Make a Fancy Blue LED Lamp (by Brad Justinen)

Make a Fancy Blue LED Raindrop Lamp out of a 2x4 scrap, some acrylic plexiglass, and some blue LEDs.

Here is a list of the tools I used, you may be able to get away with using less:

-Scroll Saw
-Drill Press
-Bench top belt and disc sander
-Drill
-Countersink Bit
-Various Drill Bits
-Soldering Iron
-Phillips Screwdriver Bit

Here is a list of the materials I used

-Small piece of 2x4
-Acrylic plexiglass
-2 round PCBS
-3 standoffs
-9 blue LEDs
-9 resistors
-Wallwart
-Solder
-3 black drywall screws

Step 1: Make you wooden raindrop (or teardrop) shape

A. Cut off a piece of 2x4 and use a hole saw to cut a hole through it. I had to drill a pilot hole and cut it from both sides to get the center out. You will want to cut it to roughly the same size as your round PCBs. I got mine on eBay but you could cut you own with a hole saw.

B. Sketch out raindrop your shape around the hole and cut it with a scroll saw.

C. Finalize your shape and finish with a belt or disc sander.

D. Drill your pilot holes in the face for you to attach the acrylic later. I did this so I wouldn't crack the wood when setting the screws.

Comments

[iApple guy]

Where did you get those LEDs, and the PCB from?

[bluca]

Great stuff.
I did it for my daughter and she was so happy.
I made it with 4 leds and with a cellular-phone power supply

[aorjuela85]

Awesome Project!!! I know there are different ways of wiring LEDs...is there an advantage of having one resistor per LED or could you have done it with one resistor?

[yourrevelation]

when r u going to make a monkey lectric bike?

[lavert31]

first of all, it's nice and beautiful project. do you know the spec of the leds: mcd? angle? voltage/current Thanks, Etay

[turtleshane]

where you get that plug i cant find one like it any where!! i love leds!!!

[sensoryhouse]

VALUE VILLAGE!

[chuy_di]

if i want to place leds on both sides and place acrilic on both side i must use 2 wall wart or how should i do that

[sensoryhouse]

you could should use one power supply and vary your resistors accordingly.

[chuy_di]

mind posting a link on how to solder those LEDs, i am interesting in making that lamp

[hurtzmyhead]

dude! make a flame, a leaf, and a rock or something and you could have all the elements. (k i know those arnt the real elements, i think it would just be cool)

[Jakeg]

Can someone help me? I really want to know how to solder the LEDS! My dad and I want to make some

[Junkyard John]

There's a great site called Instructables that can help you out! Check this one: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-solder/

[turtleshane]

lol that funny... yeah..... *cough

[luster123]

I like the idea, and the same concept can be used for other lights.

[m1sterb0b]

Did you buy the leds/pcbs/capacitors in a kit or did you purchase them all separately. If you purchased them in a kit could you specify where you got the kit and which kit, and if you purchased the parts separately where did you get them from, what voltage are the leds and what resistance are the resistors.

[sensoryhouse]

The leds were purchased on ebay. Many sellers offer them.

The PCBs were also purchased on ebay, here is the link. http://stores.ebay.ca/MeasureExplorer_LED-PCBs_W0QQfsubZ3QQfrsrcZ1

The resistors and stand-offs were purchased at Radio Shack.

When once you have your leds and power supply you can use this online resistance calculator to determine your wiring type and resistor type and quantity.
http://ledcalc.com/

[ladiesman247]

erm dude/et. im a 13 yr old kid. and i was wonderin gcould i mkae this. i want to make hand made gifts for my mom and her birthday is in november. os i though ti oculd do somehting nice for her u no. (mommys boy) lol! thanx!!!!!!

[Palu1]

Can anyone help me out with were to buy most of the materials, the PCBs especially. I;m kinda new to the whole led thing and i think this would be a good first project to get me started.

[sensoryhouse]

I got my PCBs at

http://stores.ebay.ca/MeasureExplorer_LED-PCBs_W0QQfsubZ3QQfrsrcZ1

You can make you own with a hole saw though. If you don't know what a hole saw is - google it.

[cowtipper97]

you can get almost everything for the project at radio shack, the only difference is the PCBs are squares but they should still fit. If they do not fit you can trim them up with a drimal or some clipper

[Clayton H.]

radio shack sells round pcbs, the come with multiple pcbs and sizes.

[cowtipper97]

I saw those the other day for the fist time at the one I go to. They just recently started stocking them 'cause I haven't seen them there before.

[Charger_06]

kool

[JustineB]

Cool Project, should have tried to make it bigger

[fastback570]

what voltage power plug? did you run the led's in series , each with it's own resistor or how else could this be done? diagram would help. otherwise a clean, neat project! nice craftsmanship.

[fastback570]

or parallel? that would make sense too.

[sensoryhouse]

I used a 4.5 volt Sony wall wart from an old Walkman. The LEDs are wired in parallel, each with its own resistor. I didn't go into detail with wiring the LEDs because there lots of instructables on that subject and there are many different ways to do it.

[stormwolf012000]

I was seriously planning to make a lamp very much like this, but larger and florescent, and in the shape of a lamp. I'll post if I end up finding time for it. Superb execution, btw. Clean, efficient, beautiful.

[MrCakes14]

It's beautiful...I have a soft spot for LED projects, and this is definitely one of the most well-put together projects I've seen in quite a while. Grats, and A+.

[GorillazMiko]

Wow... that looks really cool.
I definitely wish I could feature this to the front page, it just looks amazing.
You did a WONDERFUL job on it, looks like something that you could buy in the store.

Amazing job, +1 rating.
(added to favorites)

[sensoryhouse]

go ahead if you know how

[GorillazMiko]

I can't.

Eric (ewilhelm) is the leader of Instructables, Co-founding partner of Squid Labs, and basically Instructables is a spin off company of Squid Labs.

In the past, he picked some members with the ability to feature Instructables as a project, and in the future if more Instructables were to pop up and they can't keep it up, he will pick more.

So I can't feature it, though it is a really nice Instructable.

Great job once again.

[marc92]

Maybe you could send him a PM asking for that elite privilege. If you do, let me know how it goes.

[GorillazMiko]

Not going to ask. I have to earn it (if I can), not ask.

[LinuxH4x0r]

Cool! Very simple and easy to build. (looks like the plexiglass could use some sanding for a better match)

[sensoryhouse]

it could, I kind of like the rough finish though. I might wind up sanding the actual LEDs to diffuse them. But I like the artsy fartsy odd look of the thing.

[LinuxH4x0r]

I like it, I just meant that the size of the two don't match

[daveanton]

i believe that is purposeful

[sensoryhouse]

ya, it matches at the bottom but then flares out at the top. I did do this on purpose.