Just panelize it.
Put 5x5 (or whatever you want) of these on one PCB with little breakable connectors between them, then have them assemble that.
Ahhh, genius. I didn’t even think of that. Thanks!
Most places can do the panelizing for you as well.
On PCBWay, to have them panelize and assemble is $358 with shipping.
I just ordered 600 of the LED, and 1000 capacitors. I’m ordering the boards later today.
And I thought I was crazy. 
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It took me a long time to route the board in a way that was somewhat symmetrical. However it turned out okay. Definitely not my best PCB.
400 are on the way, which should be enough to make two blades.
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Wow now that will be some blade your making!
Its ideas like this and people like you that push the boundaries of what can or should be done.
My hat comes off to you sir for such a bold move!
Keep us updated👍
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They’re here! 400 little tiny PCB’s:
I already have a “framework” printed and here it is with the stencil taped in place:
Now it’s time to try and convince my wife to apply solder paste while I place the components…
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Make sure you test them BEFORE you start wiring them together!
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And here it is…baby #1, hot off the air soldering station:
First test is successful!
Now I just have to make 200 more…wish me luck.
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looking very nice there, good luck with the rest of the build!
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will the final assembly have the PCB’s placed closer together to reduce the gap between the led chips?
No. There has to be some gap to allow for flexibility of the blade. I calculated the gap to achieve a reasonable current in the blade.
| Color(s) | 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Pixel Height | 2 | mm |
| Board Height | 0.72 | mm |
| Overall Height | 2.72 | mm |
| Spacing | 1.7 | mm |
| Effective Blade length | 34 | in |
| Blade Length | 863.6 | mm |
| Stack Count | 196 | |
| Pixel Count | 588 | |
| Pixel current | 10 | mA |
| Pixels per deck | 3 | |
| Current per deck | 60 | mA |
| Current for blade | 11.76 | amps |
| Battery Capacity | 5000 | mAh |
| Runtime | 0.425170068 | hours |
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pity, unreasonable current is much more fun…
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190 boards, soldered and tested. This was a huge amount of work. I procrastinated most of last week, but pushed through and got the last 60 done today.
Now all that’s left is to solder them all in stack, and assembly the blade itself. I’m going to put one of Adafruit’s mini single pixel boards at the tip of the stack to fully illuminate the blade. You’d hate for one of the brightest blades ever made to have a dim tip…lol
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Bravo 
Can’t wait to see what it looks like when your Done!
Something tells me though that when you ignite the blade the first time and suddenly realise that its so bright you can Bearley look at it, you’ll hear your mother say in you head “don’t stare at the sun you’ll blind yourself” 
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This is so crazy, I love it!!!
Tom
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