Glowing Stands (precisely Balanced LEDs)

I like to work with LEDs and wood and when I was thinking about how to attract some attention for one of my product I use exactly that

so, you can get some inspiration to make something similar

it will also work with decorative test tubes for steampunk, brewery, drinks and glass or acrylic lightening

Supplies

you will need:

- some plywood, wood or some non transparent material which is easy to work with

- LEDs (colorful or white LEDs, changing LEDs as I used in this instructable or neopixel)

if you use LEDs of different color you will need adjustable trimmer Bay link

- power source (batteries, USB or other low voltage power source)

- saw or another way to cut your material

- glue or screws

- soldering iron, and some wires

Step 1:

first, you should find the best spot where to put your LEDs

just turn on some LED or flashlight and try to shine on your chosen object from different angles and spots

then decide how far your things should be and mark it on paper or if you are confident enough directly on the wood

then cut it into needed pieces

Step 2: Drilling Holes

drilling holes it to wood could be a little bit tricky if you want to have smooth edges

I used a sharp knife because I didn't have drill bits with suitable size

if you use drillbits on wood use a slightly smaller size and finish the rest with file or sandpaper to prevent "cheawed" edges

if you need to drill holes just for 5mm LEDs it probably doesn't matter

Step 3: Sanding and Gluing

if you want you can sand your edges if you are happy with shape try to put it together using just clamps or rubber bands and adjust some dimensions if needed

then you can glue it together, for small objects you can use rubber bands or even hotglue to hold it on places while glue cures

Step 4: Electronic

you can decide what you want to use as a power source, it could be batteries, 5V from USB or other

if you use single color of LEDs you can calculate needed resistor here (set LED voltage according the third picture and LED current around 15mA)

or you don't even need any if you use 2x AA batteries (3V) and green, blue or white LEDs

I used rechargeable Li-ion battery from old device (cellphone, laptop, disposable E-cigarette...) they usually have enough capacity for powering LEDs for days or even weeks, but you can also use new one

if you want to use this method you will need this charger and schematic as on the last photo

here are the steps in a more detailed way

Step 5: Adjusting Different Color LEDs

if you use more LED colors you will need to adjust their brightness to look equal to each other

otherwise you may end up with super bright blue and dim yellow or red

for this step you will need a multimeter for measuring the current and trimmer instead of resistor

you should start with a yellow or red LED first because of their low working voltage

1: connect red LED to middle pin of the trimmer and pick one of the side pins to connect power (+) as on the first picture, do not turn on power yet

2: turn the trimmer to other side where you connected to power (+) and add your multimeter measurement probes between LED and (-) (multimeter set to current 20mA or clouse)

3: slowly start to turn trimmer towards power (+) pin and carefully watch current, you can set it to brightness which you like but do not exceed 20mA, 15mA should be enough for superbright LED (most LEDs with clear package)

4: let that adjusted LED on and do the same with the yellow LED to match brightness with red LED (currents won't be the same)

5: you can adjust other colors of LEDs by the same way

blue, green or white will draw only around 1mA or less with the same brightness as yellow, red or orange so you don't need to use multimeter