5 Minute Build #1 - LED Flashlight

There I was, with a 3 volt camera battery in one hand and a white LED in the other. It was pretty obvious what I planned on doing. I gathered some additional materials and went to work. Within a couple minutes, I had a working flashlight and in a few more it was finished!

Here's what you'll need to make this little flashlight...

- High Brightness LED in whatever color you want; I used a white, 7000mcd LED from RadioShack that came in a pack of 2 for $1.99
- 3V camera battery
- Tape (Scotch, Masking, Duct, Electrical, it doesn't really matter)
-Card stock paper
- "HELLO, My Name Is..." name tag sticker

- Scissors and/or X-acto knife
-Needle nosed pliers (optional)

The first step to the assembly is making two card stock additions for the battery. These are made with 2 layers of the card stock paper. The paper I used for this was the paper found at the top of component bags at RadioShack. NOTE: If you can avoid buying stuff from RadioShack, don't go! I go "often" because I live a few blocks away. I wish Jameco would take its place!

To make this flashlight work, we'll need a light source. Once you have a high brightness LED, you can get to work. The way I mounted the LED didn't require me to clip the leads if I wanted to use the LED for something else later, but it would make it look better if I did. It's hard to explain how to bend the LED leads without picture notes, but I'll try.
You'll need to bend the leads from the LED in two places, following the first picture. Next, slide the bent lead through both the little holes in the positive (+) electrode of the battery. Now, with the remaining negative (-) lead of the LED, position it over the card stock additions and tape the end of the lead down to the larger of the two additions. Now you will have noticed 2 things:
1. Most of the battery is a negative electrode, and 2. There is a little open space between the negative lead from the LED and the side of the battery.
With this powerful knowledge, you will push your thumb nail onto the negative LED lead until it contacts the side of the battery. If you did everything right, the LED should light up.

Now you have a working flashlight, but it's kinda ugly. To make it more presentable, I got one of those "Hello, My Name Is..." stickers and went to work on it. I cut off the blue sides with scissors, peeled off the backing, and carefully wrapped it around the battery, tape, card stock, and negative lead. The result still isn't perfect, but it works great as a handy, pocket-sized flashlight for any occasion. Enjoy and please comment to tell me what you think!