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DIY Gra(ti Projector
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Time Required!: 1–3 Hours
Di4culty: Easy
Price: $0-$50
By Claire Danielle Cassidy February 8th, 2024
Take me to the Steps
“Guerrilla projection, pioneered by artists and advertisers, has been
increasingly embraced by activists in recent years as a new medium for
delivering messages. The advantages are obvious: With a single high-powered
projector, you can turn the side of a building into a huge advertisement for your
cause, plastering your message on a spot that would otherwise be out of
reach. It’s legal, relatively cheap, and … most importantly, it’s visually powerful:
You can literally shine a light on the opposition.”
from Beautiful Trouble, edited by Andrew
Boyd and Dave Oswald Mitchell
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Got
Got something
something to to write
write on
on the
the wall?
wall? Write
Write it
it big
big —
— with
with light!
light!
This tutorial is here to help you build a low-pro6le handheld light projector from
relatively accessible hardware store parts. The project should cost around $45–
$60 in materials, but might be cheaper (or pricier) if you 6nd parts on your own.
There could be a thousand creative ways to do this type of projection. We have
worked hard to give details for the speci6c build we know works, but we hope that
people will also try to design similar, not exact copies. This is because the exact
parts we used may be diJcult to source in the future, though similar parts should
always be available, and because alternate builds could have advantages of their
own, such as lowering cost or improving projection throw.
This project is also completely open source, meaning that you can make, share,
use, alter, and yes, even sell this design or any similar design, with no credit or
attribution needed. You can (and we encourage you to) fork this project on Github.
This information is yours.
How
How Does
Does ItIt Work?
Work?
What you’re doing in this project, essentially, is sending a Nashlight’s beam farther
and more sharply, using a big lens, than it can do on its own. Then you’re adding a
message with the stencil. Putting them together with a coupling is all about
6nding the focus — the spacing between the Nashlight and lens.
This type of projection is called gobo projection, and is often used in theater and
stage settings. Gobo stands for “goes before optics” because putting a stencil
between a light and a lens projects a crisp, focused image. A stencil used in this
way is sometimes referred to as a gobo, and can be made of clear acetate sheet,
acrylic, wood, or metal — depending on how hot your light source gets.
Build
Build Your
Your Handheld
Handheld Graffiti
Graffiti Projector
Projector
Before you start, please watch our tutorial video for an overview of how all the
parts should 6t together.
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What will the next generation of Make: look like? We’re inviting you to shape the
future by investing in Make:. By becoming an investor, you help decide what’s
next. The future of Make: is in your hands. Learn
Learn More.
More.
Project Steps 1. Find your Nashlight
1. FIND YOUR FLASHLIGHT Next
Since we created this tutorial, Nashlight technology and parts have evolved at an
extremely rapid pace. We try to keep linking to Nashlights that will work for this
build, but it’s hard to keep up. This means it’s important for you to understand the
properties of the type of Nashlight that will work for this project, so you can try out
ones you can 6nd yourself.
Really any light source can work for this type of projection, but LED Nashlights are
the cheapest, smallest, safest option as they are very bright, portable, and
rechargeable, and don’t produce a lot of heat that could melt or ignite your stencil.
Brightness:
Brightness: In the build shown in our video we used a 1,000-lumen “tactical”
Nashlight we got on Amazon a few years ago for around $20. The brighter the
better, but a 1,000-lumen Nashlight with a fresh 18650 battery can throw a
remarkably large and clear image in reasonable darkness. We have found
essentially the same Nashlight from a few different suppliers since then, and we
suggest you look around yourself.
Batteries:
Batteries: Flashlights that use rechargeable lithium 18650 type batteries are a
great option, because six or eight usable 18650 cells can be recovered from old
laptop batteries, and a single 18650 can power one of these Nashlights for 4–7
hours. (It’s OK if your Nashlight uses AA or AAA batteries too, we just like lithium.)
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You’ll probably want extra batteries with you to last the night. Having a 18650
battery charger and extra batteries is a great investment. These are easily found
online.
Reflector:
Reflector: It doesn’t matter so much which brand of Nashlight you use, but we
learned the hard way that some LED Nashlights use a parabolic reNector to focus
the light, and others use a clear plastic dome-like lens. Both work 6ne for a
Nashlight, but for use as a projector the ones with parabolic reNectors work way
better, because they hold the stencil much further away from the hot LED and
because they don’t complicate the optics.
Figure A
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The ones with (good!) parabolic reNectors look like Figure A. Notice the shiny,
concave internal surface with Nat clear plastic cover. This is what you want.
You don’t want one that looks like Figure B. Notice the lack of shiny interior, and
the convex, bubble-like clear plastic dome cover. Not great for projection.
Figure B
Size:
Size: The head of the Nashlight we used 6ts perfectly into a 1½” plumbing 6tting
designed for ABS pipe, which made coupling it to the lens easy. Check the
diameter of the head of your Nashlight, and make sure it will 6t into the smaller
end of your plumbing coupler. The Nashlight we currently suggest is the SupFire
C8-T6 Tactical Flashlight, which comes with an extra 18650 battery and battery
charger.
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If your Nashlight does not 6t into your coupler, try wrapping several layers of fabric,
tape, or other material around the Nashlight until it 6ts loosely enough to move, but
tightly enough to stay in place. We found that long, thin strips of velcro worked
very well for this.
2. MAKE YOUR STENCILS Previous Next
You’ll need to be able to make gobo stencils to throw your own images. We used a
Glowforge basic 40W laser cutter to cut thin (1/16″) black acrylic for our stencils,
which worked well with the style of LED Nashlight we suggest. We made a round
stencil at 1.61″ diameter to 6t inside the head of the Nashlight we used. We have
provided these SVG 6les in the Github repo for you to use. They may (probably)
need to be resized to 6t your Nashlight. If you don’t have a laser cutter you could
ask your local makerspace for access to one, or use an online laser cutting service
like Ponoko.
Another, more accessible way of creating stencils is by printing transparencies,
which we have provided PDF 6les for. Again, you might need to resize them to 6t
your Nashlight.
You can also experiment with cutting your own stencils using materials like thin
plastic, stiff card stock, or even a tin can and an X-Acto knife.
Cut-out stencils work best for larger words and simple phrases. For smaller/more
text/detailed images, we found that laser engraving an image onto transparent
acrylic, and then spray painting the engraved area black before peeling off the
protective paper, worked surprisingly well. It may be worth playing around with
that approach if you do have access to a laser cutter.
CAUTION:
CAUTION: Test your stencil beforehand and make sure it isn’t getting too hot for
the material you are using! This is particularly important if you are using paper
products to make your stencil.
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Some other approaches you could try:
Make a low-tech DIY metal gobo, from a tin can or pie plate
Draw on a sheet of transparent plastic with a Sharpie.
Cut a stencil out of cardboard with a razor blade, and add tinfoil if it’s getting
too hot from the LED Nashlight.
3D print a stencil. You can search Thingiverse and similar repositories for
examples.
Get creative! Maybe let us know what works well for you!
3. SCROUNGE A LENS Previous Next
Nearly any lens of any kind will work to some extent, but some will work (much)
better than others. All lenses have a focal length — the distance from the lens
where the image comes into focus. We used a lens from an old big screen
projection TV, because we had a few lying around. They work well, and three of
them can be found inside any old boxy projection-style CRT TV. If you take off the
screen, it should look something like Figure C.
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Figure C
TIP:
TIP: If you’re unsure whether a TV is the right kind, try gently poking the screen. Is
it large, plastic, textured, and a little Noppy in the middle? If so, you’re in luck!
Not everyone wants to rip apart a big screen TV, however, so we did some
research and found that you can buy this style of lens on eBay for $5–$20. Search
for “rear projection television lens” and look for a lens that looks like Figure D. You
can also ask around for old TV lenses (and camera lenses, see below), and check
your local thrift shops and re-stores.
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Figure D
Each lens comes in two parts: the lens assembly, and a plastic housing that slides
along two screws, allowing for 6ne adjustment of focus.
For our purposes, we won’t need the outer housing. Just unscrew the two screw
posts and pull the lens away from the housing (Figure E).
Figure E
The lens assembly has a stepped shape that makes it easy to 6nd a step with the
right diameter to couple to a plumbing 6tting. We found that the second step on
ours was almost exactly 4″, and 6t a 4″ rubber 6tting for ABS pipe.
Camera lenses: The now-defunct GuerillaBeam project used a 3D-printed slide
holder to couple 35mm camera lenses to LED Nashlights. Old 35mm lenses can
usually be found at thrift stores for $5–$15. They have very high-quality optics,
and many of the bigger telephoto-style ones will let you make very 6ne
adjustments to the focus and size/throw of your image.
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If you use a camera lens, you’ll have to play around with the spacing between the
light, stencil, and lens to 6nd the sweet spot, and then design your coupler
accordingly.
4. CHOOSE A COUPLER Previous
The coupler can be anything that securely holds the Nashlight to the lens, and
allows you to make small adjustments to the focus. We used a 4″-to-1½” rubber
plumbing 6tting meant for ABS drain pipe, Fernco P1056-415, which happened to
6t our lens on one end and our Nashlight on the other (Figure F). These should be
available at any large hardware store. If your Nashlight diameter is larger, search
for a 4″-to-2″ coupler. We prefer the high quality of the Fernco couplers because
they are Nexible and durable. Cheaper hard plastic couplers are very hard to work
with.
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Figure F
These kinds of 6ttings come in a wide range of sizes, and are a good, cheap
option for connecting things together. The distance between the lens and the
stencil is more important than the distance between the light source and the
stencil. Find the focal length by simply holding your lens in front of your
stencil/Nashlight, and then source your coupler accordingly.
Since the coupling is all about attaching the Nashlight to the lens with the correct
distance between them to focus, we think a number of other things could work for
this, though we haven’t personally tried these:
GuerrillaBeam
GuerrillaBeam coupling:
coupling: The GuerillaBeam 3D-printed slide holder/coupling
(Figure G), was meant for a 35mm camera lens but a number of adaptations have
been made, and a lot of these can be found when you search “guerillabeam” on
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Thingiverse or similar 3D model repositories.
Figure G
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Crafty
Crafty coupling:
coupling: Try cardboard, tape, hot glue, foam, toilet paper tubes, pool
noodles, etc. to 6gure out a coupling for your Nashlight and lens if you want to get
creative with cheap supplies.
CONCLUSION
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Light
Light It
It Up!
Up!
That’s it! You’re ready to shine a light on things.
Unscrew the cap of your Nashlight and add the stencil. It should appear to be
spelled backwards.
Insert the Nashlight into the coupler and tighten the collar clamp until the 6t is
snug but the Nashlight can still slide in and out.
Insert the lens into the coupler and tighten the clamp securely.
Adjust focus by sliding the Nashlight in and out, changing the distance between
the light and lens.
When you’re happy with your focus, tighten it all together, and take it to the streets!
Just remember, with great projection power comes great responsibility.
“This technology is very powerful, ‘spectacular’ in nature, and often under the control
of one person or a small group who could potentially manipulate a large and
impressionable crowd. This power needs to be kept accountable to the broader
group, and should be wielded with great care.”
—Beautiful
—Beautiful Rising
Rising on
on Guerrilla
Guerrilla Projection
Projection
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OTHER
OTHER NEAT
NEAT GUERILLA
GUERILLA PROJECTION
PROJECTION RESOURCES
RESOURCES
• Beautiful Rising on Guerilla Projection as a protest tactic
• Illuminator Collective have been light projection activists since 2012 and make
tutorials
• Overpass Light Brigade make light-up letter panels
• If you have the funds, you can also buy a professional gobo projector; look for
portable, battery powered models.
• You can follow us, the creators, if you’d like: Claire Danielle Cassidy and Sam
Smith
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FROM THE SHED: STUFF WE LIKE
Maker
Maker Faire
Faire Make:
Make: Maker
Maker Faire
Faire Get Make:
Get Make:
Patch
Patch Trucker
Trucker Magazine,
Magazine, Powerbase
Powerbase Magazine
Magazine
Hat
Hat Volume
Volume 9191 -- Medallion
Medallion
Print
Print
$30.00 $7.50 $4.95 $19.99
MATERIALS
MATERIALS
Really all you need are these four things. Important details about each of them are
available in their respective sections of the tutorial.
LED Nashlight, 1,000 lumens We used the SupFire C8-T6 Tactical Flashlight,
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Amazon B07FBJBZ25.
Lens from projection TV Search eBay for “rear projection television lens.”
Stencil of whatever words or image you want to project
Coupler to connect it all. We used a rubber plumbing coupling, 4″ to 1½”,
Fernco P1056-415, Amazon B000I1AVCS.
TOOLS
TOOLS
Laser cutter (optional) or other way to cut your stencil
Screwdriver to tighten the coupling clamps
Tagged diy Nashlight graJti make88 new protest
Claire Danielle Cassidy
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