Mosaic of CDs
The peculiarity of the material that I am posting here is that I do not know how to do it correctly. Everything I write I have experienced myself. Perhaps somewhere there is the right proven technology. But that’s the beauty of it, you can try to do, invent something new. So I share my experience with you and hope that someone will continue and teach me something new.
What you can’t do without: CDs, sharp nail scissors, PVA glue, paints and varnish (glossy acrylic or yacht construction transparent).
And the most important thing is desire and time!
It would also be nice to have grout for the tiles, but you can do without it. It’s great if there are small glitters.
The first thing to do is to find the correct CD. One that will not crumble or flake when cut. Discs with programs are so good, old discs are best. The new ones are crumbling now. In fact, you can use any discs, but they are much harder to work with and the effect is worse. So, for example, two works were put up for charity auction: the “Garden of Eden” is almost entirely made of such exfoliating disks and many people like it much less.
It is made from the right discs and coated with construction varnish. 
And these works are covered with acrylic varnish. 
Here are examples of products made from exfoliating discs. 
It's easy to recognize which drive you're dealing with. It is enough to cut off a small narrow piece from it. Good disc gives the feeling that you are cutting off a very strong nail, and the bad one immediately begins to creak and peel.
21.4.2011, 15:57
The most difficult thing for me is to find a suitable picture, since I can’t draw at all. I select drawings from the Internet, sometimes I compose and remake them to suit my ideas. In my opinion, fairy-tale, romantic pictures with “flying” details are suitable for this kind of mosaic, hence the predominance of wings and fins. The main requirements for the picture: there must be clear outlines and the silhouette can be guessed well, we check it this way: we cut out the figure and turn it over to the back side, if it is clear what is shown on the front side, then everything is in order. 
We copy the picture on a photocopier. We put one in the file, draw the main lines on the copy, as if cutting it, taking into account the transition of color and shape and trying to ensure that the pieces have a simple shape, we number these pieces. You can make another copy of the picture with the lines already drawn, or you can mark these lines and numbers on the main picture. We cut out and cut the copy with numbers, the second one is needed in order not to get confused, the pieces tend to get confused after cutting. 
We lay out the cut out pieces on a disk, trace them with a thin permanent marker, write the corresponding number on each and cut them with sharp nail scissors. To prevent the disk from bursting, the first cut must be made from the edge of the disk to the central hole and in the future try to stick to this. 
22.4.2011, 13:21
When cutting a piece from a disk, you constantly have to turn the scissors over so that their bend follows the contour of the design. If the cut line is large, then it is better to cut to the middle and continue the cut on the other side. After cutting slightly, twist and bend the part so that the remaining uncut piece of the disk breaks. The resulting burrs can be carefully trimmed with the tip of scissors or filed with a file.
Sometimes a piece of the disc cracks or breaks off. If this happened in an area free from the picture, then it does not matter, but if on the piece we need, then there can be 2 options: either cut it out again, or leave it as is (if it happened on the edge of the picture, or if it is possible to make a cut according to the drawing, or if such cracking or breakage can be played out according to the picture). 
After cutting out all the parts, we can put them together and admire what we get at the end. At the same time, we discover that our CD puzzle has large gaps in different places and does not fold, unlike a paper one. At this stage, you can trim the parts, adjust them as much as possible, but you can not adjust everything, but only the most important thing, and finish the rest during the gluing process.
You can apply a thin layer of PVA glue to the plastic file with the picture in the desired place. It’s better to wait until it sets a little, then lay out the pieces. Or you can not smear the file with glue, but try the piece in place and lubricate its back side with PVA. 
We start laying out the parts that are on the side and will not be cut further, in this case we have the head, neck and base of the left wing. Next, lay out the body, additionally cutting it for best game Sveta. In my opinion, large pieces look bad and square and rectangular pieces look bad. It is better to make the pieces close in shape to a triangle or rhombus. You can leave only long pieces of the tail, neck, or a person’s face in one piece uncut. After the piece is correctly laid out on the picture, it can be corrected and pressed with a thin wooden stick or toothpick. 
22.4.2011, 13:48
We cut the wing part into smaller parts - feathers. In this case, it may turn out that all the pieces do not fit into the drawing. So, for example, out of five pieces, we can only lay out four. You can trim the pieces slightly. Or you can simply not use one piece. 
You can lay out a design from leftovers, they play better, but then more time is spent on selection and adjustment. As we already understood, small parts, like feathers, it’s better not to cut them out. For the second crane we will cut out everything except the wing. 
We will select feathers from the cut edges of the CD and adjust them to the desired size. Small cranes can be cut out entirely from the disk, first cutting out the wing roughly in a semicircle, and then shaping the feathers by cutting out the corners and cutting inward.
After the mosaic has completely dried, gently wipe it with a cotton swab moistened with alcohol or cologne to remove the marker. Remove the dried glue with the pointed end of a wooden stick (you can sharpen the other end of the brush). 
Pour in fine tile grout powder and rub into different directions, it is better to do this with a slightly moistened finger. Leave to dry, then shake off excess and polish with a toothpick and cotton wool. You can use school chalk powder instead of grout. It might work out well if you rub the pencil lead with graphite (I haven’t tried it myself yet). 
22.4.2011, 14:34
You can do without grouting, but you must remember that, firstly, such a mosaic is not so durable and therefore measures must be taken to strengthen it, and, secondly, the seams between the laid out pieces must be very thin, otherwise there will be large ripples it must be covered with something else, for example, covered with acrylic paint (metallic or with glitter) with a thin brush or toothpick, or rubbed with glitter in bulk. If glitter is used, then it is better to first lightly coat the seams with glue with a toothpick, and then fill it with glitter and, after waiting a little, press it on top with something, for example, roll a wooden stick or press cellophane.
Dry again, shake off and blow off any unnecessary glitter, remove excess with a toothpick, polish with a stick and cotton wool and coat with varnish. You can use acrylic gloss varnish, applying a thin layer in two stages. A very beautiful, durable and bright shine is obtained when using yacht clear varnish, but it is sold in large jars, has a strong smell and takes a long time to dry (so I only use it in the summer). When the varnish has dried, we place something flat and hard on the product (I use an old children’s book as such a plane), turn it over and, carefully rolling it up, remove the file. On back You can apply acrylic paint, and after drying a layer of PVA. (One thing is possible. The paint gives strength + one tone, which is needed if you glue the mosaic to a mirror or glass). 
After the back side of the mosaic has dried, turn it over and, if necessary, cover the front side with a second layer of varnish. At this stage, you can add glitter along the edge of the mosaic and attach eyes to the birds. When the varnish has dried, take the resulting piece in your hands and carefully remove the excess dried glue, varnish and paint along the edges with nail scissors. We begin to do this in the least fragile parts, and in those places where the connections of the pieces are the thinnest, we remove the excess last. 
We get this mosaic. It can be used as part of the design in the form of a panel or painting. Or you can stick it on your refrigerator, computer, or laptop as an independent decoration. My sister has a fish pasted on the tile above the stove, and my mother has a fish on the mirror and on the door. You can try making a one-sided Christmas tree decoration with paint on the back, or a double-sided one.
.Just a couple of decades ago, the world's population was using vinyl records with all their might, enjoying recordings of their favorite songs, operas and children's fairy tales. They were replaced by tape cassettes, video cassettes, floppy disks for computers... Today, CDs are also losing their positions. Surely, in your home, there are “blanks” sitting idle in your closets, gathering dust, which can be put back into use. Today we will learn how to turn them into a sparkling mosaic!
Decor of the box
There are any number of options: from complex “meaningful” drawings to a chaotic combination of details that are more or less suitable in size. The first option is more complicated and requires more detailed instructions. So, to begin with, we select a drawing of the future mosaic and divide it into simple fragments. How simpler form, the easier it is to cut it. It is difficult to cut very long and thin parts - they break, or rounded-concave parts - they crack. To transfer an image to a disk, you first need to cut out each element from paper, then attach it to the shiny side of the disk and trace it with a felt-tip pen.
The finished parts can be immediately glued onto the surface of the box, sparing no glue - so that you don’t have to glue the fallen off elements later. When the glue dries, wipe off traces of the marker with acetone or any alcohol solution. Next, dilute a little grout (putty) of the desired color and carefully rub it into the seams using a spatula or thick cardboard. When the grout begins to dry, wipe off any excess with a damp sponge. To consolidate the result, it is advisable to coat the finished box with varnish.
Flowerpot
What's good about this idea? First of all, such a flower pot looks very colorful and expensive, as if it was purchased in some designer boutique. But in fact, under the sparkling “scales” there can be any base - a time-worn flower pot with chips and scratches, or even a homemade pot made from a plastic canister or the same CD boxes.
Another option is to make your own colorful flower pot stand. You can use any dense material as a base - for example, corrugated cardboard or vinyl record
This is what proper waste disposal means!
Stylish sneakers
This is a great idea for those who want to look original without spending a lot of money in expensive stores. The main thing is not to forget that the discs are a little difficult to cut, and it is better to seal your delicate fingers with a band-aid in advance in the places of contact with the scissors, so as not to rub calluses. Use only well-sharpened scissors, and you can also try heating them to make cutting the discs easier. By the way, using the same principle, fashionistas can decorate a handbag, clutch or hair hoop with mosaics.
Frames for mirrors and photographs
Mosaics made from disks can be used to decorate mirror frames, photo frames and collages, and some craftsmen manage to decorate even lamps and chandeliers in this way. There is usually not enough room for creativity on them - however, you can choose from several basic styles. The first option is to cut old CDs into regular geometric shapes that are easy to arrange together (squares, rectangles, triangles and honeycomb-like hexagons). The second option is to break the blanks into fragments of arbitrary shape and different sizes(They will also make an interesting mosaic).
Discus thrower
From unnecessary blanks you can create a delightful disco ball that will decorate any room and will come in handy at holidays and parties! You can place a light ball cut out of foam at its base - then the discus ball can be hung on a fishing line with peace of mind, and the stylish pendant will slowly rotate under the ceiling, creating a “starry sky” effect on surrounding objects. Cheap and crazy beautiful!
Christmas decorations
The manufacturing technology is the same, but much simpler. We will need small fragments of CDs of arbitrary shape, which need to be glued to the base - it can be like an old Christmas tree ball, from which the gilding has already begun to peel off, or a homemade ball made of papier-mâché, foam plastic, rubber (as they say, whatever comes to hand ).
Mosaic stickers
Such exclusive “drawings” from CDs can subsequently be pasted onto furniture, walls and any other surfaces. The only difference in the manufacturing technology is this: the stencil must be placed in a file, the surface should be coated with PVA glue and pre-prepared mosaic fragments should be laid out. Next, we rub it with putty, varnish it, and when dry, carefully separate it from the file. Ready!
We will need: about 50 computer disks, sandpaper (zero grade), PVA glue, brush, magazine clippings, scissors, several disposable cups, construction putty, acrylic varnish.
1. Remove the mirror surface of the discs using sandpaper.
2. Wash the discs under running water or wipe them with a damp cloth.
3. Apply PVA glue to the matte side in an even layer. We choose in glossy magazines bright pictures and cut them out.
4. Glue discs to magazine clippings.
5. When the glue has dried, cut the disks into equal squares with a side of 1.5 cm.
6. Arrange the squares by color.
7. Sand the old chair and degrease the surface of the pasting. We begin to glue the mosaic with PVA glue from the outside.
8. Cover the surface from the edge to the middle.
9. After the seat, we paste over the back. It is necessary to start gluing it after the seat has dried. To apply mosaics, the backrest is turned to a horizontal position.
10. Leave the chair overnight for the glue to dry completely. We take construction putty and dilute it in accordance with the instructions indicated on the pack. We select the color of the putty according to our taste, but it is better to use natural. We cover all the gaps between the mosaics with this putty.
11. We perform a similar procedure on the back.
12. Leave to dry for a few minutes, then remove excess putty with a damp cloth.
13. This must be done before it dries completely. Once the putty dries, this will be difficult to do.
If you use a computer tablet for a short time, for example, to check email, look up exchange rates or the weather forecast, then your hands do not have time to get tired. When watching a movie, reading a book or chatting on Skype, you have to look at the screen for a long time. The tablet has to be held in your hands at a certain angle and, despite its light weight, your hands get tired.
To use the tablet in a comfortable environment, it is placed on a stand. Despite the primitiveness of the device, the price of the stand is often more than 10% of the cost of the tablet, although it can be made with your own hands from scrap material in half an hour.
Some people wonder, what is the difference between a tablet and an iPad? The answer is simple, the iPad is the same tablet as any other, just released by the American corporation Apple. Thus, the proposed homemade stand is suitable for supporting any device, including an iPad tablet.
There are many homemade tablet stands offered on the Internet, from the simplest ones made from a sheet of cardboard or an egg carton, which are impossible to look at without tears, to ingenious lever designs. There was even a stand made in the form of a soft pillow. Such thermal insulation is extremely undesirable, since the tablet generates heat during operation, and in hot weather it will overheat, which can lead to slowdown of the tablet and even its failure.
As a result, I haven’t found a simple, elegant and comfortable tablet stand that I would like to repeat. Therefore, I came up with and made my own version, which I bring to your attention.
Design of a homemade tablet stand
The idea arose to make a stand for the tablet from sheet thermoplastic (softens when heated) plastic, from which the cases of modern televisions, printers and other household appliances are made.
Before starting the manufacture of any homemade product, the first step is to draw a sketch or drawing. In the process of completing the drawing, all geometric dimensions are clarified and new ideas often arise. The photo shows a drawing of a stand for a tablet with a 10.1” display diagonal. If the stand is intended to accommodate a smaller tablet, cell phone or iPhone, then the dimensions must be proportionally reduced.
A price tag holder made of transparent plexiglass 2 mm thick of a suitable size caught my eye. To make a beautiful and convenient stand, it was enough to cut off the excess part from it and bend the edge to support the tablet.
A stand was required for Acer tablet A500 with a display diagonal of 10.1”, height 177 mm, width 260 mm and weight 765 g. The tablet was attached to the holder at the required angle, and a line was marked on the plexiglass where the stop should be. At a distance of 12 mm from the stop line, a second line was drawn, in the photo on the left, along which it was necessary to cut off the excess part of the plate.
Plexiglass and any other thermoplastic plastic can be sawed well with a hacksaw. But it is much easier and faster to cut off the excess part with an even end using a homemade cutter made from a broken blade from a hacksaw. To do this, the end of the file is sharpened at a right angle on an emery column, as shown in the photograph. It is better to make a cutter with two cutting edges, one of which is thinner for cutting thin sheets.
Next, a metal ruler or any metal plate with a smooth edge is placed along the cutting line and a groove is cut along it in the plastic with the cutter's cutter to a depth of slightly more than half the thickness of the sheet. Typically up to 20 passes are required. The cutter should be moved smoothly with slight pressure.
After obtaining a groove of sufficient depth, the sheet is placed on the edge of the table so that the groove runs along the straight edge of the corner of the table top. Now it is enough to press the sheet to the table surface with one hand, and with the other hand bend it relative to the groove line and the plexiglass will crack exactly along the line. Now all that remains is to bend the plexiglass along the intended line to create a support for the tablet, and the stand will be ready.
How to bend plexiglass using heating method
At temperatures above 100°C, plexiglass begins to soften and can be given any shape. Therefore, in order to bend a sheet of plexiglass to make a stop, you need to heat it along the bending line to a temperature of 120-180°C.
At home, you can heat a narrow strip of plexiglass sheet in three ways: using a linear heating element, heated nichrome wire and the hot air of a hair dryer. It is unacceptable to heat plexiglass above a temperature of 260°C, as it may ignite.
Bending plexiglass is a leisurely job. To bend plastic using a heating element or nichrome wire, plexiglass must be placed above them at a short distance so that the bending line is exactly above the heat source. Next, supply voltage is supplied to the heater. You can bend plexiglass only when it itself begins to bend under its own weight.
Since to make the stop in the stand it was necessary to bend a strip of plexiglass 10 mm wide, a hair dryer was used for heating.
In order to heat only a narrow strip of plexiglass, it is necessary to protect the rest of the sheet from heat. To do this, you need to clamp the sheet between two wooden slats or thick plywood, leaving only the part intended for heating protruding. You can tighten the slats using clamps, as shown in the photo, or two self-tapping screws.
Next, using a hairdryer turned on in the minimum heating mode, the strip of plexiglass is evenly heated along its entire length for 1-2 minutes. When the plexiglass softens and floats, which is clearly visible to the eye, the hair dryer turns off, and the strip is quickly bent in the desired direction using a wooden plank. You need to keep the board pressed for several minutes until the plexiglass cools down and becomes hard.
The photograph shows a strip of plexiglass bent at a right angle. The stop is bent and the clamps can be released.
The tablet stand is almost ready. All that remains is to remove the sharp edges from the ends and corners using fine sandpaper. In my case, it was possible to do without the operation of bending the plexiglass. The workpiece already had a given shape, and to create a stop it was possible to glue a strip of rubber or a couple of narrow strips cut from the remains of plexiglass. But I preferred, nevertheless, to perform the emphasis in the way described above. It turned out reliable and beautiful.
To prevent abrasion of the tablet body where it rests on the stand, its edges can be covered with tape or tape, as in the photo. Instead of tape, you can glue a strip of any soft fabric.
The width of the stand is made slightly smaller than the width of the tablet, so that it does not interfere with picking up the tablet if necessary. In this photo, the tablet is moved to the right so that you can see the stand structure in detail.
As operating practice has shown, thanks to the presence of a flat support, the stand holds the tablet steadily when installed either on a flat hard surface of a table or a soft sofa cushion, or on your lap. The photo shows the view from the back homemade stand with a tablet installed.
The stand, the assembly principles of which are clearly demonstrated in this step-by-step master class, is notable for the fact that it can be used on the floor, at the table, and even lying on the bed. The tablet will always be in a position convenient for you. The design is not only transformable, but also not expensive in terms of cost.
Materials
To make a tablet stand with your own hands, prepare:
- PVC pipes, 0.5 inches in diameter;
- PVC elbows, 90 degrees, 6 pcs.;
- PVC elbows, 45 degrees, 2 pcs.;
- T-fittings, 5 pcs.;
- 3-strip elbows, 4 pcs.;
- end caps, 2 pcs.;
- rubber washers for the hose, 6 pcs.;
- fine-grained sandpaper;
- screws 10-24, 3-inch (4 pcs.), 2.5-inch (1 pc.), 2-inch (1 pc.);
- nuts for screws, 6 pcs.;
- roulette;
- drill and drill bits;
- PVC pipe cutter or hacksaw;
- wing nuts;
- glue for PVC materials;
- marker.
Attention! The dimensions given may vary depending on the tablet model. In this case, the stand was made for the iPad 2.
Step 1. Principles of fastening and processing materials
After cutting the PVC pipes into the lengths you need, be sure to sand the edges of the cuts with sandpaper. Treat the edges of the drilled holes in the same way. This way, your work will look aesthetically pleasing, and the surfaces of the assembled stand will not scratch anyone.
When drilling, be sure to make a kind of notch in the hole using a hammer and nail. This will make your task easier, since the material itself is slippery and the drill easily jumps off without such a stop.
When assembling, you first need to simply assemble the parts, then put them on glue or fasten the structure with screws in the places where they are provided for in the design.
Step 2. Building the frame
The frame in this homemade product is the part that holds the tablet itself. It is shaped like the letter “T” with a small inverted “t” at the base. In fact, you need to cut the PVC pipe into three larger parts and connect them with a T-fitting to each other; in the lower part, two small parts of the pipe of the same diameter should be secured with the same fitting.
At the ends of the resulting figure you need to secure three-stripe elbows. For fastening, use screws with wing nuts. Don’t forget to insert a rubber washer between the materials, which will allow the parts to fit as tightly as possible and not creak later.
In the upper part of the frame, be sure to drill one more hole at each edge. Thanks to them, you can rearrange the top mounts and install the tablet in a horizontal or vertical position.
Step 3. Create the main stand
The design of the stand is such that it can easily stand on flat surfaces and is convenient when working with the tablet while lying in bed.
The dimensions of the stand and the assembly diagram itself are shown in the photo. Pay attention to what fittings are used at different pipe connections. When assembling pipes and fittings in the areas indicated by the red arrows, do not use glue.
Step 4. Assembling the stand
The third component of this design is a mini-stand. You will need it to place the tablet on the table if you do not need additional lifting. With its help, the frame is attached to the stand. All parameters and principle of connecting pipes and fittings are shown in the photo. Be careful when connecting the frame and stand with screws, do not tighten the parts tightly together. You should still have easy access to the wing nuts to adjust the orientation of the tablet.
The tablet stand is ready! If you wish, you can improve it by adding elastic bands to the case that will hold your headphones or charger cable.
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