LED Trinket Tree Topper

2020-12-08 | By Adafruit Industries

License: See Original Project 3D Printing

Courtesy of Adafruit

Guide by Rick Winscot

3D Printing

What your Christmas tree needs this year is a Trinket-LED animated Moravian Star!

Moravian Stars come in various sizes and number of facets... the most common is the 26-point form which is composed of eighteen square and eight triangular shaped points.

The star featured here is an adaption, using one of the points / facets to mount the star atop a tree.

Topper_1

The shape is technically known as an Augmented Rhombicuboctahedron.

Say that ten times fast...

If you favor durability, print-up your parts as-is with your favorite transparent or semi-transparent filament. If you want something lighter, you can go with one layer + zero in-fill.

3D Models (.stl files)

Assembly

I'm big into RC aircraft and ran into Ultimate RC Foam Glue a long time ago... it's awesome stuff. Until it was discontinued that is (major sad).

A friend of mine suggested Beacon 3-in-1; it turns out that it has many of the desirable characteristics of URCFG.

glue_2

It comes out like normal glue.

glue_3

It can get a little stringy during application - make sure that you cover your entire surface with a thin coat.

cover_4

Here's the trick in application.

Press the two parts together lightly, then pull them apart two to three times - until you can feel the adhesive resist being pulled apart. You may need to blow gently on the glue a bit to help things along.

Now, press the parts firmly together; you can make small adjustments for some time after.

press_5

Glue a few segments at a time, leaving them to dry / cure for at least an hour between. The final result will be strong but slightly flexible.

segments_6

Electronics

This is what I used to mount the Neo Pixel Rings inside the star...

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3D Model (.stl file)

The two rings fit back-to-back with a Trinket in the middle (here's a refresher on how to wire-up your NeoPixel Rings).

rings_8

USB port pointing up for easy access...

USB_9

The LED rings will get a little warm... we need to let the star 'breathe' a bit. Either drill or melt vent holes in the top and bottom of the star.

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Pass your power leads through one of your vent holes on the bottom and terminate with your female DC power adapter.

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What about the code?

Really... the rainbow animation in the Neo Pixel strandtest example is beautiful. If you prefer something else, those examples provide a great base to work with.

Decorate!

When you're done... slap that thing on the top of your tree and enjoy!

tree_12