Surely by now you have heard about "Throwies". It seems that everywhere I turn around I read about them in Make, Digg, Instructables, or any of the other DIY websites out there. (So why not add another? =) Actually this is going to be a little different. Instead of ordering parts to make "perfect" throwies, we are going to do it the I-hacked way... That's right we are going to make throwies out of crap we already have laying around.

• A (large) Led. Most of the instructions you will find will use a 10mm diffused LED. For our intents and purposes we will use any led we can find
• 3V Lithium Battery
• 1/2" x 1/8" NdFeB Disc Magnet
• Strapping tape

You can read all about how to make the real throwies at Instructables, but we don't have time to wait ordering stuff. Lets scavenge all the parts we need from stuff we all already have. Now wait a minute, how do I know that everyone who is reading this will have all the parts that we will need? Come on, only certain kinds of people read i-hacked, these kind of people will have these parts.

Ok, lets find our parts around the house

LEDs: Where to find them?

In your junk drawer. Seriously, most of you will already know where you have a few spare LEDs. If you used up the last of them making some sort of POV contraption, these beauties can be found in Computer Case fans that glow, junk drawers - seriously go check again, Solar Powered Exterior house lighting (example) -- make sure to use the neighbors from a few streets over. (just kidding don't steal), and maybe your christmas lights that you bought this year. I mean you have all year to find them on sale again, might as well rip them up now. Ok, now that you have found some LEDs, are you going to take all the precaution to make sure that the 3V lithium battery is going to feed them the correct voltage? Heck no, I mean you are going to be throwing these, who cares if they burn out a day sooner than they would anyway. (if you are an EE and you are wondering why I am not suggesting using a Resistor calculator, it is because this way I don't have to tell people where to find the correct resistors. Think about it.)

3V Lithium Battery: You are kidding me right?

Ok, I know what you are thinking. This is the part of the article where he tells me to run up to CVS and pick up a battery while buying a disposable camcorder. Nope. Well I guess you could. But there is another place you can find these. Ok, you know that pile of motherboards that you have been saving for that "linux firewall" that you are going to build one of these days? Remember how it started as a 100mhz pentium, and now you have that 1.44ghz T-Bird motherboard in the stack? Well dig through those motherboards, eventually you will find a board with a socketed Bios battery. Guess what, yup it is the one we need

Nice Strong Magnet: Guess where?

Ok, go to your refrigerator, see that magnet that is struggling to keep those pizza coupons attached to the side? Well that one isn't going to cut it. We are going to need rare strong earth magnets if we want our contraption to stick. Believe it or not, the best place to find nice strong magnets are inside of hard drives. I went digging around and I found a couple 245MB hard drives (yes MB) that I think I can probably let go. Hard drives contain 2 to 4 nice strong magnets that they use to move the head arm. Taking apart my drive I find that my hdd contains 4 separate rare earth magnets. They are so strong that they feel like they are glued together, but after working with it a bit I got them separated.

Strapping Tape: Where did I leave it?

The hardest part of finding tape, is actually finding where you left it last time. Any kind of tape will work. But you are looking for some type of "packing tape". All we are going to be using it for it to hold the whole thing together.

Putting it all together

Step 1: Align the Anode (longer side) of the LED to the positive side of the battery. The Cathode (shorter side) to the negative side of the battery. Your LED should light up. If it doesn't turn it around. If it still doesn't, then it is time to replace your Bios battery on your motherboard.

Step 2: Cut off a 1" wide tape, make it approx. 7" long. (I stole the measurements from Instructables) Very tightly tape the LED leads to the battery. Wrap the tape around 2-3 times. At this point the led should not be flickering.

Step 3: Place the magnet on the positive side of the battery and continue to wrap the tape as tightly as you can. When you are finished your DIY throwie should be very sturdy. Now all thats left is to write I-Hacked.com on it somewhere and your throwie will be complete.

Step 4: Throw it against any ferromagnetic surface and marvel in your DIY throwie. (now you have to go get the ladder and recover your throwie, because you were only able to find enough parts for a few of them.) Depending on the LED you find and how old your battery is, your throwie could last up to two weeks!

Ok, I want to build another one.. Where should I get my next led from.....

I was thinking I needed a new mouse anyways. =)