Lighting just the rings of Seimitsu clear buttons; DIY options?

[shponglefan]

Lately I've been thinking about ways of lighting clear Seimitsu buttons.  What I'm looking for is just lighting the rings, not the whole button.  With some of the other options I've seen (like Uila LEDs installed within the button), there is the dreaded "X" effect in the plastic plunger.

One idea I had was to put the LED underneath the whole button.  This way the switch acts to block the light from directly under the plunger.  The remaining clear portion allows the remaining light to travel up the outside of the ring and light it accordingly.  To help concentrate the light, I was thinking that something is needed to shroud the base of the button.  I've been playing with PVC to do this.

Here is an example:









The LED used is the RGB LED from Groovy Game Gear.

In this example there is some hotspotting.  The PVC piece I'm using is threaded, so it might not be the best for reflecting the light.  I'll try a smooth piece to see if there is a difference.  Also, there are no crimped connectors on the button, so I'll have to try that to see how much of a difference it makes.

At any rate, this is just an idea I had for trying to light these buttons.  Not sure if something like this has been done in practice?  There are some challenges, such as getting even lighting and figuring how to connect everything together.  I was thinking maybe gluing the PVC to a Seimitsu nut and attaching them that way.

[edekoning]

That is a neat idea. Alternatively you could just place the leds inside the button and spray-paint the inner plunger (the small white one with the X at the bottom). That way you won't have the "dreaded "X" effect". See here for an example: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,121965.msg1323726.html#msg1323726 where I sprayed the top black. this ofcourse changes the look of the buttons. If that's not what you want, than just spray-paint the bottom instead.