Made at theCO: How to Make a Giant Lite Brite

It didn’t start with a plan, but with a 55-inch TV hitting the ground.

About two years ago, Ben Ferguson, one of theCO’s CO:founders, helped his dad pick out a new television at Best Buy. They brought it to his house, set it up on the mantle, and were celebrating in the kitchen when they heard the sound of something heavy falling with a resounding smash.

The television had toppled over and shattered on the ground.

Best Buy couldn’t take the broken TV back, so Ferguson brought the monitor, which still glowed when turned on, to theCO.  

A couple months ago, Lisa Garner, executive director, had the idea to turn the TV into a giant Lite Brite.

Dan Drogosh, theCO’s media and facilities manager, got to work making the Lite Brite. He built a wooden frame to surround the screen and digitally designed a grid of holes to cover the television screen. By using theCO’s CNC router, he cut hundreds of holes in a slab of wood. He then sanded and stained the frame and front piece.

“Cutting the hundreds of holes was quite easy, thanks to the CNC machine, and we most likely would not have done it if we didn’t have access to one,” Drogosh said.

To make the pegs, he found half-inch diameter, acrylic rods in various colors, which he cut and polished using theCO’s laser.

He said that the current plan is to have the Lite Brite out at theCO events for people to play with and stir creative juices.

“We have gotten a lot of greats responses from kids and adults,” Drogosh said. “There is something nostalgic about creating patterns and shapes with colored pegs that brings you back to a time when it didn’t take much to be entertained.