Make a Faceted LED Gem

Lots of projects use LEDs. Here we'll be modifying the LED itself to resemble a gem. Doing this also changes the light output pattern of the LED, throwing more light to the sides and less forward.

Step 1: The Inside of the LED / The Plan

The common LED has a die (the light emitting element) in a cup on one lead, and a fine wire from the other lead to the die, all enclosed in plastic. This plastic enclosure protects the sensitive electronic elements and focuses the light produced. So long as we don't get too close to the delicate parts inside we can safely reshape the lens.

Comments

[ratgod]

I file down the ends of my LED's depending on how diffused or focused I want the beams. I bought a load of clear LEDs and I wanted to illuminate a picture from behind so I filed it down to make it as diffused and spread out.

good instructable :)

[whiteoakart]

Great idea, btw.

[whiteoakart]

A very easy way to polish plastic is to quickly brush over it with a butane/propane torch. You will have a glossy smooth surface in an instant as long as you don't have any deep scratches.

[JohnMichael]

I am wondering if anyone has experimented to find the refractive index of the plastic. In actual gems their refractive index is used to determine the best angle for the facets (flat surfaces.)

[tinkernaut]

I had been wondering if this could be done. Now I know. Brilliant (pun intended)! How thick is the plastic surrounding the cup? Is the cup encased in solid plastic, or is the plastic really a hollow dome covering the cup?

[hanelyp]

In the common low power LED, such as used here, it's solid plastic all the way down to the active components. You don't want to shave it too close, but I found several mm of margin to work with. High power LEDs commonly use a thin dome over a filler, and can't be modified the same way.

[zeroemission]

great idea! i was thinking of something similar just yesterday involving backlighting fake gems, but just grinding the led makes so much more sense! another backligting idea i had was crinkling up transparent clored plastic for a splotchy "tie dye" sort of pattern. the cool thing about your tech though is you can create random. non geometric patterns. thanks for the great idea!

[FrenchCrawler]

Nice... I had plans to make a ring for Christmas using a blue 10mm LED as a diamond but I didn't know what the best way to shape it would be, so I never made the dang thing (but still got the large LED :P ) Good job :)

[zorif]

good one. if possible compare ur moded LED with normal one.so that we will know the difference better.

[GorillazMiko]

At first I didn't get this, but then I looked over it again, and this is cool! It looks all sharp and stuff, exactly like a gem. I might try this, stuff will look awesome like this, nice job!