Tiki Volcano Man
LED Neon tubing (faux neon) Tiki Bar window enhancement.
The owner of a fantastic tiki bar wanted to enhance their guests’ experience by adding neon.
I worked with them to create an angry tiki volcano god that adds a focal point, brightens up the space, and adds a warm ambiance that keeps their guests raving into the night.
Project Goals
Design • Production • Installation
For this project I started out by measuring the space into which the neon will be installed. It was important that the piece be serviceable. I designed a sandwiched-style frame to insert it into the window area and be able to remove it easily if I needed to bring it back to my studio for repair.
After final design approval, I cut, soldered and sealed all of the neon lengths. Then I cut and prepped the plexiglass sheets for gluing. The neon channel and wires were glued to the plexiglass. All the wires were soldered together into a tapered bundle which was routed out of the frame in the lower left corner. All the wiring is hidden in the wood frame that holds the plexiglass – neon – plexiglass sandwich together.
I matched a power supply wattage to the requirements by measuring the drawn amps @ 12 volts and added an inline dimmer.
The “neon window” was then installed into the tiki bar with a few wood screws.
