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If you work with your hands and want to have more light where you're working, these hand lights (okay.. forearm lights) work great and are pretty simple to make. Use them for working with crafts, electronics, changing light bulbs, visiting the fuse box, rummaging through the crawl space, or cleaning out that one unlit closet.
I like to work on stuff in my living room, because that's where all the comfortable furniture and the good music system is. Unfortunately there's not a ton of light. I tried a task light but it got uncomfortably warm and cast harsh shadows. I tried the head mounted lamps like the cool DJ's wear, but I didn't like where I had to hold my head to see my work.
So I made these. They'll give you light right where you hands are, wherever you move them. Wearing one on both arms makes sure there's always enough light on everything, and they're pretty light and comfy. I've worn them for hours without noticing. And the little arms are adjustable so you can tweak where the light goes. Just be careful scratching your nose, they're bright enough they'll hurt if you look into them at close range.
I've been using them for carving and working on electronics. But I think it would be cool to make a couple with UV LEDs and break out the blacklight paint for DJing.
These instructions are for making one, but you'll probably want two.
Time: Less than an hour
Skills needed: Basic soldering, hot gluing, wire stripping etc.
Total cost: About $8-12, including the batteries.
Thanks!
I managed to be one of the winners in the Get the LED Outcontest! Thanks everyone for their support!
I like to work on stuff in my living room, because that's where all the comfortable furniture and the good music system is. Unfortunately there's not a ton of light. I tried a task light but it got uncomfortably warm and cast harsh shadows. I tried the head mounted lamps like the cool DJ's wear, but I didn't like where I had to hold my head to see my work.
So I made these. They'll give you light right where you hands are, wherever you move them. Wearing one on both arms makes sure there's always enough light on everything, and they're pretty light and comfy. I've worn them for hours without noticing. And the little arms are adjustable so you can tweak where the light goes. Just be careful scratching your nose, they're bright enough they'll hurt if you look into them at close range.
I've been using them for carving and working on electronics. But I think it would be cool to make a couple with UV LEDs and break out the blacklight paint for DJing.
These instructions are for making one, but you'll probably want two.
Time: Less than an hour
Skills needed: Basic soldering, hot gluing, wire stripping etc.
Total cost: About $8-12, including the batteries.
Thanks!
I managed to be one of the winners in the Get the LED Outcontest! Thanks everyone for their support!
Parts:
- 1 Battery holder for 3 AAA batteries.
- 3 AAA batteries.
- 1 mini toggle switch. (SPST. Skip this if your battery holder has a switch, or you just want to turn it off by taking the batteries out.)
- 18 inches of 2 conductor stranded wire. 20 gauge or so.
- 18 inches of Velcro. Hook or loop.
- 1 inch of Velcro (the mate of the Velcro above)
- 3 White LEDs: (I used 3, 7000mcd 3.5v, 25mA LEDs, though fewer, brighter LEDs would work too.)
- 3 resistors, 47 ohm. (Or whatever your LEDs need. Check here.)
- 18 inches of 9 or 11 1/2 gauge aluminum wire. AKA armature wire.
- Solder
- Hot glue
- Electrical tape/heat shrink tubing.
Tools:
- Soldering iron.
- Hot glue gun.
- Wire cutter/strippers.
- Pliers.
- Scissors.
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To review:
Parts:
- 1 Battery holder for 3 AAA batteries.
- 3 AAA batteries.
- 1 mini toggle switch. (SPST. Skip this if your battery holder has a switch, or you just want to turn it off by taking the batteries out.)
- 18 inches of 2 conductor stranded wire. 20 gauge or so.
- 18 inches of Velcro. Hook or loop.
- 1 inch of Velcro (the mate of the Velcro above)
- 3 White LEDs: (I used 3, 7000mcd 3.5v, 25mA LEDs, though fewer, brighter LEDs would work too.)
- 3 resistors, 47 ohm. (Or whatever your LEDs need. Check here.)
- 18 inches of 9 or 11 1/2 gauge aluminum wire. AKA armature wire.
- Solder
- Hot glue
- Electrical tape/heat shrink tubing.
Tools:
- Soldering iron.
- Hot glue gun.
- Wire cutter/strippers.
- Pliers.
- Scissors.
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I am wondering if you could do this project with only 1 LED instead of 3? If so, what size LED and resister would you suggest? Would the power input be the same too?
Please keep in mind I am not an electronics geek type. But I am willing to learn.
Thanks!
wouldn't it be more effective on your shirt or shoulder or any where like a head unit so you can freely move your arms around
even a torch in your mouth allows for better light
Thats my point you have to reajust for different angles but with something like head mounted you just look at it any way and don't need to adjust if not in the same possition
And somthing like shirt mounted will give you a better spread of light to cover the work area if it needs to be brighter just hold it closer and if it's to bright just a little further, and for both it just needs one set of lights not 2
Your idea is another way of looking at it anyway
and makes people think of other ways
keep up the experimenting
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/pitchmen/inventions/inventions.html
Wonder if one of us was copying the other?
'able a good idea. keep up the excellent work. unclecytheledguy.
There is a simple calculator at this link to figure out what resistors you need. If you're going to use 3 of the same type LEDs I used you'll need one 100 ohm resistor for each LED.
2 leds in series creating a row, and 2 rows parallel with each other
You can also find something similar at hardware stores if you shop for aluminum wire, which can also come in a bunch of colors.
It has all sorts of uses.
You could cut up a wire hangar to use but it wouldn't be as good as aluminum. It would make it harder to build because the steel wire is harder to shape, and the the light position wouldn't be as easy to adjust because the steel is springy and won't say where you put it. But it would work.
- Nylon strapping with a buckle (like these) You might be able to scrounge one from an old backpack or bag.
- Make a metal bracelet from a wire hangar. Cut the hook out of a the hangar and bed the wings into a loop a little smaller than your arm. Glue in place. Make sure you cap any raw pointy bits of wire.
- Shoe laces or ribbon. Take two shoe laces or lengths of ribbon and glue one to the front and one to the back of the battery holder. Glue the laces at the mid-point. Put it on your arm and tie 'em up. This will probably be a pain since you have to do it one handed.
- Cuff from a sock. Cut the top 4 inches off an old sock and hot glue it on. It won't be adjustable, so make sure it fits right on your arm before gluing.
Those are my ideas off the top of my head. Anyone else have any suggestions?To figure it out either go here and put 6 volts for the source voltage and fill in the rest with the specifications from your LEDs, or you can follow this instructable to calculate the resistors you need.
For the late night lights, consider making them with red LEDs, they won't kill eyes that are adjusted to the dark
30 mA and 3.6v. nice idea! im going to make this with only 1 battery pack and a wire running down your arm and your other arm so you can have 2 sets for half the batteries! i had a thought that was wierd! run some wire from your power source through your underwear and next to your socks. that would feel wierd!
I did things a bit differently. I used just one resistor for all thee LEDs instead of one per LED. The LEDs I used, Digikey C503C-WAN-CBADA151-ND ($0.54), are a bit more focused than yours. If I was to do it again, I might us more diffused ones. I also put a nifty little pot, Digikey 3352W-101LF-ND ($1.24), in parallel with the resistor. It was a 100 ohm resistor and a 100 ohm pot so the resistance can be varied between 0 and 50 ohms. I thought this would let me conserve batteries if I so choose and crank up the current when the batteries start to die. I also used a push button, Digikey 518PB-ND ($1.19), to turn it on and off. For the main supporting wire I used the wire from marking flags. The flags used to mark buried cables, Harbor Freight item number 95264 ($1.49 for 25). Instead of running two wires up to the LEDs, I used the supporting wire as one connection. So I soldered the three LED cathodes right to the supporting wire. The wire, being galvanized, wasn't exactly conducive to soldering but with enough heat and solder it seems to be holding quite well. I drilled a hole through the battery holder and ran the support wire through it where the support wire first meets the battery holder to add a bit of strain relief. This way adjusting the support wire won't put quite so much strain on hot glue alone. The battery holder part number was Digikey BC3AAW-ND ($1.22). For the velcro straps I used Harbor Freight item number 66125 ($1.99). These already had a plastic buckle on one end so I didn't need to used your spiffy trick of using the support wire to make one. Because I wanted to keep both ends of the straps but they were way too long I took a section out of the middle. I just cut some out of the middle and sewed it back together. I used a razor blade to shave off some fuzz to make the seam smooth. I also shaved off all the fuzz where I hot glued the battery holder to the strap.
I love my hand lights.
If you'd like to add any of this comment to the main part of your instructable please feel free and thanks for the great idea.