Basic LED Lit Badge / Keychain

A member from CCCKC approached me over a month ago wanting to make some special promotional badges for Defcon. They wanted something like these (http://inventgeek.com/Projects/Laser-Fab-LED-Necklace/overview.aspx) but wanted to keep the form factor of their previous badges (luggage tag size, basically). This is the first prototype version of the resulting LED badges.

These badges are glued together, so they don’t have any protruding fasteners, but the battery can easily be replaced (the LED can as well but that’s a little harder). The battery door is meant to be kept in place with a key ring or badge clip, but seems to stay in place with friction on the prototypes. I’ve included both 3mm (if you’re using 1/8” acrylic) and 5mm (for 1/4" acrylic) LED templates. If you want a thinner badge, use the 3mm LED version, but be warned that warping can be an issue if you etch it too deep. I have black acrylic in hand so the back and middle sections of the badges are cut from that, but there’s nothing stopping you from making the entire thing out of clear acrylic.