How to Make a Sun Prism

Prisms convert white light into separate colored beams.

A sun prism is a simple device used to break up the sun's white light waves into the colors of the rainbow. Prisms, made from glass or transparent plastic, benefit from the fact that light changes speed as it enters different mediums -- for example, from the air into the glass of the prism. Once inside the prism, its multifaceted, angled sides deflect and refract the light waves -- a process augmented by filling the prism with water.

Things You'll Need

• 3-inch glass triangle bevels (6)
• Jewelry chain
• Clear silicone
• Copper foil
• Solder gun
• Soldering iron
• 22 or 24 gauge copper wire
• Distilled water
• 60cc syringe
• Glass scoring tool
• Masking tape

Instructions

1. Choose six glass bevel triangles from the bevel pack, laying them out side-by-side to ensure they're the same size.

2. Score a horizontal line 1/8 inches from the tip of a bevel's corner and crack off the tip by hand. Do this to three of the bevels so you can insert the metal chain near the end of constructing the prism.

3. Wrap foil around the outside edges of each triangle bevel. Spread clear silicone along the interior edge of each section of foil before joining the three bevels with tape to avoid leakage. Tape the three bevels together, with the 1/8-inch shortened tips pointing upward. Rest the temporarily taped piece on a flat surface. Meld the soldering iron wire into the copper-wrapped seams with the solder gun, working from top to bottom to seal the seams.

4. Solder a small chunk of soldering iron onto one end of the chain. Pull the un-soldered end of the chain through the 1/8-inch opening you cut at the top of the prism, until the chunk stops the chain from pulling any farther. The solder chunk will secure the prism at the end of the chain.

5. Wrap the edges of the last three bevels, tape them together in the same three-sided pyramid fashion, and solder them to each other.

6. Position the two sections base to base, rotating until you find the orientation with the smaller seams. Place a piece of solder wire into the gap, which prevents any solder material from dripping into the prism. Solder the section together, rotate to the next side and repeat.

7. Fill the 60cc syringe with distilled water. Slide the needle of the syringe into the top of the prism, next to the chain and squeeze distilled water into the prism until it's full. Your sun prism is complete and can be hung in an area that receives direct sunlight.

References

• Free Patterns For Stained Glass: Water Prism