Altoid Flux Capacitor Computer Lamp

This is a project I made because I am a big fan of back to the future and I love making stuff with hot glue and altoid cans
I had the idea because I was trying to build a full size flux capacitor replica and when I finished it I wished I had done it more accurately and to scale,
So I started looking for parts to build it with and in our barn I found an altoid can I also had some broken Christmas trees lights in our attic so I started making one
After starting it was harder than I thought it would be but when I was done it was definitely worth the effort.
Thank you for looking and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!!!!!!!

Supplies

You will need
Altoid tin
Red wire
Yellow wire (slightly smaller than the red)
Christmas tree lights
Old android charger (make sure it is a cheap one or it won’t work)
Black duct tape
Aluminum foil or silver paint (paint would work better but I did not have any so I used foil)
Printer with paper
Small piece of clear plastic. You can get it from toy packaging .

Preparing the Altoid Can

Please be very careful at this step
Using a dremel cut a hole. Be careful not to cut yourself.

Installing First Two Lights

Take your two Christmas lights and glue them as shown.
Make sure to center them.

Gluing Last Light

Take the last light make sure to leave plenty of wire on each side and glue it into place.
It should look like this.

Adding the Wires

Cut the red wire into three .25 inch pieces and bend them. picture shown for scale.

Adding Wires Pt2

Cut half inch pieces out of the yellow wire bend the tip and glue it to the red wires. make three.

Adding the Wires Pt3

Glue the red and yellow wires as shown and close the door to make sure to make they can be seen.

Wiring It for Real

This is the real wires for power to the lights
Cut a hole in the top of the altoid can
Cut off the end of the Android charger and feed the wire through the hole

Connect the wires as shown in the pictures you may need a jumper cable

Test the Lights to Make Sure It Works

You may need a small piece of cardboard to insulate .

Add Rubber for Safety

This step will be cover up later but you should still do this
Cut the duct tape and line the inside

Adding the Window

Take a piece of clear plastic slightly bigger than the hole and glue it to the inside
I used a old salad container

Adding the Foil (or Paint)

Cover the whole front with foil as shown I used hot glue to glue it and a lighter to smooth out the bumps

Adding Second Rubber Layer

This is the rubber “Sealing” layer
Cut a piece of duct tape slightly longer and wider than the hole
Cover it with dust (if you don’t do this step the tape will never come apart )
Fold it in half lengthwise
Round the edges
Cut out the inside as shown
Glue to front of the flux capacitor

Decal

Print out a picture of the flux capacitor. I used a wallpaper version because it had no background
Use the printer settings to shrink it to the size you want
Than cut out the ‘ disconnect Capacitor drive before opening’ and ‘ shield eyes from light‘ on the paper
Glue the disconnect sign on the front and the shield eyes a fifth of the way up the window

Plug in and Enjoy

I would not plug into a computer unless you are sure it works without a problem
I plug mine into the wall to be safe