Bright Idea for a Name Tag

Looking for a quick DIY project to separate yourself from the crowd at your next business function or maker expo? Take a leaf out of [Pete Prodoehl’s] book and make your own name tag complete with blinking LED!

Minimalist, yet flashy (sorry!), this quick project can be completed inside a few hours with few resources, and is a great way to display your DIY handiwork.

Laying out the basic design in Inkspace and exporting it as a DXF file, [Prodoehl] opened it up in Silhouette Studio so a vinyl template could be cut and then pasted to a name tag-sized copper board he had on hand. The cutout served handily during the 75 minute etching process — he used a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, vinegar and salt — and after a quick coat of Liquid Tin, he was ready to start soldering.

Lacking a small enough drill, [Prodoehl] improvised by simply soldering a pulsing red LED and resistor to the name tag’s surface, which you can barely see — the mark of an experienced maker! A binder clip holds the CR2032 battery in place along with a short wire to complete the circuit. Drilling a hole and adding a name tag clip completed the project in short order.

While we’ve seen some really complex name tags before on Hackaday, the elegant simplicity of [Pete Prodoehl’s] design is a great way for new and experienced makers to show off their skills.

[via RasterWeb]

Filed under: led hacks, wearable hacks

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