Ping pong ball LED diffuser
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With so many new, specialized and intricate devices at a maker's disposal, it's always awesome to discover new uses for materials that have been here all along -
Turns out that a Ping Pong ball makes a reasonable LED diffuser. Just drill a hole and insert the LED. Easy micro Locnar! With an RBG LED this could make a nice system indicator. Maybe build a strip of these indicators to make several status indicators. Each server gets a mini orb to show it's online status, maybe each email account. How about a ball of balls, each with an RGB LED...Woah, easy there - one glowin' ball concept at a time! Hmm . . . but how bout violet LEDs to make an interactive bunch of grapes - or maybe eyes that light up when . . . -Link
Related:

Ping pong lights -Link
Posted by Collin Cunningham |
Feb 21, 2008 02:15 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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Comments
Oldest comments listed first.
| Posted by: Sean Hyde-Moyer on February 23, 2008 at 2:38 PM |
The best diffusers of this nature I've found are the translucent super-bounce balls you find in gum ball machines.
Drill a slightly smaller than LED-sized hole, and insert LED, us a little hot glue if needed.
Suffused glow, no hot-spots. Very pretty.
| Posted by: Sean Hyde-Moyer on February 23, 2008 at 2:39 PM |
The best diffusers of this nature I've found are the translucent super-bounce balls you find in gum ball machines.
Drill a slightly smaller than LED-sized hole, and insert LED, us a little hot glue if needed.
Suffused glow, no hot-spots. Very pretty.
| Posted by: John Honniball on February 23, 2008 at 3:52 PM |
I went out today and bought some ping-pong balls (an unusual thing for me, going into a sports shop) and found that they were half price! It must be the wrong season for ping-pong in England right now. Anyway, they work as LED diffusers, but the LEDs aren't very bright.
| Posted by: Tim Klein on February 26, 2008 at 9:24 AM |
I made a similar project using the balls from roll-on antiperspirant bottles. I sanded the LEDs (two per ball) before inserting which helped diffuse the light.
Ping-pong balls are made of cellulose, which is not very stable, especially in exposed/outdoor environments. See this link for some details.
http://aic.stanford.edu/jaic/articles/jaic30-02-003_3.html
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