Bright Idea USB Drive

I am the IT Geek at work, and people are asking me to get them files, or xfer large files for them
and I use (and lose) a LOT of thumb drives (I don't use our network to save on speed, and Burning
CD's get expensive and wasteful) so I wanted to create a USB drive that was both large but
not cumbersome, but something also fun.

And here is my creation

Step 1: DANGER - DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!

Before we begin, here is some warnings.
you are dealing with modifying a light bulb, so there is glass and sharp fragments involved
they can get into your skin and eyes, so please dear fellow user of instructbles...
wear both gloves, and eye protection while working with those items.

Step 2: Taking Apart the Light Bulb

Here is a link to removing the inside guts from a light bulb, so you can get a idea how its done.
www.teamdroid.com/diy-hollow-out-a-light-bulb/

Step 3: Ok, Lets Start

The pictures really say what needs to be said here.

Step 4: Adding the USB Drive

I cut two 1/6th inch tabs on the side of the base, to the USB drive (16 gig) would lock into place,
I used hot glue to create a seal and a good solid base for the bulb, after everything dried
i used a hot blade to shape the extra glue to look like a base of a light.

People at work LOVE the USB drive, and I ALWAYS GET IT BACK!!!

Comments

[ironsmiter]

Nice! I especially like the abnormal bulb shape. Makes it a real One-of-a-Kind

two "things for thoughts".

First, Consider coating the inside of the bulb with an epoxy. clear or translucent white would be good. Drastically increase the safety of handling fragile glass when backed up with strong epoxy. You could FILL a smaller bulb, but I fear, a fulled bulb of that size might put too much physical stress on the USB port.

Second... Add some Light to that light!!!  I don't know how much light, if any, you get from the thumbdrives led. most of mine are pretty weak. I'd consider tapping the +/- lines on the drive, and wiring in one of those cheap usb lights. sadly, it would just be "on" then, instead of data reactive.

[macgeek]

I thought about coating it with acrylic, to give it some extra protection
I have noticed because it IS glass, people tend to be more careful with it.
(if it dropped, I guess all rules would be off) I may try and do a new version in the future, we have a good selection of interesting bulbs in this place, and sooner or later they all burn out (grin)

Jonathan