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Wearable glowing accessories — we often
associate them with Halloween costumes or a
packed concert. While those are definitely fun,
I wanted to make elegant jewelry, fit to wear on
a night out with friends or a casual day at work.
There’s something magical about LEDs, and I
want to carry that magic with me wherever I go.
To keep it sleek, I designed this pendant as a
circuit sculpture — it uses thin metal rods both to
conduct electricity and to provide structure and
decorative shape. I started with a thick brass disc
to conceal the battery holder, and took a lot of
inspiration from art deco motifs.
1
DRAW THE DESIGN ON PAPER
Measure the LED sequins and brass discs, and
build a simple line-based design around these
shapes. Draw or print your final design in a
horizontally mirrored orientation so that the
solder joints will end up behind the pendant.
Make sure the printed size is correct.
LED Pendant
1
+
2
+
3
Written and photographed by Charlyn Gonda
CHARLYN GONDA is a coder by
daylight, maker by moonlight, from
San Francisco. She loves to create
delighful (often glowy) things.
TIME REQUIRED:
1 Hour + Design Time
DIFFICULTY:
Easy/Moderate
MATERIALS:
LED sequins (3), brass discs (2), thin brass rod,
CR2032 battery holder, double-sided foam tape,
solder, flux, small paintbrush, soldering iron, flush
cutters, transparent double-sided tape. Optional:
circle bending pliers, kapton tape
2
BEND AND CUT THE RODS
Place transparent double-sided tape over the
design to secure the parts while soldering (credit
to Jiri Praus at Remoticon 2020!). Using a flush
cutter, cut and bend the rods to your design. Try
jeweler’s circle-bending pliers for clean bends,
and Kapton tape to stabilize small parts.
3
SOLDER AND ASSEMBLE
Dab a little water-based flux on each joint using
a paintbrush. Touch the brass rod with the
soldering iron to get it up to temp (might take
a second longer than regular wires), and melt
solder onto it. The solder should flow in between
the rods and solidify soon after removing the iron.
Finally, use double-sided foam tape to secure
the brass disc to the battery holder, and attach to
a long necklace chain using some jumper rings.
This pendant-making method is versatile and
can suit a variety of personal styles. I’m excited to
see more glowy jewelry like this out in the world.
NOTE: The frame of the pendant is the circuit itself. This means that a portion of it needs to connect to the
negative side of the battery and a portion of it to the positive — and the two should be bridged by the LEDs.
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