Forums > Technical Discussion > Homemade LED Poi

Posted: 15th Sep 2005
not really. If you want to make your own LED poi that involves doing some electronics and a few other things. If you want to make good LED poi you have to do some quite complicated electronics and programming.

But if you don't mind cheeting there is a way....
hijack some "Boing Colour Change Balls" (they are LED juggling balls) They are covered in a soft silacone layer so they are ideal for smacking into your head bung them in a string bag, attatch handels. The only place i know that sell them is https://www.anti-gravity.org.uk/
They are dead cheep. The company that makes them must have a really low profit margin.

Posted: 19th Sep 2005
Or of course you could pin a lot of LED badges (you know, the raver ones and those mardi gras and christmas ones) to your sock or bag poi, or whatever else you can get. LED hair braids perhaps for along the string or length of the socks. I'm going shopping now, buit I've more ideas so if the thread looks like going places...

Chucks nuns
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Posted: 19th Sep 2005
anti grav finally gets a mention, thanks poibuilder i got told about the colour change balls but they do turn off if you try any wraps/contact
matt

Posted: 22nd Sep 2005
If someone WERE to get these. What size would be the best (they have small and large)

But on the other hand, you have different fingers

Posted: 25th Sep 2005
the large ones are sweet.
but i find that they go out very easy, its hard to do wraps without them going out,
not breaking just ...stop glowing.
i tried someones andi stil think i am gonna get some.
the big ones then of course.

the only thing worth dying for is life itself

Posted: 9th Oct 2005
personally, i make pretty cheap easy glowsticks with 2 products. I have lots of dead real glowsticks around. i found some ledones at wallmart, "funlight" or some crap. In the camping section. they have a lil loop on the switch end of the deal and a longish plastic defuzer type deal on the other end. Unfortunately the plastic is very thin and fragile, so they broke after one nights use. so, i got all inventive and took the old dead real glowsticks and cut the cap off (the opposite end from the attaching ring). then i pulled off the plastic sheath from the walmart sticks, cleaned out, rinsed and dried the dead glowstick, heated up the end a bit and pushed it onto the end of the walmart stick. Fits like a charm. even though all the weight is on the outside edge of the glowstick when it spins, none of em i've made have flown off yet. I did break a couple. tipped em on the ground and the twist switch broke off, but actually this works out better now, since before the twist switch was a bit flakey on some of em (due to being a bit loose at high velocities and breaking the circuit so light goes off). So with the switch gone you can just stick a key down in the end of it and twist the plastic contact to wedge against the battery and it doesn't come loose. Then twist it back when you are done.

they look good to me and work great, total cost each, $3.50 (plus shoestrings) Can't get much cheaper than that, make 10 of em and you are set for a while. you can also get colored real glowsticks (colored casings that is) and when they die use those, to change the glowstick color.

I once learned every move that there was,
Every style, Every technique.
Then I woke up, and forgot it all,
So now I struggle to dream.

Posted: 10th Oct 2005
I kinda use your same equipment, Imbalance, but with a slight twist. Get the wal-mart camping LED sticks (they are fun either way, tho weighted funky) and pull the defuser off. With a bit a twisting and tugging, I haven't had much of a problem pulling them off. This gives you a nice LED with a decent mcd (general brightness).

Take a pair of sock poi, dump some clear plastic filler beads in them to desired weight (you can get them at just bout any crafts store). Drop the LED into the sock and hold it through the sock so it's just touching the beads. Now, take the cord that comes with the light sticks and wrap it tightly around the sock where the LED is so the LED is held in place. Now you have glow sock poi with an on-off switch. Works well and is fairly bright.

Enjoy.

Definition of poi- A Hawaiian food made from the tuber of the taro that is cooked, pounded to a paste, and fermented.

Ahnold discussing poi - "It is naht a toober!"

Posted: 10th Oct 2005
homemade electrosock poi

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Posted: 14th Nov 2005
bumping this thread to recommend the boing balls again as karen just got me some and they beat the hell out of the woolworths mood balls I had before, both in terms of variety and durability. Except they go out when they hit something:

the moral being, be flowy and don't hit yourself, and your balls will glow in a lovely manner

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Posted: 17th Nov 2005
You might also try scuba shops. Glo-Toobs are battery powered LED underwater dive lights. Small, lightweight, some of them with different strobing functions. The only 2 downsides are, they aren't VERY bright, they look good, but they aren't dazzling. And they're pretty expensive.



They're also quite tough.
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Posted: 17th Nov 2005
Yeah, the boing balls look pretty cool, but them going off when they hit something just sucks

maybe I should take mine apart and see why it does that & maybe work around it

Posted: 24th Nov 2005
i ordered the mystery box from neon huskey and got a boing ball in it. Really is a wonderful thing. Amazingly bright, but that turn off feature sucks.

Don't mind me, just passing through.