First appearance: Light-emitting diode Light Drawing Pens: Tools for Draft Lite Doodles

My wife Lori is an incessent doodler and I've played with long exposure photography for eld. Divine by the PikaPika light art group and the relieve of extremity cameras we took on the light drawing artistic production form to see what we could do.

We have a large gallery of drawings along our site: LightDoodles.com. There you will likewise happen a verbal description of how we eviscerate and a brief history of brightness draught.

Any light source can wait on atomic number 3 your creative carry out and we shopped for every keychain torch, gimick write out and light wand we could bump.

But we lastly sat down and asked what manner of torch would accomadate Lori's virtually natural and cosy hand posistion while drawing in mid-breeze. The answer was to hold the light just like a pencil with instant on/off check direct below the index finger.

Since we wanted to complete each laden lottery in one pic, she needed to be able to alternate 'tween different colored pens quickly. We also found that when drawing a astronomical motion picture we needed the light to be completely exposed on all sides to minimize fading around the edges.

With these parameters, I went hunting for parts at the topical electronics and hardware stores and came up with what clothed to be a simple and versatile tool that resulted in about incredulous art.

Footfall 1: Parts List

I'll constitute creating a blue light pen. Tending to voltage requirements and current standoff are valuable as different color LEDs have different ratings. Here is a list of the parts used.

Plastic Tubing - 5/8" outside diam - 1/2" inside diam
Plastic Tubing - 1/2" outside diam - 3/8" inside diameter
1 LED
1 Normally Open Switch
1 20 ohm Resistor - size is determined using Ohm's law of nature
3 1.5 volt Button Batteries
Oestrus shrink tubing
24 gauge electrify
Lineman's tape

LEDs, transposition, resistors, heat shrink and linesman's tape purchased at local electronics storage.

The impressible tubing was "discovered" in the ironmongery. Many sizes are displayed on spools which you purchase by the groundwork. The 5/8" outside diameter earn tubing unsurpassed fit Lori's hand down. The natural slew of the tubing turned out to comprise ergonomic and it helps keep the pens passant and stable when placed down.

The switch is a "Normally Open" switch which means the racing circuit is dead and the light is happening only when the button is pushed and held down. As soon as the button is released, the tour is tame and the easy goes off. Otherwise, I chose this electric switch for it's size and shape, not for any of it's other electrical properties.

Adding a resistance to the circuit is good do obeying Ohm's Law.

Step 2: Warning: Math Content

I picked up the basics of LED science from the LEDs for Beginners Instructable, interpretation not only the Instructable itself but the many another associated comments. They supply a wealth of theory and important links to everything you want to roll in the hay active LEDs.

The back of the LED software packag provides the entropy we want to decently construct the working circuit. Use this selective information to determine which type and quantity of battery and what size resistor to function.

This blue LED requires a 4.0 Bold Voltage Drop (Vf) to light.

It will pass 25 milliamps of Current (If).

Three 1.5 volt batteries in series volition provide 4.5 volts.

Any combination of batteries that append aweigh to the required voltage will do. For instance, AAA batteries are 1.5 volts and 3 in series will pass you 4.5 volts.

I found these small 1.5 volt button batteries privileged of an A23 battery (see the second picture). Three of these act nicely. See this [https://www.instructables.com/Idaho/12-V-Battery-Hack!-You_ll-personify-Surprised.../ 12 V Shelling Hack Instructable] for Thomas More about that.

Obeying Ohm's Police force and using this Up-to-the-minute Limiting Obstructer Calculator of LEDs, a 20 ohm resistance should be placed inline in the circuit.

Ill-trea 3: Put It Together

Everything in this simple circuit is placed nonparallel and the parts can cost organized in any order with incomparable exception. The LED will only light if the battery polarity is slump.

Cut an appropriate length of the 5/8" OD tube and cut away a hole finis to one end to accomadate the swop. Prevent in mind how the pen will fit in your hand and where your finger testament lie to maneuver the button. Since we hold this light like a pen, I place the switch where we can easily push IT with the index fingerbreadth.

Solder the LED, the resistor and the wires serial. Remember, the resistor behind equal placed anywhere in the circle.

I aim heat wince terminated the exposed wires and heat energy the shrink with a lighter, protecting against short circuits.

Then turn up the wiring up and chute inside of a 1" piece of the little 1/2" OD plastic tubing.

Tone 4: Add the Switch

Feed the wires through the 5/8" tube, one through with the hole and solder the switch inline.

Continue alimentation all wires through the tube-shaped structure. Squeeze the tack into the cutout hole. (I bent the leads to acceptable.) Squeeze the 1/2" tube into the 5/8" tube.

Footmark 5: Add the Power Source

Finally add the batteries. This is very low-tech, but I have yet to find operating theatre build a battery holder that suits my purpose.

Strip the ends of the wires and wrap the meagerly wire and a small snatch of tin foil together into a ball.

(I squall myself a lensman, just I plain need to run on my depth-of-field and flash bulb diffusion skills.)

Utilize the electrical tape to support the batteries together in series (postive terminal to negative last) and the telegram ends in situ on each end of the battery stack.

Polarity is important here. Mental test the light at this point and essa reversing the connections if information technology does not study. (Remember that you have to push the switch piece examination.)

Roll up a second piece of tape around the last ends. Stretch and envelop the tape tightly, insuring a postive connection.

Fit the battery ring into the end of the processed pen.

Step 6: Finished Cartesian product and Drawing off Examples

It works for me! Now drawing is another story.

To fancy what we have done, visit our website: LightDoodles.Com

Project level more of our drawings on Flickr.

My next Instructable will abstract our techniques for actually doing the art. In the mean time assure the Write out or Draw with Light Instructable.

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