LED Thermal Axe accessory.

Welcome to my submission to the 2024 “let there be light” competition. 

I've been working on a Cyberpunk themed axe accessory for the popular Mecha King Kong figure. I think it complements the figure really well, especially if you also modify the head to include LED's for the eyes. The axe itself requires superglue for assembly, with the option to also use screws for greater strength. I have included pictures of the printed parts as well as an exploded view to help aid with assembly. The centre of the axe has hollow channels that the LED wires can be fed through. This will help with routing and provide a clean finished look. 

Assembly tips:

Solder the LED filament to the + - wires AFTER feeding them through the axe centre. This will help you orient the filament around the axe blade so that it stays in place. Soldering the LED with the cables outside of the axe centre could result in damaging the filament as you try to install the wires. 

Fine adjustment of the filament can be obtained by gently pulling/pushing on the wires once soldered.

The positive terminal of the filament is often marked with an indented notch whereas the negative isn't.

Before soldering the LED filament, test it with a 3v power source to find out which side the light is emitted from. This will ensure that when you assemble the axe, the brightest side will show at the front to give the best light output. 

Required for assembly:

Superglue.

1.5mm wire. (recommend 2 meters to route from axe to battery) You will probably be fine with thinner cable, this is just what I used. 

3v power source, recommend a 2xAA or AAA battery box.

130mmx2mm flexible LED filament. I purchased mine cheaply from AliExpress. 

Soldering iron.

solder.

Optional:

20 M2.5x6mm screws for extra detail/strength.