LED Cube 8x8x8

Step 3 Ordering components

We see a lot of people asking for part numbers for DigiKey, Mouser or other big electronics stores.

When you're working with hobby electronics, you don't necessarily need the most expensive components with the best quality.

Most of the time, it is more important to actually have the component value at hand when you need it.

We are big fans of buying really cheap component lots on eBay. You can get assortments of resistor, capacitors, transistors and everything in between. If you buy these types of assortments, you will almost always have the parts you need in your part collection.

For 17 USD you can get 2000 resistors of 50 different values. Great value, and very convenient.

Try doing som eBay searches and buy some components for future projects!

Another one of our favorite stores is Futurlec (http://www.futurlec.com/). They have everything you need. The thing they don't have is 1000 different versions of that thing that you need, so browsing their inventory is a lot less confusing than buying from those bigger companies.

Comments

[mdhowle]

I'm having difficulty finding some of the parts on Futurlec.com.  Here is a list of what I found so far https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Au_v72WMEAOVdG1DMHBBZGNmZW1fbTFublBDQWtaWHc&hl=en&authkey=CMDr3ckP
The site's search isn't that great.  If someone could be so kind as to help find the rest of the item, I would greatly appreciate it :]

[wootner]

Did you get all the bits ?

I too am having difficulty getting all the components . Does anyone have a component kit ??


Help ...pls

[clause]

Are these led's okay ?

http://cgi.ebay.com/1000-pcs-3mm-Round-Blue-Superbright-LED-Light-blue-/120643708301?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c16ece58d

[Vick Jr]

They aren't diffused.

I found these but the shipping from hong kong is $20 and they look like the exact same ones chr used that turned out to not be diffuse. Still, they seemed to work well enough to make the cube of this instructible.

Is there any place other than ebay to buy LEDs in bulk?

[Vick Jr]

NEVER MIND: I went a head and ordered them and got just what I wanted -3mm blue diffuse. Man these things are BRIGHT!

[DaftMau5]

do these have the proper leg length?

[Vick Jr]

Nope: unfortunately the cathode is only 17mm so the spacing isn't as big as I had hoped, but I think it will still look good. Here's some pics of my 4x4x4 prototype and the leds...

btw, any suggestions on what to use for the reinforcement wire?

[TheDogofWar]

boo, i just ordered the same ones although I saw a listing for $5 more that looked to have enormous leads but the delivery time was at least another week. How did it turn out for you?

[Stevooo1985]

I used tinned copper wire 1mm. I have of roll of 20km at work, so i'm kind of lucky. Works great soldering.

[sfbaynate]

Hey Guys - Futurelec is out of stock for the ATmega32 microcontroller (ATMEGA32-16PC). Does anyone know of an alternative supplier? I've check Jameco, Digikey, Mouser but no luck.

Thanks!

[Shotgunner]

I got mine at Newark.com

[Kevmatic]

I got mine from Sparkfun - who is out too! WTF!

Jameco does not stock them. 

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=ATMEGA32-16PU-ND

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Atmel/ATmega32-16PU/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtkfMPOFRTOlyIToasyrkdP

Yes, you want the 16PU. All 16PU means is that its 16Mhz(rather than 8) and a Plastic DIP.

[lgibbs]

Does anyone know where to get wholesale RGB LED's?

I can't find any anywhere that are a fair price

[AJoubert]

Hi there, I'm new to Instructables and I actually just made an account to access this particularly amazing one.
I have a simple question, which is probably a rather dumb question but I thought i'd ask nonetheless. I've been looking for, and found, many resistors but I wanted to make sure what the 1k distinction for the 1k resistors means in the parts listing. Does it mean 1k ohm? If so which watt rating should i be looking at and which material do you recommend, 1/4 watt or higher, and carbon film or metal film?
Thanks in advance for the help!

[bkeaton]

First off, there is no such thing as a dumb question.

Yes, a 1k resistor means 1k ohms. You'll be using 1/4 watt resistors here for two reasons: 1) You don't need a higher wattage here and 2) they take up less space.

Both types of resistors will be satisfactory here. Film resistors, blue in color, have a much tighter tolerance (1% or less) than a composition (carbon/ceramic with a light brown body color) resistor (5, 10 or 20%).

I am curious though. Based on your question about resistors, are you thinking about building this?

[AJoubert]

Awesome, thanks a lot for the info! I kind of assumed the 1/4 watt would be what i'd be going for but i figured i'd ask just in case so I don't make an unnecessary purchase. Anyhow yes, I am planning on building this cube, I've been looking for a good electronics project and this seemed like a rather interesting one!

[bkeaton]

You are welcome.

Since I don't know you or your electronics skills, please don't take offense at this, but, if this is your first project, it is a rather substantial build. Very complex with lots of parts. 512 leds alone, all of which need to first be individually tested then soldered in place.

Perhaps a smaller cube would be a good place to start, maybe a 3x3x3. Not too big, but a great feeling once you succeed. I started with Chr's 4x4x4. I figured that was a good place for me to start. It is an amazing feeling when you first fire up the cube, program the fuse bits so that the micro controller uses the external oscillator, then watch the cube kick into high gear!

Anyway, just a few of my thoughts. If you decide to go with the 4x4x4, just make sure you read through the directions several times to get a feel for the project. Again, you may be an experienced builder, so best of luck.

Any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

[Vick Jr]

I found a few other sites that have cheap LEDS:

http://www.dhgate.com/wholesale/blue+3mm+diffused+led/s021006008.html#search
http://besthongkong.com/product_info.php?cPath=4&products_id=30
http://besthongkong.com/product_info.php?products_id=31
http://www.hebeiltd.com.cn/?p=z.pricelist.led.diode

[jdantas]

i WANT TO BUY...

[drafttheworld]

Anyone know from experience how long Futurelec takes to ship out an order to the US? All the parts are there which makes life easy, but if they ship from somewhere in Asia then I'm a bit hesitant about possibly having to wait a month before even getting my hands on the parts. Are these guys reasonably expedient?

[StarGazerBob]

My components from Futurlec took nearly two weeks to arrive. I switched gears before starting my project and purchased Croy9000's custom pcb and more components from http://www.mouser.com/ and http://www.jameco.com/. Mouser has 1.8 million parts available online and I received my order within 3 business days! I requested a free hardcopy of their 2294-page catalog and it arrived in about a week. I would recommend Mouser first.

[bnpeele]

Futurlec is out of stock on the ATMega32 40-Pin 16MHz 32kb 8-bit Microcontroller.

They have a ATMega32 44-Pin 16MHz 32kb 8-bit Microcontroller and ATMega32 44-Pin 16MHz 32kb 8-bit SMD Micro available. Would either of these be a suitable replacement?

[mdhowle]

Sparkfun.com has the ATMega32 (search COM-00209) and I currently have an order in for them. I've also read that the ATMega324p is a drop-in replacement according to the avrfreaks.com forums.