DIY LED car headlights!

Step 3 Procurement for Phase One

By the way, I hope I don't, but I may forget to mention something as it might be too obvious for me. Comment on it and I'll either make a correction or say I didn't use that.

MATERIALS:
I pulled MXN$500.00 (around USD$45.00) from my budget and bought the following:
A) A hundred 3mm white LED's. Fifty were for the project; fifty were for my stockpile
B) Thirty-five 82ohm resistors (at a quarter watt)
C) Bakelite wafers.
I bought everything on STEREN. STEREN has presence in Mexico and the States, and you can shop online or locate the store nearest you through this website: http://www.steren.com

I have a bit of a stockpile on anything else I could need:
D) Around a dozen different types of glue (from hot glue to epoxy)
E) Around fifty 5mm white LED's
F) Assorted cables (different calibers of sound and microelectronics' cable). For best results, I prefer using thermocontractible insulation or glue-as-insulation ratter than electrical tape.
G) Clear acrylic paint. You might recognize it more easily as 'transparent graffiti'.

TOOLS:
A) A Dremel with enough accessories
B) A hacksaw blade
C) All kinds of electrical pliers: precision-cutting pliers, needle-nose pliers, round-bending pliers, wire-stripping pliers, et cetera.
D) A soldering iron
E) A mirror, a flashlight and my cell-phone's camera. At times, those were my only tools for looking at the work area.
F) Basic safety equipment: security glasses, an air extractor, et cetera.

SUBSTANCES:
A) In my case, an acid to pull off the copper layer from the Bakelite wafers. Try and get uncoated Bakelite, unless you actually know how to etch it.
I used FeCl3 on a 15% aqueous solution starting at 40 Celsius and kept at 33 Celsius (the ambient temperature) and stirred every now and then. The copper was gone within a half hour.

Comments

[hec_tru]

hey amigo en eBay stan mas baratos los leds de 5 y 3 mm ;) jajaja tardan komo 15 dias en llegar a tu kasa...!!!

[Nachoman]

He hecho mis calculos y terminaría pagando aproximadamente lo mismo (una vez que tomamos en cuenta el envio). Creeme, he buscado.

[hec_tru]

por cierto cuando necesites hechame un email kon el mismo seudonimo pero en korreo kaliente ;)