Charlyn Gonda's Friendship Bracelet Glows with Joy — Thanks to a Clever Custom Battery Clasp
A 3D-printed coin cell holder provides an LED noodle with the power it needs while doubling as a magnetic bracelet clasp.
Maker Charlyn Gonda has built a friendship bracelet with a difference: it glows when snapped together, courtesy of a custom-made coin cell battery holder that doubles as a clever clasp.
"The world’s glowiest friendship bracelet," Gonda writes by way of introduction to the project. "This battery holder didn't exist, so I invented it — 3D-printed magnetic battery clasp! Bracelet is wrapped thread around an LED noodle, and 2 brass beads held together by copper wire."
The body of the bracelet is commercial "LED noodle" flexible LED filament string, hand-wrapped, which glows along its length when given power. Turning it into a bracelet, though, requires a way to provide the power, keep things stable, and still make it so you can put it on and remove it again — which is where the custom-built clasp-cum-battery-holder comes in.
"[The] top and bottom are symmetrical, [and] the conductive metal is pried from an existing battery holder," Gonda explains. "A half-circle raised geometry keeps it from rotating. Designed for a 1632 coin cell, but it’s parametric!"
Additional details on the project are available from Gonda's Twitter thread, though it has yet to be uploaded to her website.