Simple LED Illumination

A lot of people use LEDs to illuminate something that they have made. I always like how that looks, but I am not so good with electronic components. I do not like soldering and although I bought a LED strip some months ago, I still have not used it, because I still have to check how to connect it exactly.

But now I found an alternative solution, that is very simple, does not require any soldering and it fits in a small size project.

Step 1: Collecting Materials

I found a glass souvenir at a shop and decided to buy it because it was very cheap and I liked the image inside. Somebody suggested that it would look much better with some light under it. I had a LED light which is normally used as light on a bike. They come in red and white versions for the front and the backside of the bike and I decided to use the white LEDs.

I had some scrap pieces of wood, which I used for the base.

Step 2: Take the LEDs From the Bicycle Light

The bicycle light consists of a soft flexible cover and inside a clear plastic housing, batteries and the little circuit board. It takes less than 30 seconds to remove the LEDs from the cover.

Step 3: Small Modification

The circuit board has an ON/OFF button. It can be operated by your finger, so I decided to keep that button the way it was. I only made a small modification on the clear plastic housing. I used a saw to cut off the part left of the black line on the photo. The result is a narrow housing, which easily holds the circuit board and the batteries.

Step 4: Making the Wooden Base

I used a small piece of scrap wood and cut a few pieces of the same lenght. I recommend that you take an odd number of pieces, because then it is easy to make the hole in the middle. I made the hole by cutting the middle wooden piece in two smaller pieces with the gap in between just wide enough to hold the clear plastic housing of the LEDs.

I used glue to glue the wooden pieces to form one piece. After that I drew the outline of the glass and used a router to remove a little bit of wood so the glass stays better in place. This is not really necessary so if you do not have a router, you can skip that.

I placed the LEDs in the hole of the wooden base. The hole does not have a bottom so it is easy to get the LEDs out of the hole by pushing them up from the bottom.

Step 5: Enjoy the Result

When it gets dark, I switch on the LEDs and the image in the glass is illuminated.

I do not yet know how long it will take before the batteries will die, but on a bicycle the light can be used for quite some time before the batteries are dead, so I assume I will not have to replace the batteries very often. (Of course I only switch on the LEDs when it is dark and when I am at home to enjoy the light.)