Laser Cutter #003 - LED light box 01 (Summer 2023, v 1.0)

I became interested in making a pretty "Supercomputer" prop as I explained in this post on the electronics. The electronics needed a box to hold them and define the lighted areas and the laser cutter helped me construct it.

This was my first laser cutter design from scratch. I designed it in Inkscape after I determined the size of prototype PCB board I was going to use. As I explained in the above linked post, I was going to make it a square grid but changed it to elongated hexagons instead. This design change made it more appealing to me and worked to great effect in the end. I designed a grid of interlocking sections to isolate the light from each LED. The LEDs vary non-uniformly and begin to light different colors in less than a minute. I just chose a random depth not knowing exactly how the light would play in each cell. 

 

The only thing missing from this image are the clips I designed later to hold everything together and became part of the stand to the unit. They really are not necessary here because it was just part of the prototype. I hope to design a complete box, with backing, on future iterations of this project. 

For the diffuser, I tried several different things I had lying around. I decided that a couple layers of parchment paper and some old clear Dollar Tree cutting mat made for a nice look. The cutting mat had one side slick and the other pebbled with a very fine random texture. I just taped it to the inside of the face as parchment paper is slick and I just needed it to hold until the grid was clipped in place. The diffuser materials, and the hexagon windows, gives the appearance of glowing crystals when the LEDs are on.

The completed project:

The pictures were taken at different times to show a little of the variations in color. Because of the random angle the LEDs are pointed, some show distinct rings of the RGB elements and some mix and just glow the result. The ones with the rings look like color shifting glowing opals. The finished dimensions are 8cm by 10cm. I have it glowing in my workspace at all times and I like that it doesn't flash so much.

This was just to prove I could create this and see what the result could look like. I'd like to make it larger to maybe hang on a wall. I'd also like to do it with fast flashing LEDs just for fun. with the laser cutter, the cut outs and outer frame can be any shape imaginable that still supports the structure. In the following posts, I'll describe some of the steps I've taken to scale it up. Unfortunately, lack of foresight caused me to forget to take pictures along the way. Maybe I can recreate them.

Happy Making!

Michelle