Cheap & Easy LED dustwashers & joystick FX

[griffindodd]

Threw this video together to show how to make super cheap and easy dust washer and LED FX for top mounted joysticks...

[Nephasth]

Meh.

[griffindodd]

Meh.

 

[Nephasth]

You're top mounting these sticks right? So do you have to make channels in the wood for the LED strips that fold over the edge? I love new approaches to control lighting, but there's got to be a more elegant way to achieve the same effect.

[Ond]

It's a nice look I think, if it’s not cranked up too bright.  I can't remember if I covered it in detail in my Retro Futuristic cab thread. But here are a couple of things to consider.

As Nephasth said you need some kind of rebate in the CP to allow room for LEDS and diffuser disc.  You can get the best results by ensuring the LEDS are as diffused as possible, using frosted LEDS is a good start.  I went out and got some scrap white PVC plastic (it was free BTW from a plastics supplier) that was about 10mm thick with a low opacity rating.  I cut that material into rough discs, rounded them with a Dremel and then finished them off in my drill press.  I drilled numerous small holes to accept LEDS around the circumference of each disc and then set that into a cut-out in my CP.

[griffindodd]

Hi OND thanks for chiming in on this one.

I've really liked the stuff that you have done in this area, great results. The reason I threw this little experiment together was to see how simple it could be for top mounters to achieve some nice effects with very limited tools and resources. While I am a huge fan of your work, I think your level of skill and craftsmanship is almost intimidating to some who'd like to get your results but probably give up before starting when they see the level of precision you work to.

Neph - the ribbon folds around the edges of the mounting plate and is paper thin, you don't really have to compensate for it at all.

If you wanted to cut down on the level of light showing through on the artwork, a simple sheet of black paper between your art and the dust washer would mask it out enough that the only light that would show would be the diffused dust washer disk.

The nice thing about this approach is that it doesn't need more than about 3-4mm of rebate to work well on top mounted sticks, it's compatible with existing LED controllers and it's very cheap to do with easy to find materials and virtually no special skills.

As with all of my proof of concepts, it's not meant to be the finished solution, but a jumping off point to encourage discussion and ideas from others with the hope of refining the ideas and coming up with something even better through the collective effort.

[yaksplat]

I'd think that you could drill a hole in the CP wood, place the LED in the hole and then fill it with hot glue.  It'd probably take some testing to see how much light makes it through the glue, but it should result in the same effect for a bottom mount.

[griffindodd]

Or you could stick led strip around the interior of the joystick hole

[xefned]

King dick!     Is a special label paper required for the artwork to let the light through? Or is that just coated inkjet paper?

I also like the LED strip around the joystick hole idea. The more subtle lighting approaches I find more appealing than the nuclear detonation type. I may have to experiment with some LED strips to see what I can come up with. (Cocktail build, where I'm debating the standard CP lighting for cocktails / bulbs behind white plexi.)

[griffindodd]

That was just gloss photo paper I had laying around

[drventure]

This sample used strip mount LEDs which probably makes more sense than traditional LEDs because of the mounting.

But, to diffuse normal LED's I've found one decent technique is to simply grid off the rounded top of the LED. I used a 60grit sanding wheel, which left the clear plastic pretty scuffed up.

But that was enough to really diffuse the light.

Wouldn't work on those strip leds, though 

I like the idea though, esp the look once it filters through the white plastic and then the colored overlay.

[griffindodd]

And of course if you aren't the chewing gum and ductape kinda person, you could just buy these...

http://shoryuken.com/forum/index.php?threads/arc-eye-3-leds-made-easy.162346/

[Nephasth]

That header may pose clearance problems...

[griffindodd]

That header may pose clearance problems...

yeah i'd pull it and solder direct to the board

[Nephasth]

So much for cheap and easy. Duct tape and bubble gum it is...

[griffindodd]

Duct tape and bubble gum it is...

 

[griffindodd]

Found these for those of you interested in playing around with illuminated joystick washers/bases, they even do them in RGB...

http://www.oznium.com/prewired-surface-mount-led




Or these pre-wired ultra ultra mini LEDs
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DCC-Parts-0603-SMD-White-LED-Pre-Wired-38ga-Magnet-Wire-/280609517525

[griffindodd]

Or if you 'the man' at soldering, go nuts for $12...

http://www.amazon.com/Super-bright-White-Orange-Yellow/dp/B008X6QS90/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352318375&sr=8-1&keywords=0603+led

[Santoro]

Funny I briefly considered LEDs under my Arcadereplay can CPO months ago and subsequently forgot to try it out.  I might need to revisit that if I get a chance to redo my artwork. Looks like it has potential!