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What to do with 60+ glass bricks?!

Hey folks,

I saw these glass bricks on Facebook marketplace and just had to have them!

Facebook post selling 70 retro glass blocks/wall bricks with phot

It turned out the person selling them is a friend whose website I updated lately so she was happy to give them to me for free! There's about 68 of them. They're covered in expanding foam and paint. I've started to clean them up using a scraper and some nail polish remover for the tough bits.

A single cleaned glass brick with a banana on top for sale

But the question is - what to do with them!?! They're 19*19*8cm. They're hollow in the middle so not too heavy.

I'm going to get 9 cleaned up and stack them in a grid and light up the centre one from different angles. I want to see what's the best way to light them up. And then.... ??

A giant wall for Tetris?
An igloo? (Thanks for the idea mayermakes !)

Also, how do I stack them? And where! I don't want them to fall on anyone but I also don't want to permanently stick them together. So a frame of sorts? It feels like an outdoor display to me.. so how do I waterproof the electronics?

Any ideas are welcome!

beacon_dave over 2 years ago

I think we can safely rule out their use as a lunch box for your banana
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mayermakes over 2 years ago

i´d certainly say lightup in adressable way, so you are flexible in what to make them display

genericif it should not be a permanent installation , i´d consider using a Watertight adressable RGB strip and put the controlls in a IP65 box
and just stack them in a wodden frame to keep everything in place. wit h70 of them you could make a nice stable L shape, thats visible from more than one side.
so a great roadside display as incoming traffic could see it from both sides.
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beacon_dave over 2 years ago

You could rebuild it as a wall and back project onto it.

Perhaps turn it into a sliding tile puzzle type game but use gesture recognition to 'slide the tiles' in the projected image.
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lorrainbow over 2 years ago in reply to beacon_dave

oo I do like a good sliding puzzle
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beacon_dave over 2 years ago

If they are hollow, then drill a hole into the side to insert a light source. Then paint the sides and back white or silver.

You will then be able to light up each block individually.

( If you lay them horizontally you could have yourself a light up dance floor. )
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lorrainbow over 2 years ago in reply to beacon_dave

yeah, getting a light strip into the brick might be tricky - especially if you want to go in evenly. A light up dance floor would be AMAZING! But dancing on glass? Hmmm, slippy!
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beacon_dave over 2 years ago in reply to lorrainbow

I was thinking more of a single larger light source rather than the likes of a LED strip.

Slippy dance floors are great for some types of dancing

However, you could varnish over it with sand like they do on yacht decks if you want 'traction control'.
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beacon_dave over 2 years ago in reply to lorrainbow

You could use a jig to drill the block if you want to make sure things lined up.

You could drill 8 smaller holes and pull a LED strip through each of the four sides.

Perhaps use some neon effect silicone sleeve to help form it.

Or stiff wire or aluminium channel with diffuser cap.
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beacon_dave over 2 years ago

68 would allow you to do an 8x8 grid for chess / chequers type games.

Could also do Connect 4 / tic-tac-toe.
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lorrainbow over 2 years ago in reply to beacon_dave

You know what's gutting is I'm pretty sure there's an odd number of bricks! Every time I go to get one or move them it's pouring down with rain so I haven't fully counted them yet! not 70 like she said...
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