/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>1243765
Had a theory i would love you to try.

Get plywood and sharpie your design on.

Pairs of nails all fucking over it to hold plastic pipe

Find either white or clear or if u can get it frosted acrilic pipe

If white or frosted leave it. If clear get 400 ish? sandpaper and rough the fuck out of it for frosted look.

Heat gun and lay pipe on plywood and carefuly bend out design

Before hand should probably run some solid copper wire through or cable.

Pull elwire through.

Profit?

>>1243765

Hey m80, light autist here and neon is my fucking jam. I'll lay this out easiest to hardest.

Easiest way to do it, and why you see it everywhere is EL wire.

Pros:
+flexible
+somewhat cheap
+multitude of colors
+even glow throughout

Cons:
-if you fuck up bending it you'll have to splice it
-splicing is a bit of a pain in the ass
-limited control on multi segmented lights and patterns
-inverter make a high pitch sequel that you will definitely want to muffle
-half life is only 10,000 hours (so if you left it on 24/7 for an entire year it would be half as bright)

see pic related for an EL style project

>>1243785
I understand why its so popular but it always looks like shit, and im wanting to make a mostly realistic looking neon sign.

>>1243785

Second easiest way to do it would be side emitting fiber optic. This utilizes a fiber optic that takes some of the glow from an LED down the length of it instead of transferring it all to the end. This is somewhat harder to work with than EL, but the benefits are well worth it.

Pros:
+somewhat flexible
+cheap
+many colors and you can get color changing LEDs
+bright compared to EL, can easily be seen in the day light
+nearly unlimited life, just replace the LED if it burns out

Cons:
-if you fuck up bending you have to start the segment over
-not as flexible as EL

This is a great way to make a faux neon sign in my opinion.

>>1243788

Nice doubles, but I'm not done. Also, you're never going to get something that looks exactly like neon. Neon has a unique piercing glow that can't really be mimicked, but I'll give you all the options I have found.

Next hardest:

LED neon rope lights. Be careful looking these up though, especially on Ebay and Amazon as people try to pass EL wire off as LED neon rope light.

Pros:
+easy to work with
+brilliant color that lasts long

Cons:
-expensive compared to other mediums
-can't control colors within a section
-only 120V available

All in all though, this is probably what you're looking for.

http://www.birddogdistributing.com/Custom-Cut-120v-LED-Neon-Rope-Light.html

>>1243792

Last, but definitely not least is something I came up with which is 3D printing your own using natural PLA as a diffuser medium.

Pros:
+any design you can think of
+unlimited control of lighting even within sections
+cheap to do after start up costs
+fulfills my autism

Cons:
-start up costs can't justify it unless you're die hard into it
-design takes a while and has to be modeled in a 3D program
-soldering can be a pain in the ass

Pic related. I'll answer any questions about any of the methods.

We cut out 1/2 inch letters in plywood and used it as a top to a box, painted everything flat black. Then took 3/4 inch clear tubing from HD, cut tubing and hot glue into channel. Place lighting inside box,

>>1243793
This is wicked cool. Post more.

>>1243765
I have a bit of EL wire here. Just one of those AA battery powered haloweenie things. If you put the EL wire into a larger clear tube it looks a bit more like neon. Not sure what would happen if you sanded the tube to rough it up a bit.

>>1243848
sorry, went afk. He's a strand test.

>>1243836

An example of what I was working on for my first 3D printed neon sign.

Watching this fucking thread this is dope

>>1243867

Infinity mirror table.

>>1243881
That is fucking dank.

>>1243785
I still love that duff sign.

>>1243793
Dude, that shit is cool. Ise led behind it to make it glow or?

>>1243852
It should difuse the light and dispurse it better. I used to etch plaxi glass and put leds on top and bottom so it glow. Trick i learned is to just bump the tip of the led on a grinder and it difuses and dispurses light more evenly.

Hell, now a days the led strips can be so small and bright i wouldnt even dick with it.

>>1243860
Shit i remember that. It came out pretty good bro!

>>1244219
Yep, WS2812Bs. You can get 5M of it for like $40 on amazon/ebay.

>>1244216
Thanks man. It was my first attempt at a sign when I found out it would basically be impossible for me to make a neon sign without getting a workshop.

>>1244221
Thanks. I need to revisit that sign. I need to make the diffusers thicker.

>>1244219

Oh, forgot to say those are individually addressable LEDs. I have a lot more programming to do before I consider it done, but there's a lot you can do with them.

>>1244312
nice.

>>1244312
Cool man. Thanks for the tip.

I got one too if you don't value your retinas. Alpena MAX are brighter than fuck. You can go into autozone and orily and they have a try me button. You should go look at them. But they are like twice as high there so heres a link. Pic is my okd bike after about $500 and a billion feet of wire.

>>1244315
Cool man. Would like to see it when done.

>>1244735
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s?k=Alpena+MAX+led