Acrylic LED Sign Base
Description
I was wanted to create an acrylic LED desk light as a gift and this is what I came up with. Acrylic: I used 1/4" acrylic, which is actually .216" thick. The acrylic panel I cut is 8" wide and 5" tall overall. That includes a 0.5" piece that fits inside the upper slot of the top, leaving 4.5" of usable area. That 0.5" on the bottom of the panel is also 0.125" narrow on both sides to create a step for the acrylic so it doesn't sit on the top of the filter or the LED's inside. I've included an SVG of the panel that you can use to create your vector. It should be in the Images folder of the download. Do your research on the types of acrylic, either cast or extruded. They produce different results. The one in my picture is cast acrylic. https://www.xometry.com/resources/sheet/cast-acrylic-cutting/ https://makerexperiment.com/blogs/maker-experiment-blog/cast-vs-extruded-acrylic LED's: I wanted to use a USB wire to power everything so I needed 5V LED's. I also would need to cut them to length to stick to the base so cuttable strips would be needed. At first I tried to find LED's in the color I needed but the shade of color was not what I wanted. If you just want white then you shouldn't have any trouble. I needed purple and orange and I didn't want to use RGB which would require a controller. I ended up buying white LED's and designed the filter to get the color I wanted. This gave me some control of the color since I could choose the filament color to make it out of. This is what I purchased: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XDJVH9Z?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 Power: Most LED's strips will come with a USB cable attached. If you just need one then that should work fine. I was making 20 of these so I needed a bunch and I didn't want to pay for them so I salvage the cables off of discarded USB keyboards and mice until I had enough. This also gave me much longer cables than the one that came with the LED's, which are only 18" long. Filter: If you plan on using the LED color as your backlight color then you won't need the filter. I purchased transparent filament in the color I needed and they both were ideal shades of those colors after I printed the first one. If you need to make your color a bit darker, there is a gap of 0.085" or 2.15mm between the top of the filter and the bottom of the acrylic panel where you can make the filter a little thicker and possibly pick up more of the color you are using. The filter installs in the grooves in the base and slides along those grooves to get in the center. I shaped the ends of the filter to conform to the shape of the top, which should help you keep the filter centered as well as prevent it from sliding back and forth when the assembly is moved around. I print this upside down so I don't need to use any supports and I use 100% fill to get the most color filtering that I can. Something to keep in mind with the filter and how it is designed. My first few designs of the filter didn't block the light that came out from the side of the LED's. This light was visible through the top and detracted from the appearance of the acrylic. This final design closes the gap between the top of the base and the bottom of the filter as much as I could to stop that ambient light from being seen through the top. If you are going to use your LED's without a filter, that light will possibly be seen through the top. If this is not the look you want, you could alter the filter by creating an opening in the center of it then print it out of non-transparent filament. That should block the ambient light without affecting the light that goes up and into your acrylic. The Base: The base is what you stick your LED's to as well insert the USB cable through. I have a small channel in the center of the LED plane for the wire to pass under the LED strip without interfering with the LED strip's adhesion. There is also a small hole for the cable to pass through. I used a simple wire tie on the inside as a strain gauge and then covered that with hot glue to keep any strain from pulling the cable out. The base is screwed into the top with four counter sunk screws. The holes are 0.075" or 1.92mm so choose your screws accordingly. I print this at 20% fill and 4 walls. I also played with various setting to get the LED adhesion surface printed longitudinally so the adhesive had as much surface as possible. The Top: I wanted the acrylic panel to stay vertical and not flop around at all. The upper portion of the top has a channel that the acrylic panel slides into to keep it upright. This fit is very tight to eliminate wobble. You will want to measure your acrylic's thickness and make sure the width of the opening is a good fit. My acrylic panels needed a good amount of force to get into the top, which is what I wanted, they don't move around at all. I print this upside down so I don't need to use any supports. I print this at 20% fill but I have 8 walls to try and keep ambient light from being seen through the sides. 100% fill would have done the same thing but I like the strength that multiple walls provide. Assembly order is important. - Strip off about 3 inches of insulation from the USB cable, exposing all four wires. Cut off any internal insulation and the two data wires, leaving just the two power wires, usually red and black. - Strip only 0.125" or 3mm of the power leads and tin the ends with your soldering iron. - Slide the USB cable through the strain gauge. A drill may be needed depending on the diameter of your cable. Synch a small wire tie around the USB cable that's exposed to keep it from pulling back out of the base - Solder the power leads to your LED strip's contact pads. Be sure to have the lead that goes to the far side of the base UNDER the LED strip, not over it. - Adhere the LED strip to the base with the far side power lead resting in the center channel. Most have their own adhesive backing. Mine did, but I also have not had good luck with durability of that adhesive backing so I sprayed contact adhesive on the base after masking off the base. I then stuck the strip to that contact adhesive. - Apply hot glue around the zip tie between the LED strip and the strain gauge. - Test the LED strip. Repair if needed. - Insert acrylic panel in the top slot. - Assemble the top over the base, your filter should self center, and install your 4 screws.
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