Night Light

Parts

• 3/4" dowel
• Wood, of your choosing
• 12 5mm LEDs, color of your choosing
• Copper tape
• 9 volt battery
• 300ohm resistor
• Wire
• 1/8" thick acrylic
• Solder
• Battery Terminal

Tools

• Band Saw
• Table Saw
• Drill Press, or Hand Drill
• Files
• Soldering Iron
• Wood Glue
• Rulerr

For the base you can use any wood of your choosing, just make sure it is not to thick that 5mm LEDs can shine completely up through the drilled holes. After choosing your wood, your going to want to cut it into a 6" x 6" square. Once your done cutting the base, using a 13/64" drill bit, drill twelve holes, three on each side of the base. Each hole should be a 1/2" off the edge of the base, and drill the first hole 2" off the perpendicular edge so that you have an 1" gap between the posts and the hole, from there drill the next two holes 1" apart from one another.

For the posts you can also choose any wood. With your wood you are going to cut them into 1" x 1" x 6" pieces. Do this four times, for four similar posts. Once this is completed use a table saw to cut 1/4" slits, directly down the middle of the post, in two spots on the post so that they are right next to each other. So that the acrylic can slide into two of the slits on each side of the light. When you are done with this step cut a 3/4" dowel in 1 1/2" pieces to be used as supports to hold the nightlight up.

Obtain a sheet of clear 1/8" thick acrylic. Once you have your acrylic, cut four rectangles with the dimensions of 4 1/4" x 6". Once you are done cutting the acrylic see if it fits smoothly into the slits you made in your posts, if they do not you can use a file to sand the slits a little wider or just make them smoother.

On the bottom of your base follow the schematic above for your wiring, use copper tape to form two rings around the base, an outer ring around the outside of the LEDs and an inner ring around the inside of the LEDs, making the inner ring the negative side of the circuit. Use a 9v battery and a 300ohm resistor for your circuit.

Using wood glue, glue the four posts flush to each corner of the base, and let it sit for awhile to dry. Once that is done slide your acrylic panels into each posts. Then glue your dowel post to the bottom of the base, stand the base up on the dowels to let them dry. Once this is done attach your battery, and you now have a nightlight.

You may wire in a slide switch, or an switch of your desire if you wish. If you want to conceal the wiring under your base you can builder a box around your base on the bottom to conceal wiring instead of just using dowel posts to support the nightlight. With the acrylic panels, if you have access to a laser cutter, or engraver, you can engrave any logos onto the acrylic.