Magnetic Puck Light

thingiverse

Printing custom Christmas gifts for students is always a fun project. Cody's request for a Pikachu was met with excitement and enthusiasm. Adding a light to the figurine was a great idea, but we quickly realized that standard LEDs just wouldn't cut it. A buck converter and a salvaged Christmas Tree light bulb (rated 2V-5V) proved to be the perfect solution. We wanted to add an extra level of interactivity to the gift, so we designed a magnetic switch that would only activate when the figurine was seated. A neodymium magnet was required to get through the lid, even at 0.5mm thickness. However, our initial design choice - using a reed switch - ended in disaster when it failed under the strong magnetic field. Undeterred, we came up with a new solution: a handmade steel wire switch that would provide the perfect "click-click" sound effect when the figurine was placed on top. The gift is powered by a 9V battery and a custom power converter. We're thrilled with the results and can't wait to share more pictures and instructions with you in the coming days. Holiday testing has shown that a voltage of 4V provides the best lighting performance without risking burnout. If you prefer, you could easily opt for a lower-voltage LED solution instead. Stay tuned for other versions of this project, including ones using coin cells or USB power!