Beacon
A laser-cut steel sleeve for the landscape light you already own. Four identical panels tab together into a square, a foot at the bottom of each takes one spike or screw, and the cap locks on with a turn. Your 12-volt up-light sits inside and lights the pattern from below. No wiring, no fixture to buy, nothing to bend at home.
- The kit
- 4 panels + cap12.6 lb · 14ga steel · one cut file
- Your light
- any 12 V up-lighthead under 3.6″ · 3.85″ clear inside the feet
- Open area
- 21%of the pattern · 8″ solid band hides the lamp
- The lock
- 6° turn4 hooked tenons · keyholes in the cap
Price includes powder coat and parcel shipping in the lower 48; the address goes in at checkout. Lights and anchors are not included: the kit stands over the 12 V up-light you already have. Have a laser or a plasma table? The file is the kit: one panel blank to cut four times, one cap, one bend.
- No wiring, no fixture: it stands over the landscape light you already own
- Tabs into notches, feet staked, the cap locks with a 6° turn
- Grass, gravel, deck or patio: one foot, only the anchor changes
Tabs into notches, one corner at a time. The cap locks last.
Every panel carries three tabs on its right edge and three notches on its left, so the four pinwheel into a square with flush corners: each tab ends exactly at the next panel’s outside face. The foot bent inward at the bottom takes one anchor; the four feet make a one-inch ring on the ground with a gap at every corner, where the light’s wire comes out and rain drains.
Anchor as you go: with one panel standing, its foot is in the open and a spike goes in with nothing in the way. Once the square is closed the feet are inside the sleeve.
- Stake the light first. Push your up-light into the ground where the Beacon goes (or set it on its base on a patio or deck) and run the wire out to one side.
- Stand the first panel and anchor its foot. Pattern facing out, notches on the left. One spike, screw or Tapcon through the foot.
- Add the second and third. Hold the next panel against the end of the last one and slide it in from the outside, so its three notches drop over the three tabs. Anchor its foot. Repeat.
- Slide the fourth in from the outside. It closes the square: its tabs go into the first panel’s notches while the third panel’s tabs land in its own. Anchor it, and lead the wire out through a corner notch.
- Set the cap on and turn it. The four hooked tenons pass through the keyholes. Press the cap down onto its shoulders and turn it 6° clockwise until it stops: every hook now sits over steel and the cap can’t lift. The cap floats half an inch above the panels, so light washes out of the gap all the way around.
One foot, four surfaces. Only the anchor changes.
Each foot has two holes: a 7/16″ one for a landscape spike and a 1/4″ one for a screw or a Tapcon. The light goes in first, the sleeve goes over it, and the wire leaves through the notch at any corner, so nothing is cut into the face.
Not drilling the patio? The sleeve stands on its own weight; a bead of exterior construction adhesive under the feet holds it where the wind blows. Four anchors per light; they are not in the kit.
| Surface | Four of | How |
|---|---|---|
| Grass | 10″ × 3/8″ landscape spikes | Hammer through the big hole as each panel goes up. Same spikes as the light. |
| Gravel or mulch | 10″ × 3/8″ landscape spikes | Rake back, set the feet on the soil, rake the gravel to the base. |
| Wood deck | #10 × 1½″ exterior screws | Through the small hole into the board. The wire drops between boards. |
| Concrete or pavers | 1/4″ × 1¾″ Tapcons | Hammer drill, 3/16″ bit through the small hole. Wire out a corner. |
One panel to cut four times, one cap, one bend.
Everything is in inches and every contour is closed, so it loads straight into LightBurn, Fusion, SheetCam or a plasma table’s own software with nothing to clean up. The $15 file covers all three sizes in your pattern.
- DXF (R12)The panel on layer CUT, the foot’s fold on BEND, the anchor holes on HOLES, the cap and its keyholes on CAP.
- SVGThe same contours as hairline strokes, colored by layer, for LightBurn, Inkscape and the Glowforge/xTool crowd.
- Proof sheet (PDF)Both parts at scale with the dimensions, the bend, the lock, the anchors and the five steps.
- Your libraryFiles live in your plan library, every size, so a lost download is never a problem.
| Size | Steel | Light head | Kit | File |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 × 18Path · Path edges, steps, planting beds | 10 lb | under 3.6″ | $189in 2–3 weeks | $15 |
| 6 × 24Beacon · Patio corners, the lawn, a driveway | 13 lb | under 3.6″ | $219in 2–3 weeks | $15 |
| 8 × 30Pillar · Entries, gate posts, pool decks | 21 lb | under 5.5″ | $319in 2–3 weeks | $15 |
14ga steel, four panels and a cap. Kit prices are per light with textured black powder coat and parcel shipping in the lower 48, shipped flat in 2–3 weeks; the address goes in at checkout. Weights are the Reed pattern; the open patterns run a pound lighter. Lights and anchors are not included.
Drawn by the same generator as the panels.
- Ribs never thinner than 0.75″; every void is a closed contour, the steel stays one piece.
- Tabs the thickness of the steel in notches cut 0.02″ wide for the powder coat. The corners are flush both ways.
- A hooked tenon on every panel: a 0.3″ hook over a ½″ post, in a keyhole 0.19″ wide. Set the cap on, turn it a few degrees, it stays.
- The foot: 1″ bent inward, a 0.4375″ hole for a spike and a 0.265″ hole for a screw or Tapcon, a wire and drain notch beside it.
- A solid band at the bottom (6″, 8″, 10″) hides the lamp; the pattern starts above it.
- Reed and Stone are generated from a seed and carry a serial, so no two kits repeat.
Every Beacon pattern is a Metal panel pattern, re-flowed for a face a few inches wide, so a path of Beacons matches the screen, the gate and the pergola.
Good to know
Which lights fit?
Any 12-volt landscape up-light or well light with a head under 3.6″ across on the 6″ Beacons, and under 5.5″ on the 8″ Pillar: the stake-in LED spots every brand sells, including the ones already in your yard. LEDs run cool, so the sleeve needs no vents beyond the pattern. A warm-white bulb (2700 K) reads best through steel.
Is there anything to wire?
No. The light is yours and stays on your transformer and wire; the Beacon is a steel sleeve that stands over it. Set the light, build the sleeve around it, and lead the wire out through the notch at a corner.
How does the cap stay on?
Each panel ends in a hooked tenon. The cap’s four keyholes drop over the hooks; turn the cap 6° clockwise and every hook sits over solid steel beside its slot, so the cap cannot lift until you turn it back. No tools, nothing to lose.
Can it be knocked over?
With the feet anchored it stays put through wind and a bump from the mower. Set loose on a patio it stands on its own weight (13 lb for the 6 × 24), and a bead of exterior construction adhesive under the feet keeps it in a windy spot. It is not a vehicle bollard.
What do I get when I order the kit?
Four panels, bent, and one cap, cut from 14-gauge steel in Texas and powder coated in textured black on both sides, flat in a padded box, in 2–3 weeks. The proof sheet of the exact kit being cut goes in your library the moment you order, with the cut files. You add four spikes or screws and your light.
Should I buy the file or the kit?
If you have a fiber laser or a plasma table and a vise or a brake for one bend, the file: it is the same file the shop cuts from, and it covers all three sizes. If you don’t, the kit. Cutting, bending and coating five small parts at a local shop means a setup fee and a coater’s minimum, and the quote usually lands above our price.
Why are Reed and Stone numbered?
They are generated from a seed, so no two kits repeat. The serial is printed in the file name and on the proof sheet; “Draw another one” makes a new panel at the same size, and the one you buy is exactly the one you saw. Linear, Breeze and Hex are the same every time.
Can I sell Beacons I cut from the file?
No. The file is a personal-use license, written into the file and the proof sheet: cut as many as you like for your own yard, not for sale as kits or as a file. A shop license is coming; ask us if you need one sooner.