Mood Lighting
This is a great night light or just to have for atmosphere.
We took our instructable https://www.instructables.com/id/Film-Canister-Flashlight/ and modified it a bit.
Skip to step 7 to see the changes. Don't forget to check out the supply list though.
We took our instructable https://www.instructables.com/id/Film-Canister-Flashlight/ and modified it a bit.
Skip to step 7 to see the changes. Don't forget to check out the supply list though.
Materials
LED Holder
LED (Color)
Fender Washer
Magnet
Wire
Toggle Switch
Wire Cutters
Solder
Soldering Iron
Electrical Tape
Drill
3V Coin Battery
Film Canister With Lid (closes inside)
-Sold on e-bay or at catsscienceclub.com
LED (Color)
Fender Washer
Magnet
Wire
Toggle Switch
Wire Cutters
Solder
Soldering Iron
Electrical Tape
Drill
3V Coin Battery
Film Canister With Lid (closes inside)
-Sold on e-bay or at catsscienceclub.com
Magnet
Place a bead of glue into the bottom of the film canister and add your magnet. This will need to be a fairly strong magnet to hold the canister up. We found 1 inch ceramic magnets worked well and did not cost to much.
Battery Holder Option 1
Strip the wires leaving about 1/4 inch of wire exposed.
Place the wire on to 3 volt coin battery. Using the electrical tape, tape the wires on to opposite ends of the battery. Make a note of which wire is on the negative end and which wire is on the positive end. In our pictures we have black as negative and gray as positive.
To see another way to build a battery holder that is a bit more challenging, but a lot cooler, check out our other instructable https://www.instructables.com/id/Film-Canister-Flashlight/
Place the wire on to 3 volt coin battery. Using the electrical tape, tape the wires on to opposite ends of the battery. Make a note of which wire is on the negative end and which wire is on the positive end. In our pictures we have black as negative and gray as positive.
To see another way to build a battery holder that is a bit more challenging, but a lot cooler, check out our other instructable https://www.instructables.com/id/Film-Canister-Flashlight/
Cut and Splice
Cut the negative wire in half.
Splice the wires connected to the battery at both ends of the extra black (negative) wire.
*Cooler battery holder shown in pictures. You can build yours at https://www.instructables.com/id/Film-Canister-Flashlight/.
Splice the wires connected to the battery at both ends of the extra black (negative) wire.
*Cooler battery holder shown in pictures. You can build yours at https://www.instructables.com/id/Film-Canister-Flashlight/.
Prepare Toggle Switch
Take the negative wire that is connected to the "battery holder" and wrap it around the outside prong of the toggle switch. Solder the wire to the switch.
Take the extra negative wire (our black wire) and connect that to the center prong on the switch. Solder it on.
Now your switch is ready!
Take the extra negative wire (our black wire) and connect that to the center prong on the switch. Solder it on.
Now your switch is ready!
Connecting the LED
Most LEDs that we have found have the longer leg as positive. We bent the negative leg (the shorter) up so that we could easily see the difference.
Take the negative wire (black) that is connected to the toggle switch and wrap it around the negative leg of the LED. Solder in place.
Take the positive wire (grey) that is connected to the "battery holder" and wrap that around the positive end of the LED. Solder.
Does the light turn on? No? Try the switch ;-)
Take the negative wire (black) that is connected to the toggle switch and wrap it around the negative leg of the LED. Solder in place.
Take the positive wire (grey) that is connected to the "battery holder" and wrap that around the positive end of the LED. Solder.
Does the light turn on? No? Try the switch ;-)
Prepare Canister and Lid
Drill a hole just slightly larger then the toggle switch switch into the side of the film canister. We found it easier with the lid on. We also liked the hole being in the upper 1/4 of the canister (close to the lid). It felt more natural in the hand.
NOW THE NEW STUFF :-)
Sand the top and bottom of the lid to make it more translucent.
Place LED holder into fender washer and glue in place.
Push LED through holder.
Take hot glue gun and cover the fender washer and the top of the LED that is sticking out of the holder. This will diffuse the light to give it a nice effect.
Quickly place the washer LED into canister lid as shown. Center the light into the lid
NOW THE NEW STUFF :-)
Sand the top and bottom of the lid to make it more translucent.
Place LED holder into fender washer and glue in place.
Push LED through holder.
Take hot glue gun and cover the fender washer and the top of the LED that is sticking out of the holder. This will diffuse the light to give it a nice effect.
Quickly place the washer LED into canister lid as shown. Center the light into the lid
Put It All Togeter
Slide switch through the side hole and tighten screws.
Hot glue the exposed wires but do not glue to the side of the canister or you may not be able to close the lid.
Snap on lid after glue dries.
Hot glue the exposed wires but do not glue to the side of the canister or you may not be able to close the lid.
Snap on lid after glue dries.
Light It Up!
Turn your light on in a dark room and enjoy!
Other Colors
We used a few other colors and a LED that changed color. The effects are great!