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Finished building my doors! (Mines of Moria)

post #1 of 24
4/18/08 at 10:23pm
Thread Starter 
I had a closet in my theater with double doors that were ripe for replacing. After learning about edge-lighting etched plexiglass with LED's, and re-watching Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time, I had the perfect subject: the doors to the Mines of Moria.

Here are the final results:

and with the lights on:


Rather than going into all the details here (they light up automatically when it gets dark, and open automatically when you say the right word in elven), I put up a page for those that would like more info and to see a video of them in action. Just follow this link...
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post #2 of 24
4/19/08 at 5:54am
That is really cool, Great job.
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post #3 of 24
4/19/08 at 6:14am
This is the coolest bit of DIY home automation ever implemented in history.
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post #4 of 24
4/19/08 at 6:28am
Holy crap, that rocks!
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post #5 of 24
4/19/08 at 7:28am
That's awesome.

Guy
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post #6 of 24
4/19/08 at 7:45am
That is about the coolest thing ever.
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post #7 of 24
4/19/08 at 7:53am
Just WOW
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post #8 of 24
4/19/08 at 8:06am
wow, that is really cool. i LOVE the creative things like this. i don't think it takes any special skill to spend a ot of money but a project like this one is what this forum is all about. now i am wishing i could figure out a place to do this in my build.

greg
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post #9 of 24
4/19/08 at 6:24pm
dbroome - Excellent work. No doubt.

Your post couldn't have come at a better time. This is EXACTLY what I have been looking for. I have been investigating ways to do this for my HT build. Lighttape was way too expensive from my budget to acheive this. My research had drawn blanks on a nice simple solution. Yours fits the bill.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If you don't mind I will lean heavily on your ideas and try them on for size.
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post #10 of 24
4/19/08 at 6:33pm
Very cool indeed. I'm with indygreg on this one. Anyone can just "throw money" at a project but to come up with something like this is truly unique. Great work!

Regards,

RTROSE
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post #11 of 24
4/19/08 at 6:43pm
Wow, I think is about all I can say, WOW... fantasic work, and great attention to detail!

Very nice indeed.... You should be very proud.
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post #12 of 24
4/19/08 at 10:32pm
Damn! Very very cool!


NJ
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post #13 of 24
4/20/08 at 6:23am
I have to agree with everyone's exclamations. This could be done on glass if you had access to a commercial CNC machine?
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post #14 of 24
4/20/08 at 6:59am
From David's door construction site:
"Then all I had to do was ...write a custom voice recognition app that would utilize the X10 signal to cause the door to open and VOILA!"

Yea... easy like that! I love it... hilarious.

Good job man.
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post #15 of 24
4/20/08 at 7:02am
Excellent
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post #16 of 24
4/20/08 at 7:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Choots View Post

From David's door construction site:
"Then all I had to do was ...write a custom voice recognition app that would utilize the X10 signal to cause the door to open and VOILA!"

Yea... easy like that! I love it... hilarious.

Good job man.

That's funny.
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post #17 of 24
4/20/08 at 7:32am
LOL, you wrote a custom voice recognition app?

That's badass.
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post #18 of 24
4/20/08 at 7:42am
THat is really fantastic. Something of this nature could also be done in invisible ink with black lights. I used to do the coolest trick with the invisible ink on my hands and face and black clothes and black lights INside the house so the kids could see this disembodied head and hands floating in the door way then when I leaned out into the normal light I looked perfectly normal.

Anyway your doors are incredible! great job.
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post #19 of 24
4/20/08 at 1:57pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys!

Quote:
Originally Posted by DJMarceau View Post

...Your post couldn't have come at a better time. This is EXACTLY what I have been looking for. I have been investigating ways to do this for my HT build. Lighttape was way too expensive from my budget to acheive this. My research had drawn blanks on a nice simple solution. Yours fits the bill.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If you don't mind I will lean heavily on your ideas and try them on for size.

Please do! Feel free to ask questions here, or PM me. I learned quite a lot from doing it and I bet I could save you some real headache. There were also several helpful posts on the modding forum I referenced on the construction page you might want to read through.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ted White View Post

I have to agree with everyone's exclamations. This could be done on glass if you had access to a commercial CNC machine?

That I'm not sure about. I read that the inconsistencies keep the light from propagating evenly through regular glass the way it does through plexi. I didn't try it for myself though. It would be easier if it would work; the plexi sure does scratch easily, and even the tiny scratches you don't see light up when the LED's come on...
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post #20 of 24
4/20/08 at 3:33pm
Perhaps you can reduce some of the manual labor by finding a plaque and trophy shop that has a large flatbed laser. These lasers can engrave large pieces of acrylic and other plastics. You'd still have to create your drawing but basically these lasers are just large printers that erode the surface when engraving.
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post #21 of 24
4/20/08 at 3:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghause View Post

This is the coolest bit of DIY home automation ever implemented in history.

+ 1,000,000
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post #22 of 24
4/21/08 at 5:06am
That is really cool. The only things that would make it better would be to put the light on a dimmer and bring it up slowly, and possibly have some sort of audio track of a rumbling stone door running through the LFE channel. Would really make you feel like you are there.

John
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post #23 of 24
4/21/08 at 7:01am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BShaw@BedHandles View Post

Perhaps you can reduce some of the manual labor by finding a plaque and trophy shop that has a large flatbed laser. These lasers can engrave large pieces of acrylic and other plastics. You'd still have to create your drawing but basically these lasers are just large printers that erode the surface when engraving.

I thought about employing a custom CNC service, but I can't imagine it would be cheap for them to do two 4'x2' (roughly) images. The materials cost a lot as it was. I was about at the limit of my budget. If anyone has any experience with doing something like that, I'd love to hear what it would cost.

Plus, I really like to be able to say "I did it myself". That is one of those intangible pleasures I find from this hobby.

Quote:
Originally Posted by John Martin View Post

That is really cool. The only things that would make it better would be to put the light on a dimmer and bring it up slowly, and possibly have some sort of audio track of a rumbling stone door running through the LFE channel. Would really make you feel like you are there.

John

I had it on a dimmer at first, but it didn't ramp up smoothly like it should. The LED's would stay off for the first few steps, then flicker, then come on dimly and jump up to bright in 2 steps. It was absolutely painful to watch. I'm not sure if it had something to do with the number of LED's I'm driving or what, but I decided to go with all on or all off instead.

I like the idea of the stone door opening sound. I will definitely have to implement that!
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post #24 of 24
4/21/08 at 7:34am
Very resourceful - awesome job!
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