3D Printed LED Knuckle Jewelry

by Ruiz Brothers

published June 23, 2014, last edited June 23, 2014

posted in LEDs Microcontrollers 3D Printing Arduino Compatibles/ Trinket Wearables

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Beginner

Project guide

Assembly

Assemble 14-Segment LED

The Quad Alphanumeric Display comes with a backpack that you will need to solder together. Follow the guide to complete this assembly.

Soldering Assistant

Use a third-helping hand and Panavise to assist you while you solder.

Clip Pins

The access pins can cause the circuit to be too large to fit into the enclosure so you'll need to trim these. Use flush diagonal cutters to clip off the pins from the back.

Wire Connections

Measure and cut 4 strands of wire wrap to about 20mm in length. Solder these wires to SCL, SDA, GND, VCC and Vi2c pins on the 14-segment LED Backpack.

Slide Switch

Build an on and off switch by measuring a JST Extension cable and splicing the positive wire between the slide switch. We'll need it to be as small as possible, so cut off the pin and solder the wires to the small nub that's left over.

Heat Shrink

Use heat shrink tubing to secure the spliced ground wire connections. These little slide switch come in handy in many projects, so it's a great idea to make extra!

Solder JST connetor to Trinket

You'll need to solder on a female JST connector to the back of Trinket . This will connect to the male JST connector of the slide switch.

Wire Trinket

Use a panovise jr. or third-helping hand to secure the backpack in place. Lay the trinket over the backpack and thread the wires through the corresponding pins.

Solder Connections

Ensure the wires are long enough so that the Trinket has enough room to plug a USB cable in for reprogramming.

Solder wires as listed below:
#0 to SDA
#2 to SCL
VCC to VBat
Vi2c to 5v / 3v

Install into Enclosure

Plug in the slide switch circuit, align and carefully slide the completed circuit into knuckleBox.stl. Once the 7-segment display fits through the opening, grip the edges the pull the rest the the circuit.

Fit into place

If the tolerance is too tight, use an x-acto knife to enlarge the opening.

Install Slide Switch

Position the slide switch into the the opening and push it through.

Adjust Wires in Enclosure

Curve the JST extension around the inside of knuckleBox.stl.

Install Battery

Plug in the 110mAh battery. Curve the wire to fit it inside the box.

Prepare Enclosure Lid

Position the knuckle-lidClip.stl over the knuckleBoxLID.stl part.

Secure Lid

Snap in knuckle-lidClip.stl into knuckleBoxLID.stl.

Install Knuckles

Slide the knuckle-lidClip.stl nub in between the clips on knuckle.stl.

Right-side Up

The rings should have a comfortable fit, not too tight or loose. Ensure the parts are positioned with the 7-segment display facing the correct orientation.

Chain Customizer App

Included is a chain that prints fully assembled in place. The knuckle-lidHoop.stl part was created by the chain generator customizer app available on thingiverse.