Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “DIY Hacks & How To’s: Glowing Treasure Chest”.
All kids love treasure chests, but what’s better than a treasure chest, a treasure chest that lights up when you open it for this project, you need a small wooden box, a set of battery-powered lights. A normally closed, momentary, switch, some thin sheet metal and wire. The momentary switch is used to turn the lights off when the chest is closed. Just like a refrigerators light switch. We need to mount the switch to the inside of the box just below the front edge.
I didn’t want to mess up the fabric lining so, rather than attaching the switch directly to the side of the box, I made a small metal bracket to hold it in place to make these brackets. All you need is some thin sheet metal for small things like this. You don’t need to go out and buy sheet metal from the hardware store. I got all the metal that I needed by cutting up a can of fruit. Just use a can opener to remove the end pieces and then use tin snips to cut out whatever section you need. First, I trace the outline of the switch onto the metal on the side where the button sticks out, and I marked off another section that was as wide as the side of the box.
Then I marked off one more section that was a quarter inch wide and I cut out the whole piece with tin snips using a pair of pliers. I bent up each of the two side sections at the lines. This should bend it into a J shape. Repeat these steps again and make a second identical bracket, I attach the switch to the first bracket by gluing it to the side of the plate, so that the button sticks up past the top surface mount this bracket to the front side corner of the box.
Then mount the second bracket to the lid right above it mark where the button lines up on the top bracket cut a slot in the side of the top bracket. That’S centered at this point using a pair of pliers bend this section down so that it’s flush with the bottom. This tab is what will press the button when the lid is closed. Now you need to connect the switch to the light.
Take two small pieces of wire and strip the insulation off the ends. I connected one wire to the normally closed terminal and one wire to the common terminal of my switch next. Take the free end of one wire and wrap it around the spring. At the negative end of the lights, battery pack then put a small piece of paper or cardstock in front of the spring place. The end of the second wire on the other side of the card and insert the battery the card separates the battery from the terminal. So that the switch can turn the light on and off now put all the parts into the box and you’re done. The effect that this makes is great, but you can make it even better by adding sound to do this.
You need a small, sound player module to connect the sound module to the rest of the circuit. I wired the negative terminals of both batteries together then I connected the play button on the sound module to the other side of the switch at the spring of the lights battery pack. Whenever the box is opened, the light will come on and the sound will play. Well, that’s how to make a glowing treasure chest. This kind of project is great for Christmas or birthday presents, try it out and have fun.
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