Light Flyer; a 3d Printed Light Up Flying Propeller "Toy"

This is a fun 3d printed light up flying "toy"! It is powered off of an old vacuum motor from a handheld vacuum. It can be used to get epic long exposure shots with a camera! This is probably not a toy that younger children should use, but they can watch.

1. 3V CR 1632 coin battery
2. 5mm LEDs
3. Generic HC685G RS-545 DC 12V-18V High Speed Motor
4. 3d Printer
5. PLA Filament
6. Duck tape
7. A candle or lighter
8. Hot glue gun
9. Slicing software (I used orca)
10. 12V, 4+A barrel jack pawer supply with screw terminal converter thing
11. A breadboard
12. A breadboard power supply
13. Breadboard jumper wire
14. 2x 5V relay
15. rocker switch

note: these may not be what I actually used for this project, you may need to edit the 3d model so that it works. I got my motor from A small handheld vacuum cleaner, so I don't know the exact model.

I used Tinkercad to design all of the models for this project. You can either use my models, or edit the models in Tinkercad. You can find the models The model consist of a release part that connects to the motor and a propeller that connects to the release and holds that battery and lights. I ended up having to redesign the model, because it did not work at first, so some of the photos may nor be completely accurate. I also redesigned the propeller to be lighter, so It can go higher. With the V2 propeller, I would estimate it can go about 5 ft higher

You should just print with 0.2mm layer height, and use supports. You may have to paint on custom supports to make sure that it prints well.

Heat up the motor shaft with the candle, and insert it into the Pin shaft, making sure the notched side lines up with the notched side of Pin shaft.

Stick one LED on the battery, making sure it lights up, then use a little strip of tape to tape the pins to the battery, securing the LED in place. Insert the battery assembly into the slot in the propeller, and try to push the other battery under the piece of tape. You may need to fold the sides of the tape over, so that you can insert the second light easily. Then just secure everything with hot glue.

Make a circuit to switch the direction of the voltage to the motor. it should look something like this but may need to be slightly different for your specific relays.

To use the spinning toy, simply plug in and wait for it to get to speed, then flip the switch and watch as it flies away. It is really fun to do some long exposure photos, so that you can see the spirals. When using an iPhone, the phone decides what it wants to do, so it is more frustration, but you can get some awesome photos when it does work! Make sure that you do not touch the shaft or the propeller when you are using it, because you could get cut pretty easily.