LED Edge Lit Signs

[Brent Endsley]

Just checking to see if anyone has found a supplier of LED Edge Lit Base at a good price. I am looking into making some LED Edge Lit Signs and would greatly appreciate an help that you may have. Would love to see some pictures of ones that you have made.

[Kenneth Hertzog]

Brent

if you go to my web site they are listed but i'm sorry they are not cheap
they are available in 6 and 12 inch length

ken

[Mike Null]

Jim Good who is a member of this forum distributes a line of those items. Send him a pm for details of his line.

[Dan Hintz]

If there is a real draw for it, I can quickly design a thin board and add it to my line-up. I do have single-colored strips using through-hole LEDs, but they're about 1/2" wide, a bit big for some designs.

The prices on the website ( http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com ) are for enclosing them in polycarbonate tubes (these were originally designed for automotive use, but many have found alternate uses), so I could trim the price down a bit if people are interested in them without the tubes or bulk orders. Strips start at about 3" long for $10 and typically jump by about 2" increments for around $5/increment. I stock large quantities of red, green, and blue LEDs, though I can get quite a few other colors (yellow, white), including the harder-to-find stuff (purple, turquoise, pink... quality, non-fading stuff). Everything runs off of 9-15V DC, so wall-warts are the easiest power method.

If people are really interested in surface-mount designs that are very thin (maybe 1/4" wide, <1/4" thick), let me know your thoughts. I could lay out a board in a few hours and have boards on hand in less than two weeks.

[Jim Good]

Brent,

Here are some pictures of some of the glowboards and other products I have available. The acrylic is 2mm thick and the base has 5 LEDs in either red, blue, or clear lights. The acrylic comes with paper masking on both sides to reduce the chance of scratches. I don't know if these help you out or not. I also have LED frames that look like a picture frame but they have edge-lighting along the bottom and comes with an acrylic sheet for engraving. The frame has a glass front and paper mat.

I've talked with Mike about putting together a sample pack of these products to offer up for a free drawing. Now that my recent shipment has arrived, I can do that. We'll get it set up soon.

Here's some pictures. PM me for more information.

Jim

[Keith Outten]

Harbor Frieight sells a 9" strip of LED's for 6 bucks in red or blue designed for 12 volt, basically for automobiles. You can use a 12 volt DC power supply to power your signs.
.

[Jim Good]

I never thought to look at Harbor Freight for LED strips. That's a great idea. Luckily, I have one just a few miles down the road. I may need to pay a visit this weekend!

Jim

[Angus Hines]

www.superbrightleds.com has strips in all sizes and colors a lot cheaper than 75 bucks each too.

Direct link:

http://superbrightleds.com/light_bars.htm

[Kenneth Hertzog]

Sorry for the high price on LED light strip
The boards are made in the good old USA
Assembled in the good old USA
components are from a USA company
as well as the power plug ( wall wart )
I have removed them from my web page
hope all have a great day
ken

[Scott Shepherd]

I went to a trade show several months ago and saw a very nice base. It was well finished, thick, looked excellent, and took 1/4" thick as well, as one of the options. I asked how much the base was and was told "about $13 or $14". I said "Are you sure that's right, those bases are typically in the $35-40 range".

"No, they are less than $15 for this size" (which held 7" or 8" wide pieces).

When I got back to the office, I signed up for their website access, went into the store. Roughly $35, wholesale.

[Dan Hintz]

Ken, I feel your pain. I strive to offer only quality products, using only high-quality LEDs (not the cheap penny-a-piece Chinese knockoffs), but it's nearly impossible to get people to look past the dollar sign. A 9" polycarb-enclosed (and waterproof) LED strip from me would be about $20, but people see them for $5-$10 at Harbor Freight and you can imagine what they choose. Here I am offering them even cheaper without the enclosure and still no one has shown an interest in taking me up on my offer. <shrug> Even the customers you think you know well (all of us) sometimes seem to defy logic

[Scott Shepherd]

Dan, it shouldn't surprise you at all. Look at lasers. People buy Chinese lasers because of the price, not the quality and features, so why should LED's or anything else be any different?

When I need some, I'll gladly call one of you who make them in the USA.

[martin g. boekers]

I'm with you on buying American made. I work hard to find products to sell that are made in America and I promote them as such. It gets difficult being in an industry such as this as products are not as easy to find that are available and priced at least somewhat competatively.

Attached you'll find an image of a wood frame that is available from a popular vendor, it's labeled as an American Alder Frame but as you'll see at the bottom (not even hidden in small type) Hand made in Thailand of American Alder Wood! This is what it has come to!

It would be nice if vendor's had a section in their catalogs that Identified American Made Products, it could be as simple as an American Flag next to the product.

As a group and individualy we support our vendor's, maybe we ought to let them know.

[Brent Endsley]

Thanks for the info. everyone. Still would love to see some more pictures too.

[Dan Hintz]

Dan, it shouldn't surprise you at all. Look at lasers. People buy Chinese lasers because of the price, not the quality and features, so why should LED's or anything else be any different?

To a degree, I agree and understand. As a Chinese laser owner, I had to carefully weigh the pros and cons of US vs. China machines... as an electrical engineer, I felt capable of handling most engineering problems to save myself 10x the money (I'd have to look, but I think I paid about $1,300 shipped for my 40W). I'm still considering a US machine for some of the more "stable" jobs coming down the line.

As a consumer, however, my father instilled in me the idea that quality matters, and you get what you pay for. A $10k savings on a large piece of equipment is a pittance for a multi-million dollar company, but it's huge money for a small business. The difference between a $7 Harbor Freight stick and something quality-made for roughly double the price seems like a no-brainer for all but the largest of bulk orders. I could understand trying to trim another $7 from the materials cost on a $15 item sold for $20, but doing the same on a $100 item while losing quality is a questionable business practice... in my humble opinion, but it's just that, an opinion. As many of us understand, all it takes is one loud dissatisfied customer to undermine your reputation for hundreds of other potential customers... sad, but true.

Still, I have always said (and hopefully will continue to say) that I will close the business before I sell low-quality products. I have no issues with "mass produced", just with inferior quality.