How To Make a Giant LED • How an LED Works

hi folks welcome today I'm going to show  you not only how to make yourself a home   very huge LED almost bigger than my  face but I'm going to teach you how   all these LEDs that looks the same  can change light color one is blue   one is red and what's happening inside  so let's get started but first [Music] intro [Music] let's start to make a mold of an LED so I imported  a picture of a real LED and I follow using a pen   the shape of the outer line of the LED so  basically I'm just designed half of it and   using the rotary tool of fusion 360 I ended up  to have a rotational shape of the the original   shape I just drw so this is the is the object I  need and you can clearly see that the LED stays   perfectly inside this will be quite big bigger  than my hands and I'm just have to add three   little fits not only that works as a stand but  maybe I have to install it inside the LA so these   are necessary to print the mode I can use any  kind of 3D printer but in this case I have this   one it is a resin printer and can print in maximum  resolution this is important because the mode have   to be all smooth and shiny so let's hope that this  will work I can pour this resin that is a special   one it cures when it's exposed to UV light on the  bottom part of the tray there is a little monitor   that will project pictures that create each layer  that form the object itself these layers sticks   to this aluminum tray and can move up and down  rapid almost 2 seconds for each layer and took   12 hours to have the final result object I'm going  to sleep and hope that everything came out great   and finally this is the best moment ever each time  I can have finally in my hands the object that was   before just in my mind and you can clearly see  that everything went well but maybe there was   something missing in the file I don't know maybe  I made a mistake but isn't perfectly round isn't   circular we have like polygonal faces here and  this is bad we never seen an LED that has this   shape but let's try to fix it I can wash the part  into alcohol mix it with 20% gasoline will remove   all the excess of resin and I can cure it using  a UV light that has been for about 8 minutes 10   minutes also all the resin is cure and I can try  to send it move this is important otherwise the   resin will stick to sandpaper sincerly I don't  don't know why the the object came out not round   but with all these uh square corners and it's  terrible because this is a mold and if it's all   squared up H the mold itself will represent the  same shape I don't know if it's a problem of the   uh file the 3D file I exported from Fusion 360  that has all these uh square faces or maybe is   a problem of the resin 3D printer that I don't  know why if you put a a circle square up the the   corners I don't know but I can solve the problem  with some sandpaper and in this case I have an old   La I connected to a washing machine motor and  let's start to send it and smooth everything   in from the inside it's so important to remove  all the imperfection from this component because   all of them will be represented as well with a  transparent epoxy so everything has to be smooth   and shiny that's the reason why I install the lath  here and it designed in the fusion 360 program   these three parts of the base so I can mount it  inside the chu of the lake I connect everything   to the motor of the washing machine and is very  important to use a not powerful enough motor is   barely powerful enough to let it spin but in any  case if I crash with my fingers everything will   stop and I will not hurt my fingers so be careful  when you do this kind of job can be very dangerous   powerful L can cut fingers without problems I will  focus to sand perfectly smooth the inside part of   this component but also the outside so we can see  clearly what's happening inside I pass gradually   from a very rough sandpaper to a smaller one in  this case a 4,000 great sandpaper so everything is   coming so great and smooth I also added some water  but now let's put Instead This that is a fluid to   make metal shiny back again this contain aluminium  oxide powder very small one and is great not only   for polishing metal but also to make things shiny  back again I use some cotton cloth inside and I   work it for about 5 minutes and this is the result  everything is shiny and this looks like glass it's   amazing really but now let me tell you how an LED  works and what's happening inside of it all these   LEDs looks the same but I can turn them on with  different color how is this possible if I look   inside there's no color so what's happening  inside these are called LEDs and are diodes   they work exactly the same like diodes so they let  current and tension pass in one Only One Direction   and not backwards and graphically are almost  the same if you draw a LED diode and diode this   for example is a simple diode and you can see the  schematic how it is represented and this instead   is an LED diode this produce light and meat light  and that's the reason why we have these two huge   Sparks of light coming out of the the sign the  graphic sign so you can understand that an LED   and a diode are almost the same and let me tell  you something that is so interesting are exactly   the same also the diode this black component  that is used in almost every circuit board is   a real emitter of light so if you can take it and  open it carefully we can see that emits infrared   light so is there's no difference between an  diode and led diode the diode the simple one   produce infrared light that is closed enclosed in  some inside some ceramic and is then translated   into heat that's the reason why diodes get get  hot because infrared is transferred by heat in   this case instead these are produced and make to  to create the more light is possible so if you   watch carefully how an LED is made we can see that  we have two contacts that gets inside something   that looks like a coffee mug a very small one  and inside in the bottom there is a very small   component is called a semiconductor if we change  Dimension or material of this semiconductor and we   apply electricity this starts to vibrate I don't  I know it's not the real word but you can imagine   that is shaking very rapidly and is producing uh  photons so that's the reason why we have light if   you change material or tension that we apply to  the to the LED and of the semiconductor we can   then change the wave length and that's the reason  why we can't have the perception that the color   change between One LED and another because we have  different semiconductor or different dimension or   different voltage and that's the main reason so  it's very interesting not only to know what's the   difference between this but also to know that  there's no difference from an LED that emits   light and a diode that doesn't emit visible light  so that's so interesting but let's continue with   the project we are almost there for emiting  light inside my Giant L I choose this this is   a very powerful small LED chip inside of it I  can see with the micro lens we have six small   diodes that are connected in serious I can remove  the rubber coating these covering in the cables   so it's much easier now to connect them to two  very small brass tubes this will work like the   two legs of the LED I took some aluminum cut it  so we have the same shape that is inside an LED   classic one so this is just for aesthetic reason  no real purpose for this but now let's take this   is a wood base with some gasket and I can put two  glasses container here on top inside the glasses I   can pour some clear transparent epoxy raisin this  is made on purpose for creating little molds with   a very transparent resin I can use a syringe  to make sure to have the right amount of each   component we have to put 60 parts of component  a and 40 parts of component B pour everything   inside a glass container and is so important to  steer and mix the part carefully in this case   we aren't in a hurry because this reaction will  occur in 24 hours so we'll take our time to mix it   properly 5 minutes is more than enough and I can  use a drill with this component to mix everything   together you can see that a color has changed not  for a chemical reaction but let me explain you better when I was trying to mix the two parts of  epoxy resin using the syringe some air bubbles   get trap inside the resin and once I start to  mixing it with with a drill these air bubbles   destroy and we are creating very very small air  bubbles that's the reason why it changed color was   perfectly transparent and now is little bit wider  and that's the reason why there are trap inside   very very small air bubbles this is terrible I  don't want to have a a white mold we are making   a transparent LED so we have to remove all these  air bubbles and the cheapest way to do this is   taking an air compressor from a fridge and here  let me show you it's possible to convert an old   vintage motor fridge into a vacuum pump from here  compressor we have this nozzle that push air and   from this one instead will suck air I connect this  part to a wood board with a silicon gasket on top   of them I can put the glasses container and once  the pump is turned on we can suck the air from   the bigger container so the raisin is exposed to  vacuum and the all small little bubbles that are   form inside will start to expand gets on the top  and explode so this is the best way to remove all   bubbles that are inside repeat this process  process almost five times in half an hour we   remove all these little bubbles the thicker resin  it is the colder room it is the more time it will   take so finally you can see that everything work  and I have a clear raisin again we are almost   ready we have the negative mold and the epoxy  resin we can put them together but first it's   so important to create like a little layer on the  mold so that the resin doesn't stick to the mold   itself and is much easier to separate the molds  afterwards so what I can use maybe is some be wax   I can put it inside and make it all smooth and  shiny again but I have here this spray and it's   written that is made for don't let the part stick  to each other it's the same almost the same thing   you can find on kitchen pens so let's try and  test it if it works let's spry it on inside the [Music] mold and now that the spray is apply  everything from the inside is so shiny that   looks like glass component the more shinier it  is the more difficult it will be to the resin   to stick to the component I'm using this  flexible arm and this tripod head to mount   and fix perfectly the LED centered inside the  epoxy resin mold so now it's just ready and I   can pour the resin crystal clear resin inside  the container in this step is so important to   do things slowly we don't want to trap air  bubbles inside well so difficult to remove   them so let let it cure for about 24 hours and  now finally everything cure up and yeah just   ready to take it apart and this unfortunately  took quite some time removing it just pulling   the two brass tubes is impossible uh because our  glue inside I try as well to squish the container   but everything seems stuck I then realize I can  use some compressed air a very small needle to   push some air around the mold but as well here  I having so much trouble I decided to destroy   the mold and trying to push in the air here but  even this method that usually works in this case   doesn't work I use a hammer and also a chisel to  try to apply some lever Force to open the mold   but unfortunately the resin stick to the resin of  the 3D printer and looks impossible to remove the   two molds I don't know why but it sticks perfectly  to the mold is impossible to remove the two parts   the epoxy resin sticks so well to the resin from  the 3D printer and I was hoping so bad that the   spray I use will solve this problem but it didn't  work the then was to make and fabricate mod that   I can use multiple times to fabricate multiple  LEDs and start selling them but unfortunately   this isn't the process I have to find a way  to have a mod thatti doesn't stick at all to   epoxy resin and I have something here my shelf  let me teach you and let me show you [Music] how so this is paraffin wax I put it all inside an  aluminum container and I will M melt it using an   heat gun I designed again the mold itself of  the LED and you find all the links I'm using   for your 3D printer here in the info below as  always came out with all these polygonal faces   and I have to use the L again to send it but  this time was much easier and you can clearly   see that everything is so shiny it looks like  something you can stick in your kitchen so now   I can melt the wax I was telling you I is almost  3 kilos of wax and I can let it cure here inside   so now that everything is melted I have to use my  arm my flexible arm I use to record videos to fix   everything properly in the center perfectly at  90° inside the wax without without letting it   follow fall inside let the wax cool down for  about an hour and finally this is the result   I can stick the hand inside apply some force and  remove it from the wax itself in this case the wax   is cover with a little little with a very thin and  small layer of oil will be easier to remove it wow   and the mold now this time with wax is perfect  I can remove this black mold that is just for   having the shape in the wax and pour directly  inside the wax the epoxy resin the transparent [Applause] [Music] [Music] one [Music] every time I work to my projects  I learn new stuff and maybe today I made huge   mistakes but from mistakes I learn new  stuff and in this case working with very   big volumes of resin can start to produce  a lot of heat and heat can melt the mold   itself so let's cross the fingers and  hope that the resin I use doesn't get   hot while it was dry and curing so let's  take it away from the mold and cross the [Music] fingers [Music] and the color is so bright and   just as an normal led the light is  perfectly directional in one single point [Music] m [Music] [Music] wow I love the fact that this is will be this  will be a design lamp for my shop in my living   room and this also will be a very nice H gift  idea for all my friends so at ch I already know   what to give to all of them so let me know  if you think you enjoy your project with a   thumbs up and I was also thinking to improve  the project and changing the LED chip I put   inside make another one much bigger much powerful  I'm talking about 100 watt LEDs and choosing one   with a perfect CR which is the color tone of the  skin so I can use it also to light up the my face   and having the great a great video this will  be a great video a light video for my studio   as well as always I leave you here where the  blue light is the previous video which was how   to make a plasma cutting machine at home with  very very cheap components you find the link   here and also how to make a bamboo bike with  very cheap parts yes this is the only tutorial   channel YouTube channel I'm talking about only  things I make weekly so if you haven't already   subscribed consider to subscribe to this  Channel and see you soon Chia chiao [Music]

Channel: Rulof is How To Make

Views: 667,294

Keywords: how to make, resin mold, epoxy resin, led, led light, diode, big, giant, how make, selfmade, homemade, diy, tutorial, instructions, casting, crystal clear, transparent resin, vacuum, huge, very big, light, electronic, light source, cast led, resin experiment

Id: BZp27KoJyxI

Length: 20min 6sec (1206 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 08 2023