LED display


I made this for my nephew in Germany who is a member of his village volunteer fire department.

I used proof grade light cherry plywood for the center cut, one in front and one in back. Between them I engraved the same design using proof grade Eco Medium Clear Acrylic with the SD Graphic setting on my Glowforge Plus. I doubled them, engraving one reversed. I also off set the center design so it was show a little better with the LEDs.


The four pieces were put together using double sided tape. At first I used super glue but it ended up leaving smoke like marks in-between the acrylic.
The LED strip was run around the perimeter and terminated at the bottom.

I then used a few pieces of 1/4" plywood to cut rings to go around everything to cover the LED strip.
After that I cut 2 rings for the front and back using proof grade medium walnut plywood.
That was finished off with 18mm black self adhesive edging.


I designed the base using Tinkercad and printed it on my 3D printer. I used iron on Red Oak veneer cut on the glowforge. After it was applied, I stained and varnished it. There is a bottom cover not pictured.

I removed the circuit board from the LED controller and discarded what I didn’t need. Instead of using the 12v power supply I designed the base to use AAA batteries. I installed a push button on/off switch on the back and made a hole in the front for the IR remote receiver. It also works with WiFi and bluetooth with an app.

I hope he enjoys it, it was fun to make.

39 Likes

This is a wonderful project! Thank you for sharing! I love the details.

9 Likes

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for your photos and write up. I have no doubt that your nephew will love this and that others in the department are going to want similar items. Well done!

10 Likes

I like your idea of putting the LEDs around the outside of the disk. It sure made the lighting much more uniform.

7 Likes

Projects like this are made from the heart. You did a great job! Welcome to the forum!

6 Likes

I love led projects

5 Likes

Wow! Great project!

6 Likes

Welcome to the forum! What a great project to introduce yourself with. I’m sure you’re nephew is going to love that. Please be sure to share more of your projects. We all love inspiration!

4 Likes

That looks amazing!

3 Likes

Great project. Thank you for the write up and pics.

6 Likes

SO cool! The pics are nice to see how you did it! Very creative!

5 Likes

Well done you. A lot of thought gone into this. I have used the medium clear acrylic quite a few times but started using the eco acrylic this morning. Did you find it a lot more ‘smelly’ than the glow forge original med clear?

2 Likes