Let there be LEDs.

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Let there be LEDs.

Postby donmaloney » Tue Nov 11, 2008 12:02 am

I have been hard at work on my teardrop build...many, many thanks to all of the great advice offered on this forum!!!

I have made a lot more progress than my album would show, and I hope to have more pictures soon.

I had been thinking about lighting. I like the ideas of LEDs, but anything that I liked the look of was very expensive. I like the idea of puck style under counter lights, and rope lighting behind shelves just as accent lighting. I have been working on the puck lights, and here is what I have done so far. I got the LEDs w/ resistors on ebay. I found help with wiring LEDs here. http://www.instructables.com/group/LED's!/

I started with 3 1/2" X 3/4" oak stock.

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I turned that on a lathe to have a rounded edge, and be a perfect circle. I also used the lathe to take out the center circle.

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I used a router with a rabbet bit with a bearing to route the area for the lens, and the disc that would hold the LEDs.

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I used a plexiglass disc and 5.3 mm bit to drill holes for the LEDs. Right now there are 5. I will end up doing 6, since that will work better for wiring. I used photoshop to lay out a template for the LEDs.
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I then glued a layer of foil to the disc to reflect the light. One LED is removed to show the hole.
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I will neaten that up for the final product, I just wanted to test how it would work.

I made a lens out of Plexiglass that I sanded with a random orbital sander. I liked it, but would like it to be a little more opaque. I tried a few layers of wax paper, and that helped. They are not in the picture. If anyone has a suggestion on how to get the lenses more frosted, that would be appreciated.


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Then I put it all together.
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When I figure out the lens, and smooth out the foil when I glue it, I think that will improve the look, but overall I am happy. They are what I wanted.

I wired it up to a 9v battery to test how bright it would be. They are very bright. I will wire them for 12v.

I wanted more lights with less LEDs in each so they do not seem like spotlights. A lot of the under counter lights I looked at had 20 or 30 LEDs in them. That will probably be nice for the Galley, but too bright for inside.

Here is one with 12 LEDs lit up.
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I have made 10 of these.
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I plan to do six like this and one with Red LEDs inside to avoid disrupting night vision (over my nav table :D ), and three in the galley on the hatch. I will stain and varnish them, too.
So, now that I know where wires are going, I can start getting this teardrop put together!!! :D More on the rope lighting and the entire teardrop later.
Don
Last edited by donmaloney on Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby DezPrado » Tue Nov 11, 2008 4:23 am

Nice job!! I can see a good bit of thought & planning has gone into it. I like your progress & chice of materials. Well done!
I have a similar project underway & have considered frosting the glass a little more by dropping it off at at a glass engraving place for them to do a bit of sand etching on the otherside of the glass (shiny side) to see if that would achieve the aim.
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Re: Let there be LEDs.

Postby Endo » Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:07 am

donmaloney wrote:. If anyone has a suggestion on how to get the lenses more frosted, that would be appreciated.
Don


You could try a spray on frost coating.
http://www.createforless.com/Chase+Glas ... medium=cse
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Postby oregonguy » Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:32 am

Have you considered placing the foil on the back side of the plexiglass? I've never used foil that way, but when ever I paint plexi, I always paint the back, it's as if you put a huge layer of clear coat over the whole thing. It improves the depth and richness of color, may also do something interesting with reflection of foil....
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Postby donmaloney » Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:17 am

DezPrado, I would love to see your project when you have pics. That is a good idea about the glass etching.

Endo, Thanks for the suggestion. I think I will try that today since it seems like the easy way to go.

oregonguy, I had not thought of that. That's why I post here, someone always has better ideas than I do. I think that should solve the problems I was having. I jsut have to make sure the glue I use is clear.

Thanks everyone for your help.
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Postby donmaloney » Tue Nov 11, 2008 2:40 pm

I used the spray on stuff to frost the plexiglass. I still sanded it to start with, but I think the spray stuff was exactly what I was looking for. I used more glue when gluing on the aluminum foil, and pressed it on really hard. Now it looks nice and smooth. I also put the aluminum foil on the opposite side of the plexiglass, and I think that helped the look a lot, too.
Thanks for the great tips, everyone.
Don
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Postby Walt M » Tue Nov 11, 2008 3:17 pm

Don, what about spraying the inside/back of the plexi. with aluminum spray paint? Walt
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Postby Jiminsav » Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:16 pm

ha ha ha ha ...today is your lucky day..do I know a way to frost plexiglass..yes sir I do.


wanna know the trick?


well, do ya?


ok..easy to do, go to the depot and get a can of MEK and wipe it on the plexiglass...poof, instant opaque.
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Postby donmaloney » Tue Nov 11, 2008 9:34 pm

Walt,
That probably would have worked very well. I did get the foil to look good today, but it does not matter. The frosted spray paint did a good enough job that you cannot see through it enough to see the foil. On the other hand, I ended up going with 12 LEDs in each instead of six since it blocked a lot of the light that was coming through.
Jim,
Thanks for the tip. I will try that next time. I thought for a second you were going to say, Go to the Depot, and get some frosted plexiglass. I know they make it, but do not have it at our stores. I think I may have done your suggestion trying to clean a clear piece before. I know that I smudged up a clear piece badly once, but I could not remember how.

I will post some pictures of one of the lights lit up, soon.
Thanks to everyone for your help.
Don
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Postby Walt M » Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:33 am

Don how about doing some sort of step by step of how you wired the whole thing I'd love to give it a try on the next build. Thanks Much, Walt
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Postby donmaloney » Wed Nov 12, 2008 10:57 am

Hi Walt,
Thanks for your interest. The project was a fun one, and I learned a lot.
I posted a step by step to wiring in the Electrical section.
http://tnttt.com/viewto ... 774#396774
I hope that helps.
Thanks,
Don
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Postby Walt M » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:10 am

Hey nice job on the tutorial. What size leds did you use? I found a site from ebay that sells 10mm leds in colors, and I think they come with resistors in them? I'm not just thinking of my next tear but I'm in a band and I'd like to add them to our lightshow. What say you? Walt
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Postby donmaloney » Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:29 am

Thanks very much Walt.
I used 5 mm white LEDs. I got them with resistors on ebay, although I had to buy resistors afterwards so that I had the correct resistors for 12v. The 12v used 120 ohm resistors, and 9v used 150 ohm resistores...at least in my array.
The LED calculator http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz will help you plan what resistors you need since it will vary with colored LEDs, so do some planning before you order. Here is where I ordered the other resistors. http://www.goldmine-elec.com/. I also got some red and amber LEDs there.
I would love to see pictures when you get it all going.
Don
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Postby MidTNJasonF » Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:35 pm

We have frosted plexi windows at work by simply hitting them in a glass bead blaster (sand blast cabinet) at a fairly low pressure for a few seconds. No coatings to scratch, chip, or flake. No layers added to block light.

I know you are already done with that step but if you ever have to make more it is a thought. A local shop should be able to do it for a few bucks.
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