Creating a 3D printed backlit business card

I was looking for an excuse to teach myself how to use Tinkercad a few months ago and that excuse conveniently presented itself in the form of the Palm Beach LEDlaunch event.

Louis came up with the original idea of having a glowing LED inside of a business card that could be given out to attendees, which he prototyped with cardboard and paper. After seeing this original design, I thought it would be interesting to put the LED inside of a 3D printed business card. The results are below and the STL files can be downloaded on Thingiverse here if you would like to print your own: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:61695

To print your own simply download and print the STLs. To print in multiple colors as in the example pictures, just pause the print at the appropriate point and change the filament to the new color.

After each part has been printed, insert a LED and 3V battery. Suggested LED and battery parts are:
LED – RGB color-changing LED (cat # LED-158): http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/LED-158/RGB-COLOR-CHANGING-LED/1.html
Battery – 3V CR2032: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CR2032/P189-ND/31939

Front piece
Middle piece
Back piece
Front pieces being printed
Middle pieces being printed
Back pieces being printed
Assembly
Assembly
Finished piece – front
Finished piece – back
PBLED-gifFinished piece lit up

<

No tips yet.
Be the first to tip!

Like this post? Leave a Bitcoin tip!

1CJ5DNyrgVwpFJ7fdfnVjFVja6Rh1WaRj9

If you enjoyed reading this post you can leave a Bitcoin tip to say thanks! Each post gets its own unique Bitcoin address so by tipping you're not only making my continued efforts possible but telling me what you liked.

Pierre Baillargeon

Pierre Baillargeon is an engineer from South Florida who holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Engineering, having graduated from Florida Atlantic University in August of 2005. Pierre currently works as a Robotics Engineer at a non-profit biomedical research organization and is known to enjoy photography, gadgets and skillfully constructed pizza.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *