Sealed Money Box With Peep Hole and Light

by monster_mash in Living > Hiding Places

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Sealed Money Box With Peep Hole and Light

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I have a brother who thinks that I'm a bank. He's always taking my change but I've never caught him. One day mum was making a Milo for me and said that there was none left in the tin. Anyone who has had Milo before will know my pain. I told mum don't worry about it and even offered to pay for some more. I went to where I kept my change and yep, it had gone.

When I came back and saw Mum hold that big empty tin I knew what I had to do. I would make a money box that he couldn't open, out of the tin. That way it would be right in front of him all of the time, teasing him but he wouldn't be able to get at it.

I asked dad to help and he came up with the idea of soldering the lid together. Being my dad he also added a peep hole and a little light inside so I could see how much money was inside. I loved this idea because I knew it would annoy my brother even more.

Thanks dad for helping with the cutting and soldering.

Things to Get

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Parts:

1. Large tin. I used a Milo tin but a coffee tin or something similar would work too.

2. 2 x AA battery holder

3. 2 X AA batteries

4. LED. I used a cree one that I got from a cheap torch

5. Push switch

None of the parts should be too hard to find. If you wanted to you cold just pull a torch apart for the electronics

Tools:

1. Solder

2. Dremel

3. Files

4. Mini blow torch

5. Flux

6. Hot Glue

Make the Coin Slot

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Steps:

1. Mark out where you want the coin slot to go.

2. With a dremel and a metal cutting end, carefully cut out the marked section.

3. Once the slot is large enough, use a small file to smooth out any of the rough edges

Make the Peep Hole

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Steps:

1. With a large drill bit, drill a hole into the lid.

2. If you have to, smooth out the edges with a file. I didn't have to as the drill bit I used was a little blunt and it pushed the edges down inside the lid!

Wire Up the Electronics

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Steps:

1. First solder the positive wire from the battery to one of the terminals on the switch

2. Next solder a wire to the LED and then solder this to the other terminal on the switch. Make sure the the polarities are correct before you solder

3. Lastly solder on the negative wire from the battery holder to the LED. Test

Adding the Electronics to the Money Box

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Steps:

1. Drill a hole in the side of the money box big enough for the switch. Screw the switch into place.

2. Next hot glue the battery holder to the inside of the money box.

3. Scratch the top of the money box as shown and add some hot glue and attach the LED.

4. Put the lid on and test.

Solder on the Lid

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Steps:

1. Add some flux around the edges of the lid

2. Next carefully heat up the side of the lid with a mini blow torch and add solder. Try not to keep the heat on the same spot for too long of the tin with blacken. If this does happen, you should be able to remove most of it with a polishing agent.

Add Some Style

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Steps:

1. I was going to keep the Milo wrap but decided to take it off and add something better.

2. You could add some wrapping paper but we went with something simple and just added some letter stickers.

3. Write whatever you want on the tin.

Finished!