negative leg

Do you have a blizzard of Christmas cards carpeting the top of your desk? Convert those cards into a Christmas Card Tower LED Lamp. NOTE: building the paper card tower is easier than the step-by-step instructions make it sound. Just follow the illustrations and as you complete a couple of cards, it should start to make sense.

Lets have some fun. Lets build an LED menorah for the upcoming holidays.

1 HOUR$1.27EASY

PARTS (2) 4 bright yellow LEDs (BG Micro $0.20)
(1) Yellow LED right angle (BG Micro $.012)
(1) SPST pushbutton (BG Micro $0.10)
(1) CR2032 with legs (BG Micro $0.65)
(1) Short length of wire
Instant bond cyanoacrylate glue

STEP-BY-STEPStep 1. Bond the two 4-bright yellow LED bars together with glue.

Step 2. Fold down and solder all of the LED cathodes together. Repeat the same technique with the all of the LED anodes. You should now have a cathode run and an anode run.

Step 3. Bond the yellow LED right angle to the top of the joined LED bars.

Step 4. Fold and solder the LED right angles cathode to the bars cathode run. Likewise, fold and solder the LED right angles anode to the bars anode run.

Step 5. Snip off two adjacent legs (i.e., on the same side of the switch) from the SPST switch. The switch should now have two legs. Bond the SPST switch to one end of the joined LED bars. Solder one leg of the switch to the LEDs cathode run.

Step 6. Bond the CR2032 battery to the bottom of the joined LED bars. Solder the positive (+) leg to the anode run.

Step 7. Solder a short length of wire to the remaining free leg of the SPST switch. Solder the other end of the wire to the negative (-) leg of the CR2032 battery.
Step 8. Press the button to illuminate the LED Menorah.—Dave Prochnow