A 3D-PRINTED COUNTERFEIT DETECTOR

For those of you who are still paying with cash or, more importantly, taking cash payments, an Instructables contributor, Carmelito Andrade, shared instructions and STL files for 3D printing your own portable counterfeit money detector. Andrade, from Stamford, Connecticut — an electronics tinkerer, 3D designer and printer, and also a farmer — created this device, which is smaller than the size of the bill you’re checking. It fits into your wallet and, because it’s battery operated, needs only to be switched on to run a quick scan on a bill.

Andrade’s device, which also functions as a small flashlight, works on the same principle as any other ultra violet (UV) light-based detector: When you illuminate the bill with a UV light source, a thin, vertical strip to the left of the President’s head will appear. The strip is printed on the bill in fluorescent ink that is not visible to the naked eye. The strip is a specific color based on the denomination of the bill. $100s are red, $50s are yellow, $20s are green, $10s are orange, $5s are blue.

For this project, you will need a few electronics components in addition to the 3D printed parts. You should be able to purchase the electronic parts at any hardware store:

• Two UV LEDs
• One white LED
• A coin cell battery (CR2302)
• Super glue

Andrade’s STL files are available via the Instructables page. It took him about an hour to print all of the non-electronic parts, which is easily assembled using his instructions and some super glue.

To read the complete article, see:
3D Print Your Own Portable Counterfeit Currency Detector (http://3dprint.com/36541/3d-print-counterfeit-detector/)

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