Anyone DIY their own firestick?

[tlogan]

I've seen a lot about DIY arches, megatrees and matrices, but I'm not finding anything about DIY firesticks. Maybe everything is so  buried in this forum that I can't find it. And all I'm finding for sale are total kits (including lights and controller). I'm thinking something much simpler. I have one Unit ID on a Pixie II that I was thinking of using as a firestick.  Actually one Unit ID on two Pixie IIs so I can make two firesticks.

Anyone make their own? Any advice?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[PhilMassey]

I use two Boscoyo strips at a one inch spacing, strapped to two light posts on my porch. 

[tlogan]

Thanks, @PhilMassey! I saw that strip on the Boscoyo site. How tall is yours and which lights do you use (and how many)? Do you have a topper on it? Mine would need to be free standing so I would need to mount the strip to something. I've been thinking about dropping it inside a PVC pipe, maybe a 4" and only maybe 5' or 6' tall. I could stake it like it was a megatree pole with three guy wires.

[PhilMassey]

No topper.

50 square pixels, one inch spacing.

[TheDucks]

@tlogan I use Lasko plastic Plumbers Tape. The holes are ~ 3/4" apart. I use a 12MM step reamer for where I want the bullets.

Cost is ~15 for 100'  Amazon has Grey, But my local HW had it in White

[TheDucks]

1 minute ago, TheDucks said:

@tlogan I use Lasko plastic Plumbers Tape. The holes are ~ 3/4" apart. I use a 12MM step reamer for where I want the bullets.

Cost is ~15 for 100'  Amazon has Grey, But my local HW had it in White

Here is a picture https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zhA2WHA2l75gs_YzWjuDUqjxITdjKPbX/view?usp=sharing

It also shows how I join 2 pieces

[tlogan]

Thanks @PhilMassey and @TheDucks! I think  I have some of that gray Plumbers tape lying around from when I finished my basement! I'll check for white locally. So thinking I just mount the bullets installed on the  tape to the outside of a PVC pipe, stake it and good to go?

[TheDucks]

59 minutes ago, tlogan said:

Thanks @PhilMassey and @TheDucks! I think  I have some of that gray Plumbers tape lying around from when I finished my basement! I'll check for white locally. So thinking I just mount the bullets installed on the  tape to the outside of a PVC pipe, stake it and good to go?

More 'Zap' if the bullets point at the audience.

I believe K6ccc drilled the PVC  (front hole smaller)  Metric Step Reamer SET are fairly cheap at Amazon (I use other sizes for Glands, connection Conversion fan-out/conversion holes.)

[k6ccc]

For my arches, the pixels are drilled into PEX pipe such that the light illuminates the inside of the pipe.

http://www.newburghlights.org/CCP_Arches.html

For the original version of the pixel tree, the pixels were drilled into PVC pipe that had been split in half.

http://www.newburghlights.org/pixel_tree.html
Later versions of the tree do not have the diffuser tubing over each strip.

 

[Dennis Laff]

Tlogan

look on Boysco website they sell CHROMAPOLE  brackets   $15.00  they sell them to make firepoles with 3/4 emt pipe

[tlogan]

13 hours ago, Dennis Laff said:

Tlogan

look on Boysco website they sell CHROMAPOLE  brackets   $15.00  they sell them to make firepoles with 3/4 emt pipe

THANKS! I missed that on their site. I bought a couple of things there and if they don't work out the way I'm thinking, this may be an easy and quick solution. 

[Dennis Laff]

i have them in my show for about five years if you buy there strips for pixels its really easy and looks good .

[dgrant]

I guess I did mine via the cheap DIY. I turned my two sticks into two different props in one each. Each is just a gray pvc pipe over a garden stake. Each has first wrapped 7 segments of blue standard LED's with a white star on top. Then over each, I wrapped one 5M length of square nodes around and up the stick. This allows me two different effects as I wish, on each prop. Obviously the blue leds are just one color but the pixels are whatever I wish depending on the sequence.

[Mr. P]

I have two eight foot sticks which started in 2013 with eight, one foot segments wrapped with led string lights, red/white on one and green/white on the other. Four years ago I converted them to Pixels with two 5m strips on each stick. Each strip goes up and down to make four 8' strips on each stick and both sticks are controlled by a four port controller.