Light Box For Edge-Lit Acrylic

Free Laser Designs
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As promised elsewhere, here’s the box I designed to go with the USB cables and dimmable LEDs I use for edge-lit pieces.

The slot is 1.47" wide, and accommodates proofgrade medium acrylic. (It will fit the edge-lit Neil Gaiman quote I uploaded a while back.)

(Note, this was designed before I learned about kerf, so it requires gluing.)

Small%20Light%20Box

The small bits are to glue around the slots for the acrylic and the USB cable, to help hold them securely. The USB slot is tight and will take some wiggling to get the cable end stuck in. :slight_smile:

Here’s what it looks like on the inside, after assembly:

IMG_1377

The bottom is open for access to the LED, since it’s touch-operated.

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Nice! :grinning:

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Be careful with those LED sticks. They get REALLY hot. I used one of them to help light my 3D printer and it burned me when I touched it.

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Thank you!

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Thank you so much!

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Thank you so much. I was still having a hard time picturing how you used them. This certainly ups the LED game!

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Yeah, the lights themselves definitely get hot, but I’ve never had the circuit board side get too hot. You could make the bottom opening smaller in order to help prevent the possibility of getting fingers up far enough to get burned.

I did a 3D printed cylindrical lithophane lamp from a family photo for my mom, and in that one I designed a mounting that holds the LED stick right down on the bottom of the base, with just a finger-sized hole to touch it through. It doesn’t get hot enough to warm the ABS around it. :slight_smile:

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