Companion cube build part 2

Ok, so this is the second post about the companion cube build. the first post was loading slowly due to how many embedded videos were on it... so i split it up for readability and load speed.


Alright, so we left off with making the corner pieces. after making all of them, its time to prime them! while that is happening, you can go inside and work on the electrical. which is the first video. due to the fact that i did not have a nice camera, i could not properly show how to connect EL wire. just youtube it, and there will be some more professionally done videos.

use a 3rd hand tool to hold the wire.

solder the corona wires to the copper tape.

the next step is to glue the primed corners to the box. after you do that, its time to prime the box its self. by priming the box after you glue the corners on, you will fill the seam that is made. I actually ran a line of wood filler along the corner pieces to make it a seamless transition, however it made it more challenging to paint, as there was not obvious transition between the box and the piece. in retrospect, it was a good idea, but it took a long time to do, and the result was not too obvious.

when doing the primer, make sure to tape off the area where the center heart is going, as well as the small orthogonal pieces.

after priming, go ahead and paint your dark gray. i actually painted the corner pieces before i stuck them on, but the color did not show until the 3rd coat. so i ended up painting them more even after they were stuck on. oh, i also painted the inside of the channels pink, however the EL wire fit so well it was unneeded.

the next part of the build is undocumented. it was getting close to crunch time, and well i woke up, drove to the store, stocked up on kitkat bars and energy drinks and worked for a solid 38 hours (only stopped to get coffee with my girlfriend, she had no idea).

ok, so heres what happened in the gap of videos / pictures.

• i primed the inside
• i drilled a hole through the back of the shelf for the inverter wire
• i drilled the holes in the groves for the el wire.
• i drilled a hole in the bottom back piece to run the inverters power wire
• i laid the EL wire in the channels
• i pulled apart the inverter, removed the 9v battery clip and attached a 12v wall inverter.
• attached 2x2 terminal blocks to the door
• ran the coiled door wire
• made jumpers for the 4x2 terminal block and attached that to the box

make sure your polarity is correct!!!

and then just more wiring....

that's it for the building process, check out the next post for the final results.