9

LENS

Eric Mason

Project Maker

Project Link

hsmag.cc/SnzHjo

Above

Eric’s milkshake straw

lightsabers won third spot

in the sci-fi contest on

Instructables and earned

him a remote-controlled

lightsaber room light

ric Mason was all of eight months

old when his parents took him to a

screening of the original Star Wars in

a Florida drive-in theatre, back in 1977.

“So, when three generations of my family

got together to see Episode VII, The Force Awakens,

I wanted to do something special for the occasion,”

says Eric, who teaches technical writing to college

students, but loves to tinker with stuff, along with his

son. So, for movie night, Eric glued two finger lights

to a 9-inch-long milkshake straw. He then placed

small strips of electrical tape over the finger light

and at the bottom of straw for strength. For a more

complete experience, he enhanced the hilt on one of

the lightsabers by cutting and taping a small section

of another straw to fit around the main straw. “The

batteries will eventually run out, but my goal was low-

cost fun rather than longevity. And they don’t make

sounds like the expensive fancy ones, but it’s hard to

resist making your own lightsaber sounds when you

start swinging them around,” he shares.

E

“ For a more complete experience,

he enhanced the hilt on one of the

lightsabers by cutting and taping a

small section of another straw to

fit around the main straw“

MILKSHAKE

STRAW

LIGHTSABERS