LED Cube 4x4x4

Step 3: Making the cube, template

Soldering grids of 4x4 LEDs freehand would look terrible!
To get 4 perfect 4x4 grids of LEDs, we use a template to hold the them in place.

I wanted to make the cube as easy as possible to make, so I chose to use the LEDs own legs as much as possible. The distance between the lines in the grid was decided by the length of the LED legs. I found that 25mm (about an inch) was the optimal distance between each led (between the center of each led that is!) to enable soldering without adding or cutting wire.

• Find a piece of wood large enough to make a 4x4 grid of 2,5cm on.
• Draw up a 4x4 grid of lines.
• Make dents in all the intersects with a center punch.
• Find a drill bit that makes holes small enough so that the led will stay firmly in place, and big enough so that the led can easily be pulled out (without bending the wires..).
• Drill the 16 holes.
• Your ledcube template is done.