Possible easy LED lighting/edge lighting option

I just saw these and thought it might be an easy, no solder, fast option for edge lighting or other lighting needs in laser projects. Cut to length, powered by USB or USB wall adapter and various color/diming/flashing options.

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Thats awesome! And a great price!!
Thanks fir the link!

The waterproof LED strips are a lot less effective at edge lighting than the non waterproof strips. They have a thick rounded piece of plastic that covers the LEDs and doesn’t allow for good straight contact.

Go for the non covered ones. They’re in the same price range, a little harder to find, but so much better.

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Good to know. Want to update this thread with a link?

These don’t have the same functions, but don’t appear to have the plastic coating. Still plug-n-play and can be cut to length.

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This is cool to find USB powered. The 30 LEDs in 39.4" (1 meter) is just 1 LED in 3.94 inches (10 centimeters). Not very well lit acrylic unless you loop them up, but the price is right! :slight_smile: - Rich

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Very true! I was just doing some experiments yesterday and was amazed at the difference of having just a couple mm space made vs direct contact. Made me want to try and use a clear adhesive and glue them on direct, I suspect this will increase the light transmission even more! (but impossible to replace)

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Wouldn’t the math be 1 meter = 100 cm. 100cm / 30 LEDs. 3.333cm between LED or about 1.31in?

The second link I posted is even higher density. 60 per meter.

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Yeah it would be. I had another argument going on email at work…but still kinda weak lighting. - Rich

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I’ve used these NeoPixel sticks with good results. You do need a controller, but Arduinos are cheap.

This was just a quick and dirty thing I threw together, carved with a CNC router. I think after I took the video I improved the leakage a bit with some black tape. The camera overemphasizes it.

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Thanks for the links to LEDs and related info. Edge lit lighting is something I’m very interested in trying.

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The great thing about these lights is there is a ton of support out there and you really don’t need to know how to program! But if you want to spend the time you can make them light up any way you want. The generic name for these lights is 2812B(thats the chip in them) You can get them on amazon up to 144/m! supper intense

Its what lights up ForestHouse :slight_smile:

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I was just trying to offer an option for the less technical on this forum. The sky is the limit for DIY…

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Oops :blush:
I thought that as soon as I posted it

No worries. All info and opinions are welcome. I was just making my intent clear.

You can probably find some kind of grease/goop/gel that will help the light transmission without being completely permanent.

I wonder if there would be a market for a board that would just have a pre-programmed microcontroller and some potentiometers for r, g, and b. Remotes always seem to go missing in our house. Nah, probably not.

Nifty! Thanks for sharing! This might be what I need for a rather unique board game project I’ll be working on soon.

There are USB rgb lights that have tiny controllers built into them already. We use them quite often. You can change colors, have it run through patterns, etc.

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Which ones? I have a Blinky tape and some of their wired lights, but getting the tools (other than straight arduino) to work has always been interesting.

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These guys

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