Introduction: UFO Fidget Spinner

Welcome to my first Instructable! I am a kid at heart and love playing with my new 3d printer. I wanted to create a fidget spinner that was different from the rest, it needed to be fun, yet challenging to build. Lately, I find myself wanting to put LEDs in everything, because, well, its fun and adds a challenge to any project. So, I searched for ideas that I could use for a fidget spinner. I decided on a UFO that has lights on top and bottom. The top needed to be a dome that lite up and I could imagine tiny green men inside flying it to earth. The bottom lights would be colorful and shine down on the space that the tiny green men were exploring. I really liked the movie "Mars Attacks" and I kind of based my architectural style after the UFOs in the movie. I am by no means an expert in any of the categories that where required to build this item, but I do love tinkering. So, if you love to tinker and want to see how I built this great UFO Fidget spinner, then you are in the right place. Let's get started!

Step 1: Gather Tools and Materials

First, we will need some tools:

  • 3D printer and filament
  • soldering iron and solder
  • Rotary tool and bits (dremel)
  • hot glue
  • super glue

Second,we will need materials for this project:

Once you have all the tools and materials together, you will want to download and print the parts with your 3D printer.

Step 2: Building the UFO

Once you have all of the parts printed, you will need to use your rotary tool and grind down the center of the two halves of the UFO body. Make sure that there is enough room left to put the 608 bearing in. I didn't like the print without the support, so I had it printed this way for the nicest quality and least amount of clean up time after the print. The more material you remove the more room you will have to put the electronics.

Step 3: Install LEDs

The bottom half of the UFO has six holes in it for the LEDs. Make sure you take note as to which side is the anode and cathode (positive and negative) before gluing in the LEDs. In the picture, I bent the wires over to support the LED at the right height while the glue is drying. I used just a little super glue to hold them in place.

Step 4: Soldering the Wires

I have included a wiring diagram that I created with tinkercad. First I cut a bunch of short wires for the negative side and soldered them to each negative side of the LED. Then I soldered the resistor to the positive side and connected all of the positive sides of the LEDs. In order to install the center LED, you will want to glue (super glue) the part in that holds the center LED in place over the bearing. (I also added a little bit of hot glue on the LED so it wouldn't move around.) Refer to the gray part in the picture. I did not include a hole for switch. I basically used my dremmel to drill a small hole for the push button switch in a place where I felt I had enough room for it. After all of the wires are installed, there won't be much room left, so I will leave it up to you to decide where to install the push button switch.

Step 5: Assemble the Batteries

Next we need to assemble the battery holder. There is a flat disc that you should have been printed, it has a hole in the middle and six holes around the edge. The battery holders will need to be glued down with the metal terminals sticking through the holes.(I used super glue) Make sure that the battery holders are lined up so that the positive terminal faces the next negative terminal. After they are dry, the terminals can be soldered together to create a series circuit. Then solder 2 pieces of wire that will later be soldered to the LED circuit.

Step 6: Complete Top Half of UFO

After the battery holder is complete, it will need to be glued in to the top half of the UFO. (super glue) Make sure that the center holes are lined up. This is where the center LED for the dome light will come through. Also make sure your wires for the batteries are nicely placed so that they don't get pinched.

Step 7: Test Your Circuit

Once I completed the top half and bottom half, I used the wires from the batteries to touch different points on the LEDs to make sure that my wiring is all together and there aren't any shorts. I did have to re solder a joint because the LED would not light up with the rest of them. Once everything is checked thoroughly, it is time to close up the space ship

Step 8: Final Steps

when I completed the little UFO, I found I needed just a little bit more room, so I included a ring that can be 3D printed. I glued it with super glue to one side of the UFO, then soldered the negative lead to the negative side of the LEDs. The positive side of the batteries gets soldered to the switch. Then you need a small wire to be soldered from the switch to the positive side of the LEDs. Once everything is complete, you may want to hot glue the two halves together, so that it can be separated in the future. The dome and base should slip into the center of the bearing race on the top and bottom of the UFO. The dome should fit around the LED, but insde the bearing. Now the fidget spinner is complete and I hope you enjoyed my Instructable. Please vote and leave any comments or questions below. Thank you.

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