I realized, when I was working on my bike last weekend, that the clutch cable was stiff because I had cinched it onto the frame using zipties, creating extra friction between the cable and its housing. I did this because the cable I ordered was too long, and I had a few extra inches to squish out of the way. Er. That was not so smart. I put up with this for over a year, since I didn’t realize it was a problem with the cable, and not part of the clutch design. The replacement replacement arrived today, and it took all of fifteen minutes to install it. I’m laughing at myself now for taking so long to think of this.

Parts for a pair of LED poi are scattered across my work table at the moment as I figure out how I am going to assemble them. I haven’t started any of the electronics work yet, but it’s a simplified version of the juggling ball prototype I made early last summer, so I expect it all to be straightforward. I’m using 3.3v circuitry this time, which means I don’t have to shift levels in order to talk to the accelerometer, I’m using plain ol’ AAA batteries instead of the fancy lithium-polymer rechargeable system, and I’m using a manual “wake up” button instead of an accelerometer-driven interrupt. Simple as can be.

Each poi is made from a pair of 3″ acrylic hemispheres, with a length of ball chain and a braided leather handle. I’m going to diffuse the light by sanding the insides of the hemispheres and painting them with aerosol window frosting. I think it would be simple enough to epoxy all the electronics onto one of the hemispheres; what I haven’t worked out yet is how to securely mount the battery box, how to keep the batteries from popping out during use, and how to attach the hemispheres together in such a way that it is still possible to change the batteries.

Come to think of it, maybe a rechargeable system would have been easier, since I could solve both of those problems with epoxy, and leave the poi permanently sealed.