.  Sorry I couldn't make it go, but not from lack of trying...  Was even contemplating "Shark Tank," but saw how they treated another Christmas light guy...

 

Oh and this method is about 5 seconds a pixel...  just sayin' 

 

-Rainyoregonchristmas

Yes Matt, I'm really surprised at the Kickstarter project. After reading the posts that you received, I was sure it was going to go. I was really surprised when it ended and saw the lack of support. I was really looking forward to using them. The clips would not have worked for my style of pixels, but would have worked with my 2nd tree I'm doing this year, especially when you included the slot for Para-cord or rope.

Edited June 18, 2014 by Ron Boyd