Light Emitting Border tutorial

[G. Hoffman]

I was working on one of these, and I thought I'd show an easier way to trim the plexi to size.

First, cut it to rough size:




Screw everything together.  The piece of wood in there is because the lid of the box was just a bit too thin for the router bit, because there is a gap between the router and the bearing.




I was going to use a flush trim bit, which has the bearing on the end of the bit, but because of the slopped sides of the box it would have been a pain.  So, I used this pattern bit, and used the lid as my template - hence the need for the wood.




And after everything was trimmed.




The whole thing took maybe 15 minutes of actual work, and the plexi doesn't melt at all.


Gabriel

[chicago_mike]

I'm in the process of amking 4 borders for some effects and its going well.

But the idea of the colour organ acting as the border is just too kitschy to pass up! I can't find a schematic for such a thing however. Can anybody post one?

[mikemaddux]

I'm in the process of amking 4 borders for some effects and its going well.

But the idea of the colour organ acting as the border is just too kitschy to pass up! I can't find a schematic for such a thing however. Can anybody post one?

+1

[space_ryerson]

I really thought I had some schematics for color organs laying around, but I'm having trouble finding them. I did have this in my bookmarks:

http://www.electronicpeasant.com/projects/ledlamps/ledcolor.html

[chicago_mike]

I found a bunch but nothing for leds...only with lightbulbs and a 120 volt source..

[chicago_mike]

I saw that one too, but for even just 3 leds, looks like overkill... but I could be wrong.

Unless I surface mount the entire thing. 

[neurino]

Today I started my own try, I found 2mm thickness plexi (4mm was available too but didn't want to change screws).

I found that engraving with a cutter and cutting like glass, with a little pressure and a little luck, is the best way. Then just a little file work is needed.

To remove the lid inner border I used a hacksaw since using a file took too much time.

As a led I'm tryin' one of these 10mm ultrabright leds with an aluminium foil on the bottom.
I don't make the led go through (it has a little diffusion angle, less than 20%) but made a half-hole with the drill bit, something like a concave lens.

Now I wonder if, wrapping the led and the plexy with aluminium foil I could maximize the amount of light routed on the border, something like this:


Any scientific explanation is welcome too!

[space_ryerson]

I saw that one too, but for even just 3 leds, looks like overkill... but I could be wrong.

Unless I surface mount the entire thing. 

Oh, I agree that's overkill. I'm sure something much more simple could be worked out.

[neurino]

I got a couple of works done:




The green one is a 5mm wide angle 2000mcd 20mA led,
the blue one a single 10mm 10000mcd 20mA 10mm

The green one is brighter than the blue, don't know if 'cause it's smaller or the wide angle led is better...

Again to cut plexy I made holes before then put it between lid (after removing the inner border) and enclosure, firmly closed with screws, engraved with a cutter both sides following the border, then broke with a little pressure (also with the help of a pair of pliers). After that only a little file is necessary.

[walker]

this is such a cool idea!  glad I saw this thread.   After scoring/cutting the plexi, what grit sandpaper are people using?   and what kind of file is best to remove the inner border?  Good source for wide angle and right angle LED's?  Where to get longer screws with the correct thread?  If I use a bi-colored led for bypass/on indicator, how would I wire that? 

[chicago_mike]

For fine sanding I think emory paper / cloth should be fine, sand in one direction only, like planing a door.

Mouser and everybody else should carry 1000MCD or higher, 50000 , 10000MCD leds. Or ebay.

And go to Home Depot or Menards, a big menards, and youll see a good screw section with sliding drawers and such and you can then get the longer size.

I dont think the screws are normal 8/32 or 10/32 but they are dang close enough so a hardware store, even ACE sould have those.

[knealebrown]

Just as an update for all those in the U.K.

I found this company that will cut plexi to size meaning that you only have to do some minor sanding eg rounding the corners.

Heres the link.

http://www.acrylic-online.co.uk/product_list.php?id=20

delivery is £8 for U.K (which is not great but not bad either) but the plexi is cheap, less than one pound for a cut peice for all standard pedal size pieces. Also they do loads of different colours and thicknesses just incase you want something larger/smnaller or dont want to use it on a LED border. Im ordering from them tonight and will let y'all know what the product is like when i get it.

I see this as being a fairly good deal as B&Q charge like £30 a square meters worth.

Kneale

[chicago_mike]

A precaution. Some clear plastics hold a static charge. I am using Lexan wich doesnt. I think the cost is about the same.

[tasos]

hohoo imagine that bottom flashing with the rate of a tremolo or flanger!!!!

[~arph]

That is the first pedal this was ever used on, a tremolo with flashing bottom 

[tasos]

we want the video!and we want it now!!!!!!

[mth5044]

Somebody could make a killing selling these for some of the standard boxes.

[Earthscum]

I curse you, Yorick... you just solved a problem and figured out how I can make my GF's Little Angel even more pretty... now I have more work to do!

I can't complain, though... I love it. I have some plexi I've been getting ready to play with anyways, and this is even simpler than what I was gonna do (equivalent of fretboard inlay work, cuz I like to geek out like that).

Thanks a bunch for the tutorial! And don't worry... it's a curse for good karma... not all curses are bad! 

[deadastronaut]

Somebody could make a killing selling these for some of the standard boxes.

yeah they could, problem is the inner lip  of the base has to be filed first to lie flat...

ive done it to a few of my pedals...looks great..well worth the extra effort...

[~arph]

And the other problem is that you need longer screws..