LED necklace, mark one
2010-May-04, Tuesday 09:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chebeWas looking around the internet for LED jewelery, you know, to get inspired. Most of the tutorials out there are for fabric cuff bracelets. Most of the products available to buy are bracelets and necklaces. So, curiosity overtook me and I tried my hand at making a necklace.
First, the basics, an LED, and a resistor (probably not strictly necessary, but I was just trying things out). Put some beads on to the leads, and curl the ends.
Then grab a barrel-clasp, some crimp beads and jump rings, regular beads, and conductive thread. Thread the beads as you like onto the conductive thread. I don't have the patience for proper beading so I just spaced a handful out with knots. I placed the LED into one of those spiral cage things. Luckily it was a very cheap one that conducts absolutely no electrical current. I then bulked out the rest of the cage with more regular beads.
(Click for bigger version.)
The hardest part about creating electrical jewelery is figuring out how to power it. I found some really tiny coin-cell batteries (LR41) I had left over from something-or-other I bought a while back. Tested, and found out I needed three to turn on my LED. Rolled them in a scrap of clear vinyl, sealed with sellotape. Shoved in halves of another barrel-clasp with the ends flattened (like the spirals at either end in a battery case) and tried to keep them in with thick thread. The barrel-clasp ends connect into the necklaces barrel-clasp, and power the LED.
(Probably can't see too well, but there's a definite green glow there.)
The battery pack is a real haphazard affair, but the size is pretty good, so have to see about refining it into something actually usable. Otherwise, this was fun, and very, very quick, especially in comparison to electrical clothing. And being cheap and cheerful there's plenty of scope to try out variations.
First, the basics, an LED, and a resistor (probably not strictly necessary, but I was just trying things out). Put some beads on to the leads, and curl the ends.
Then grab a barrel-clasp, some crimp beads and jump rings, regular beads, and conductive thread. Thread the beads as you like onto the conductive thread. I don't have the patience for proper beading so I just spaced a handful out with knots. I placed the LED into one of those spiral cage things. Luckily it was a very cheap one that conducts absolutely no electrical current. I then bulked out the rest of the cage with more regular beads.
(Click for bigger version.)
The hardest part about creating electrical jewelery is figuring out how to power it. I found some really tiny coin-cell batteries (LR41) I had left over from something-or-other I bought a while back. Tested, and found out I needed three to turn on my LED. Rolled them in a scrap of clear vinyl, sealed with sellotape. Shoved in halves of another barrel-clasp with the ends flattened (like the spirals at either end in a battery case) and tried to keep them in with thick thread. The barrel-clasp ends connect into the necklaces barrel-clasp, and power the LED.
(Probably can't see too well, but there's a definite green glow there.)
The battery pack is a real haphazard affair, but the size is pretty good, so have to see about refining it into something actually usable. Otherwise, this was fun, and very, very quick, especially in comparison to electrical clothing. And being cheap and cheerful there's plenty of scope to try out variations.
