I bought a bag of 20 unmarked ones from Aliexpress dirt cheap to use as diffusers, the only downside is that there's a faint visible seam when illuminated.
Nice project! My concern is strain created as the string gets longer. Since power and ground continue through I would try not to cut those and just skin a little insulation off to solder to the board.
Check the round led pcb for a resistor, i have a few hundred that have a resistor valve that drops too much voltage as you get close to full brightness causing very strange lighting affects. As brightness in each led affects how the data flows along the string. I was getting all sorts of what looked like programming errors until i found the resistor problem. Jumped them with a wire link and all was well.
To make the holes, you need to poke a hole in the center of the circle. That'll guide the conical hole expander drill bit, which looks like it's got stairs on it. Then you drill the hole until it's big enough for the circle you drew. The drill bit should center itself. To make the starting little hole, you could try sanding.
sanding disc, should make a round hole, jig to hold the ball thru the first hole to align them, a jig to draw a circle on the ball to see how much to sand. wood screw sharp edges to hold
Cool project, try using a soldering iron with an old but in to make the hole. Maybe put a small flat land in the centre of the space to strengthen and let the led's sit on.
Neat project, not sure I would use those inside the house, but fine outside. Unless ping pong balls have changed since I was a kid, those ones were extremely flammable.
Quite hard to find ping pong balls with no printing on them. As to be used in ping pong competitions they must have a manufacturer information on them.
Another possible solution to the whole problem (😊) is a brad point drill. These are used for drilling clean edged hole in wood. One that size may be a bit expensive though. Regards, David
Very cool project. The cad is crazy impressive. For the hole, people who refill toner cartridges that aren't made to be refilled take a 1/2" copper cap, and drill a hole in it. Then use a screw to thread the copper into the end of a cheap soldering iron. It instantly melts a clean hole right through. Probably not ideal for your situation, but might be an interesting approach
@@Elnufo Decades ago when they were made of cellulose they were flammable. But that's old information. Check this test that my friend Hari did: th-cam.com/video/ydYRhcjcDhA/w-d-xo.html
i would try to cut the holes using nail scissors. poke a pilot hole in the middle and work your way around with said nail scissors, Should give a good result because of the curved blades of the nail scissors.
A unibit (step bit) in a jig might be a good way to drill a round hole. You're probably gonna want some o-rings and/or silicone to prevent water ingress. Another idea for putting holes in bunch of balls quickly MIGHT be to heat a piece of steel/aluminum round stock (maybe with a tapered point created on your drill) and just melt holes through them. The holes can be square this way if you had some reason for it.
Coming up with a good work-holding method was why I didn't try drilling in the first place. Several people have suggested heated tube to cut the hole. I'll have to explore that.
Try redesigning your 3D part to print horizontally instead of vertically. I had the same problem with a tool I made that had the same issue. Printed vertically it would snap in half if you dropped it on the floor, when printed horizontal it was much tougher and could easily handle rotational torque. The challenging part will be designing to print in that orientation without needing supports. Flattening the threads a little on one or both sides should work. Using PETG instead of PLA will make the part less brittle as well.
Ensuring your PLA is not soaked in moisture and not being cooled excessively during printing will also help tremendously. At the forces used in the video here, there's no reason parts cannot be strong enough printed vertically. 3D printing is capable of a far stronger print than that!
You are going to be very busy if you intend to offer these in 5 meter lengths🤣 Maybe try using a Dremel type tool for making the holes. Thanks for sharing.
To make those holes, why not a drill? Draw up those circles, or perhaps just a small hole, mount in vise, start out with a 3mm hole and then step up. I was also thinkning of connecting the LED(s) to the outside of the ball and just shine through - might work…
Very interesting project! 🤔 My first thought was to use thinner wires to jumper between the parallel LEDs (power, data-in and ground). Insulate (nail polish) the connections and un-used pads of the JUMPERED LED. ... . I don't have experience with those LEDs, but I'd think (based on the concept of Power Injection) that the data-line is the only wire that is needed on the output side of the non-jumpered LED? Separate a section of the three wires and cut the data-line. The power and ground can be connected to alternate ends of the non-jumpered LEDs by shaving a small section of the insulation down to copper (leaving 2 continuous wires end to end). ... ' Someone out there, will probably put threads on both ends of your 3D printed part and split it in half so that only the nuts and ping pong balls will have to be fed onto the continuous wire. The last step is to dab a bit of hot glue to hold the nuts in place. 😉
Great project! Does anyone have any ideas how to build a small device that once you place led leads on it say pads or headers the led screen would show such things as: voltage needed, resistor size, voltage drop. And possibly other things one might need.
If I have an unknown LED, I set my power supply to current limit at about 20mA and slowly bring the voltage up from about 1 volt, then observe and adjust the voltage and current limit until I get to an acceptable light output. Then compare to "standard" values and re-test with the closest one. Of course, you have to be prepared to accept the sacrifice one of the LEDs should you push the test a bit too far...
The device is called a multimeter. Use in conjunction with a power supply and a phone app or website to calculate the resistor value for a given input supply voltage.
I'd say that took some effort (on Freecad). That interface/print looks FACTORY! (back in the day that was a complement:). Contrary to it's fitment ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I've been going "back & forth" on making one. I'm curious what my "net" cost would be. If it's more money than I have I don't want to be up the river without a "paddle". I'm a little "light" on moola but I'm also really "wired" to do it. I think I'll "table" the idea for today. I do think if successful it will be a "score" for me. Thank you! Cheers from So.Ca.(CrAzY)USA 3rd house on the left
they make ping pong balls specifically for crafting, they're thinner and usually unlabeled. might solve both your problems.
I bought a bag of 20 unmarked ones from Aliexpress dirt cheap to use as diffusers, the only downside is that there's a faint visible seam when illuminated.
Nice project! My concern is strain created as the string gets longer. Since power and ground continue through I would try not to cut those and just skin a little insulation off to solder to the board.
Check the round led pcb for a resistor, i have a few hundred that have a resistor valve that drops too much voltage as you get close to full brightness causing very strange lighting affects. As brightness in each led affects how the data flows along the string. I was getting all sorts of what looked like programming errors until i found the resistor problem. Jumped them with a wire link and all was well.
To make the holes, you need to poke a hole in the center of the circle. That'll guide the conical hole expander drill bit, which looks like it's got stairs on it. Then you drill the hole until it's big enough for the circle you drew. The drill bit should center itself. To make the starting little hole, you could try sanding.
sanding disc, should make a round hole, jig to hold the ball thru the first hole to align them, a jig to draw a circle on the ball to see how much to sand.
wood screw sharp edges to hold
That's an interesting approach.
Cool project, try using a soldering iron with an old but in to make the hole. Maybe put a small flat land in the centre of the space to strengthen and let the led's sit on.
Neat project, not sure I would use those inside the house, but fine outside. Unless ping pong balls have changed since I was a kid, those ones were extremely flammable.
Cool. Thanks for sharing.
Quite hard to find ping pong balls with no printing on them. As to be used in ping pong competitions they must have a manufacturer information on them.
Another possible solution to the whole problem (😊) is a brad point drill. These are used for drilling clean edged hole in wood. One that size may be a bit expensive though. Regards, David
Very cool project. The cad is crazy impressive. For the hole, people who refill toner cartridges that aren't made to be refilled take a 1/2" copper cap, and drill a hole in it. Then use a screw to thread the copper into the end of a cheap soldering iron. It instantly melts a clean hole right through. Probably not ideal for your situation, but might be an interesting approach
Interesting thought. I'll have to look into that.
@@pileofstuff ping pong balls are highly flammable, be careful.
@@Elnufo Decades ago when they were made of cellulose they were flammable.
But that's old information. Check this test that my friend Hari did: th-cam.com/video/ydYRhcjcDhA/w-d-xo.html
@@pileofstuff oh well, i guess this shows how old i have become 😂
Super cool project and a fun way to spend a weekend.
That's always a goal with these videos.
i would try to cut the holes using nail scissors. poke a pilot hole in the middle and work your way around with said nail scissors, Should give a good result because of the curved blades of the nail scissors.
you could try to round off the inner corners. a smoother transient reduces the chance to randomly snap off. there's a proper name for it but idk 😅
The snap off isn't random, it takes place where there's a sharp transition of size, just as it did with the green center piece. - Tony.
@hirsutusi5536 you're right. "random" isn't really the right way to say it
@@speedy19085 A smoother transition reduces the chance of *untimely* snap-off. 😂😂
I believe the word you were looking for is Fillet (pronounced fill - it).
@ exactly that's what i meant
A unibit (step bit) in a jig might be a good way to drill a round hole. You're probably gonna want some o-rings and/or silicone to prevent water ingress. Another idea for putting holes in bunch of balls quickly MIGHT be to heat a piece of steel/aluminum round stock (maybe with a tapered point created on your drill) and just melt holes through them. The holes can be square this way if you had some reason for it.
Coming up with a good work-holding method was why I didn't try drilling in the first place.
Several people have suggested heated tube to cut the hole. I'll have to explore that.
Another great video. Wouldn't it be better to make the nut dome shaped, so it seals on the ball better than a flat nut.
It would be very much better.
It's a challenge that is beyond my level in CAD so far, but I'm still practising and growing my skills in that world.
Maybe it will cut better if you heat your knife with one of those hand torches?
It's been a long time since I've thought about hot-knifing things...
Try redesigning your 3D part to print horizontally instead of vertically. I had the same problem with a tool I made that had the same issue. Printed vertically it would snap in half if you dropped it on the floor, when printed horizontal it was much tougher and could easily handle rotational torque. The challenging part will be designing to print in that orientation without needing supports. Flattening the threads a little on one or both sides should work. Using PETG instead of PLA will make the part less brittle as well.
Ensuring your PLA is not soaked in moisture and not being cooled excessively during printing will also help tremendously. At the forces used in the video here, there's no reason parts cannot be strong enough printed vertically. 3D printing is capable of a far stronger print than that!
That would be better for layer strength. The orientation I chose was because I was being lazy and wanted to eliminate supports.
@@pileofstuff I reckon you'd have a very popular video on your hands if I could convince you to make a filament dryer. 🙈
[3:27] LOL at "freak head" in the subtitles that's obviously supposed to be FreeCAD.
Funny. I'm not sure if I should edit that or leave it.
If you continue the project maybe the next level would be a custom double sided PCB to accept two leds and make the soldering easier?
Probably. Learning how to generate the CAD needed for a custom PCB has been on my "to-do list" for a long time.
you had a addressable RGB chain in Mailbag 158.. it looks like it was made to glue ping pong balls to the bulbs ;)
That is also an option.
This is more of a mental challenge, though.
You are going to be very busy if you intend to offer these in 5 meter lengths🤣 Maybe try using a Dremel type tool for making the holes. Thanks for sharing.
To make those holes, why not a drill? Draw up those circles, or perhaps just a small hole, mount in vise, start out with a 3mm hole and then step up.
I was also thinkning of connecting the LED(s) to the outside of the ball and just shine through - might work…
Clamping the ball securely without crushing it was my initial concern about that method.
Great effort, can I place an order for a string of 200!
Very interesting project! 🤔
My first thought was to use thinner wires to jumper between the parallel LEDs (power, data-in and ground). Insulate (nail polish) the connections and un-used pads of the JUMPERED LED. ...
.
I don't have experience with those LEDs, but I'd think (based on the concept of Power Injection) that the data-line is the only wire that is needed on the output side of the non-jumpered LED? Separate a section of the three wires and cut the data-line. The power and ground can be connected to alternate ends of the non-jumpered LEDs by shaving a small section of the insulation down to copper (leaving 2 continuous wires end to end). ...
'
Someone out there, will probably put threads on both ends of your 3D printed part and split it in half so that only the nuts and ping pong balls will have to be fed onto the continuous wire. The last step is to dab a bit of hot glue to hold the nuts in place. 😉
Splitting the core part is an interesting idea. I'll have to explore that.
Great project! Does anyone have any ideas how to build a small device that once you place led leads on it say pads or headers the led screen would show such things as: voltage needed, resistor size, voltage drop. And possibly other things one might need.
If I have an unknown LED, I set my power supply to current limit at about 20mA and slowly bring the voltage up from about 1 volt, then observe and adjust the voltage and current limit until I get to an acceptable light output. Then compare to "standard" values and re-test with the closest one.
Of course, you have to be prepared to accept the sacrifice one of the LEDs should you push the test a bit too far...
The device is called a multimeter. Use in conjunction with a power supply and a phone app or website to calculate the resistor value for a given input supply voltage.
I enjoyed that. Hope you do revisit it!
I'd say that took some effort (on Freecad). That interface/print looks FACTORY! (back in the day that was a complement:). Contrary to it's fitment ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I've been going "back & forth" on making one. I'm curious what my "net" cost would be. If it's more money than I have I don't want to be up the river without a "paddle". I'm a little "light" on moola but I'm also really "wired" to do it. I think I'll "table" the idea for today. I do think if successful it will be a "score" for me. Thank you! Cheers from So.Ca.(CrAzY)USA 3rd house on the left
Umm, where's Clive.! He well knows the riggers of this type of thing.😉
Thinking of Mouse's Super Computers, do you really need Addressable...?
Use eggs! But seriously have you tried printing a ball in vase mode?
I've tried a few things in vase mode in the past, and I've always found them extremely fragile.