LED edge lit Wedding Gift and Thanks

[Steven Wallace]

Guys I just tried doing my first LED edge lit project. My time management was better on this one. Instead of waiting until my usual start time of waiting until the last moment, I am actually almost 2 months ahead. Anyway, my daughter is getting married and I thought that this would make a nice addition for her to put over her guest book and sort of draw her guests to it. Enjoy the pics... the sign is 16.5" wide.

Dee,
I want to thank you for your trace tutorial, it really helped with putting the hairline around the top of the piece.

To my fellow Creekers,
Thanks for all of the posts and information on LED edge lit signs. I got the base from the place that is giving the gift certificate to the creek.

I hope this moves other to challenge themselves. This is a very easy project for someone starting out and it has a load of WOW factor.

[Joe Pelonio]

Very nice Job, Steven. Last September I did the table markers for my daughter's wedding. Walking her down the aisle is a Dad's proudest moment, enjoy.

[Dee Gallo]

Steven,

You did a beautiful job on that, it should cause a lot of excitement when people go to sign the book. I love the little bows on the hearts, so "happy".

Not only will this be a great decoration for the wedding, but I'm sure they will keep it forever as one of those "my DAD made this!" gifts that will continue to wow people. I don't know what it is about edge-lit lights, but everyone seems to love them every time they see them.

Keep up the great work! And congratulations on the wedding too!

cheers, dee

[Andrea Weissenseel]

That looks great, Steven - I like that when the contour follows the design

[Steven Wallace]

Andrea, Thank you!

As I stated in the starting post, Dee Gallo's trace tutorial was a great help to my being able to do that. It really made it much easier to do that I had anticipated. The people on the Creek are what drive my creative juices.

[John W. Love]

Hey Steven, that looks awesome! My son got married a few months back and it is one of the proudest moments of my life. He picked a fantastic young lady to bring into our family. May your new son-in-law bring you the same happiness!

PS. and extra congrats on doing it early

[Steven Wallace]

The bases are made of an extruded aluminum channel. There is one issue I have with them. The channel opening is roughly a .250" opening but the base of the channel is somewhat wider to accommodate the width of the LED strip. I am going to try and figure out, after removing the end caps, what I can wedge in that opening to stabilize the acrylic piece. Otherwise, the Acrylic has a tendency to wobble front to back in the channel when the sign is moved. It is not a big deal but will make for a more professional finish once this is done. I'll let you know what I figure out. I am accepting suggestions from you that have had a similar experience.

[scott keller]

I could not figure out what the little pins were for. What if on the bottom of your plexiglass you lasered in two holes so the pins slid snugly into the piece. Slide the pins in the acrylic.
Remove one end of the base and slide the whole thing into the extrusion and put the end back on. This would make it sit nice and flat? This may also explain how the people who take the feet off and screw a chain between the holes to hang them upside down. The piece would stay in place. I will try to test one in the next day or so and let you know. You may beat me to it.

[Jeremy Butler]

I have a couple questions, I haven't tried to do an LED sign yet but I have been wanting to, roughly how much did it take to make it this? and where did you get the base? thanks for your help

[scott keller]

Steven,

I tried the pins using the method I described above and that is the key. Laser the holes for the pins so the pins fit nice and tight. Also I did them at a height level so that the bottom of the acrylic ended up being right on top of the lights so it actually forces the pin tight against the top of the chanel. Making the acrylic tight against the lights stiffens it up. You could then pick the whole thing up by the acrylic or even hang it upside down. I will make up a little instruction sheet to ship with the units in the near future.

Scott

[Steven Wallace]

Jeremy, How much it takes? I am taking that you mean acrylic. Well it depends on the base width and how tall you make it. I found the base I used very stable. It is 16.5" long and the acrylic was roughly 5" tall. I am sure you can go taller. Here is the website and if you want more info contact Scott Keller in this thread.

http://www.decorandafter.com/store/p...hp?cat=46&pg=2

Scott, Thank you for the suggestion. I will put it to use before I ship it to my daughter. Thanks for your quick response. The info sheet would really be handy, I sure had no idea what the pins were for. It is not very intuitive.

[Bob Cole]

Those prices are better than what I got. I did what was posted earlier for the pins. Still wasn't the fit I wanted so I went the next step up in thickness for the acrylic and lasered away the excess so the acrylic would fit snug.

I've thought of other designs for bases that would hinge from the side (the entire side panel would would pull away). You insert your acrylic and then snap the side in. It would possibly have a thin foam at the top of each side to block the led light from the sides and provide a cushion for the different thickness acrylic. Anyway, just a thought. Haven't built anything.

[Stuart Orrell]

Hi Steven,

The light looks really neat!

This is my first post but I have been viewing this most useful forum for a couple of months now.

I was wondering if anyone knows where we can get LED bases like this here in the UK? If anyone can help, please do. I've been searching for a while.

Thanks!

Stuart Orrell
LS6040 40W

[Mike Null]

Stuart

Welcome to SMC. Can't help on sourcing in the UK but glad to have you aboard.

[Dave Lock]

Hi Steven,

The light looks really neat!

This is my first post but I have been viewing this most useful forum for a couple of months now.

I was wondering if anyone knows where we can get LED bases like this here in the UK? If anyone can help, please do. I've been searching for a while.

Thanks!

Stuart Orrell
LS6040 40W

Hi Stuart.

Funnily enough I've been looking for a UK supplier lately too. I found this company http://www.ledsignlighting.co.uk/led...ng-systems.htm and have a 12 inch version on its way. Not cheap though, it was £25.00.

Dave.