Collorfull LED Decoration

I had this idea in my mind for some time but I didn't had much free time and all needed materials for realization

but now it is finally done

it is made from cracked tempered glass which is light up with colorful LEDs surrounded in plaster

1. cracked tempered glass

I found mine in vandalized bus stop you can probably found some during weekends when people are drunk and like to smashing stuff :)

2. SMD LEDs and thin wire

I used tiny 0603 package because I have them but you can use bigger 1206 because they are easier to solder

and enameled copper wire from old motor but you can also buy it on eBay here

3. plaster or concrete

plaster is naturally white so light can bounce from edges and glass is nicely light up

4. casting frame for plaster

5. clear glue for LEDs

i used hot glue but clear epoxy would be better

6. razor blade (for glass), masking tape.....

as I said I used SMD LEDs type 6003 which are very small so I recommend to you use bigger ones as 1206 it depends on how thick is your glass (mine was 10mm thick) so even 5730 or 5050 LED would be ok in my case

if you don't have needed skills you can buy prewired LEDs in some good hobby shops with miniature models

or on eBay here

I used 0.2mm enameled copper wire which I got from old motor winding but you can also buy it in some specialized shop or on eBay here

when you successfully solder you LED you need to test it because it could be damaged by heat

if your LED works you can twist its wires for better future organisation

also marking - or + wire helps (if you use same color wire) and color of LED if you will use more different colors for adding right resistor for it in next step

I made my frame from some game bricks which I had

but I didn't want to destroy it so I wrap it in food wrapping foil which works very well and removing it was very easy

also LEGO could be used which could work even better (more customizable size)

glue your LEDs to glass

is better to try to find the best spot for illumination with light-up LED and after that glue your LED on the best spot with transparent glue

when you have your LEDs glued on glass mark the inside space of your frame and place glass inside as best as you can

I used food wrapping foil stretched under the glass to prevent plaster from sticking to the table

if you never work with plaster I recommend to watch some Instructables about it because it is hardening very fast

concrete is in this case better option because you must work with very small space between the glass and fastly hardening plaster is not good for that

I mixed small batches and was adding it batch by batch and helping with a small stick to get out any air bubbles

in this point is better to use some spatula to remove excess plaster from the glass while it is wet because I ended up scratching it off when it was completely dry which was a very long process

when you are finished wait day or two while it dries out

scratch excess plaster from the glass with a razor blade and you can also shape corners as you want

I sorted all wires and made testing connector when all LEDs was light up I adjusted few resistors for green and blue LEDs because they were too strong and other colors didn't look very bright

so I connected a potentiometer to green and blue LEDs and adjusted resistance to match their brightness to other LEDs after that I measured set resistance on the potentiometer and I found a resistor with closest value which was 470Ω

I used 100Ω for yellow, orange and red and 470Ω for green and blue in a final circuit powered by 3V

as final step I made a little box from plywood

this project probably get an update I still don't have a proper stand for it, wooden box is not nicely sanded.....

in my original idea I wanted independently breathing LEDs but I'm not good in Arduino stuff so if you know some project with independently breathing LED's using Arduino and PWM with a free code please contact me