So, after much deliberation and experimentation, the prototype for the perfume display was shown to Jennifer of Thierry Mugler, and passed her careful inspection. She is very excited about the new touch the display will bring to the otherwise drab market.

The three iterations are almost entirely complete. The bases are 44″ tall made of the highest quality polished steel 1/16″ thin. The electronics consist of a servo motor rotating back and forth (so as not to tangle the wires). A cross attached to the servo holds the LEDs. The lights stay on and do not pulse as originally designed. The problem with the pulsing was that it took away from the illumination of the display. We could have settled for a combination of pulsing and always-on lights, but we decided for aesthetic reasons on having them all always-on. We don’t want this display to look tacky like a cheap electronic toy.

Above the electronics and lights is the layer of mirrored shards. I’ve found that a circular saw is very adept at cutting the mirror without leaving too much of a nasty edge. It helps to have the mirrored side down resting on the table otherwise you sometimes chip off the mirroring.

After almost chopping my hand off in an absent-minded moment, I’m now very wary of putting my fingers anywhere near the blade. Do not cross your hands ever when working with a circular saw!!! Also do not for any reason put your hands in the line of the saw, even if the saw is retracted and nowhere near your hand – if the saw catches on the material you’re cutting, it will throw the material backwards and jump forwards and cut off your fingers!!!! The laws of momentum at work against your fingers.

Thanks to the advice at Canal Plastic and Industrial Plastics – both of Chinatown, I’m using Methyl Chloride as the adhesive to bond the mirror to the clear plexi platform it rests on. Originally I had experimented with Weld-on (i believe #16 – see previous blog posts), but found it too gooey and noticeable. A more viscous adhesive works better with the look I’m going for. Methyl Chloride is very nice to work with – you can drip it on the edge of the plexi, and it will flow evenly down the rest of the edge without much intervention. I’ve found it to be surprisingly strong even with little contact area between pieces.

A pair of LEDs passes through the mirror layer on to the “glorifier” – the base the perfume bottle rests on. I’m waiting for the top glorifier/plexi/magnifier case to throw on top of it all. Damn lazy subcontractors. Stay tuned…