Fully 3D printable flashlight! Made from Proto-pasta Conductive PLA

thingiverse

Human: Get Your Hands on a Revolutionary 3D Printable Flashlight! Made from Advanced Conductive PLA, it's ready for immediate printing. If you're working with a dual head or single head printer, don't worry - our special filament allows for easy transitions. Instructions This amazing flashlight is crafted from high-quality Proto-pasta conductive PLA and standard PLA materials. The sturdy base is made of standard PLA, while the conductive part is self-explanatory. To add some finishing touches, we've included a small amount of support in the base to ensure a seamless printing experience. The 9V battery fits snugly into place once printed, and the LED's are simply inserted into their designated holes after melting or drilling into the conductive part. Remember to pay close attention to polarity - you wouldn't want your LED to overheat! To get it just right, attach a small section of conductive filament or use a 1-10K resistor. When completed, press down on the flexible switch and enjoy instant lighting! Please handle with care since our Conductive PLA is a bit fragile. Update: 3/22/15 Some users have reached out asking about attaching multiple parts together, as well as hooking up the LED's. Don't worry, we've got answers! First off, this entire project was designed to be printed all at once on a dual head printer using PLA in one head and Conductive filament in another. As it turns out, our PLA naturally fuses with Conductive during printing - a true engineering marvel! For those with single-head printers, don't despair: just swap out filament twice during the print and you'll be good to go. Second question? How do I connect my LED? Look no further than our uploaded datasheet (Cree C503B-WAN-CBADA152), which outlines lead size specifications - a nifty 1/2mm hole should do the trick. Make sure those LED leads are trimmed to around 8mm before inserting. Last but certainly not least: what about using filament as a resistor? It's child's play! Simply unwind 10cm of filament, snip it down to 1.75mm in diameter and attach - a perfect safeguard against damage with that 9V battery. Trust us on this one! For any beginners or the merely curious: LED Fundamentals - A typical diode resides within an LED: basically, an incredibly useful little chip. - Electricity prefers a certain direction, making the LED extremely effective. - LED lighting hinges directly upon current levels. One trick here: excessive current could ruin your prized LED - therefore it's wise to introduce a bit of resistance to cap its current. You can compute said resistor using simple calculations based on basic electricity (voltage and ohms). Oh yes! One more critical component is called the forward voltage drop or breakdown point Vf; simply stated, white LEDs need around 3V applied for lighting up fully. If not provided enough power, the whole assembly would never emit any glow despite being powered by the said electrical charge due mainly lack direct circuit connection which would always ensure adequate voltage drop needed before allowing proper diode performance; this makes things quite complex. Here's another vital clue you're able to harness this info.