New way of lighting happs translucent buttons with leds sort of: check out lens

[juggle50]

Experimenting with lighting today for an upcoming project.  Nothing really new here just combined Joymonkey and Kinevil's methods and came up with what I think is pretty ideal for lighting happs translucent pushbuttons.

I liked Joymonkey's method:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=49831.0

which is lighting the button from the bottom with a 45 degree led so you don't get blinded and the light spreads out a bit.  However, for me it didn't really light much more than the center of the button not the bezel.  Maybe it worked better with the red led's that he was using.  I am using blue.

I also liked Knievel's method:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=37034.msg373799#msg373799

which is making 1/4 inch white plastic washers for the buttons and mounting two leds in the washers which sort of makes the buttons (bezel included) glow.  However, this method as he stated in his post, works best with wico buttons.  I found it wasn't quite enough light to really make the happs buttons "pop."

So I just combined both methods.  I got two different types of leds the first were blue 45 degree leds rated at 2500mcd.  With these ones I even sanded down the tops with some 220 grit paper to further take away the "spotlight" effect.

Then, I made some washers out of an old semi translucent cutting board I had. (girlfriend probably won't like that when she gets home)  I was going to buy some of that UHWM polyethylene that Knievel recommended but the plastic place here wanted $145.00 a sheet.  The leds that I mounted into the washers were blue 30 degree leds rated at 4600 mcd.

I know 3 led's per button seems like a lot but it seems to work.  Anyway here is the result.  Pardon the nasty wiring, this was just an experiment.  Thanks to both Joymonkey and Knievel for the ideas.

[Xiaou2]

 Seems like it would be better to use the cutting board whole, rahter than breaking each into pieces.   

 Cut into a rectangle shape, screw to the CP bottom,  drill holes into wood and the cutting board at the same time..   (or just cut the holes in the cutboard with the existing holes as a guide)   

 Unmount, Then drill holes for the LEDS in the outside edges of the cut board material  (leds stuffed like the creme in the middle of an oreo cookie,  facing inwards.   Each led,  in line with a button)... popping them in place with a little
glue.   

 It appears that the lighting you have is too bright to me.. so lighting the entire slab might work much better as there would be no intense led source to blind you, and putting it together seems like it would be a  lot easier.

 

 

[juggle50]

Hmmmm.  No that wouldn't work for me.  With the control panel I have I would have no room for the full cutting board.  The panel in the picture is just a test panel.  It's really not that hard to cut holes though.  The button isn't too bright or blinding at all.  It seems that way in the picture taken with the light on.  The one with the light off is more accurate.  I will take a picture of it in the daylight tomorrow for a better example.

Thanks for the feedback though.

[juggle50]

that's better.  I'll try to take some pictures with a bit better camera tomorrow.

[juggle50]

Hey, guys, I'm trying to update this thread with a better pic.  I got a really nice camera but still can't get it to look quite accurate.  Here is a new pic which is okay just a tad dark.  The problem is when I get take a picture of the button from the top it appears too hot in the center (way hotter than real life) due to the light at the bottom.  When I take a picture of it more from the side like the one in the pic the bezel of the button doesn't glow as much due to the perspective.

Anyway, my lit buttons are looking great and it's frustrating not being able to show it accurately.  I spent about two hours trying to take a picture of it.   

Also, check out this little lens fixture from superbright leds.   This works perfectly for anyone trying to light the happs translucent from the bottom.  In my opinion, an led mounted at the bottom of the happs translucent, even at a lower beam angle and sanded down always looks a bit raw and out of place due to top of the happs button being so thin and transparent.

This little fixture is awesome, it distributes the light 180 degrees but more importantly when you look down into the button you see the fixture and not just a raw led.  Of course there is still a hotspot, I just think it looks more slick.  Here is the link, you've got to scroll down a bit.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi

Instead of drilling a 3/16" hole and the bottom, you drill a 1/4" hole, put in the lens with a pair of needle nose pliers and snap the led into the lens from the bottom.  They fit pretty snug, a couple were a tad loose and I put just a drop of super glue on the edges.

Let me know if you have any good ideas for taking pictures of lights.

[EwJ]

If the 'spotlight' effect is a problem, perhaps some of Mikedeuce's button discs with only the white covering on the bottom could be used to diffuse things a bit?

[juggle50]

The spotlight isn't a problem at all, especially with these lens fixtures.  I was just saying it's hard to take an accurate picture because the spotlight appears brighter in the photo than real life.  Thanks though.

[Tahnok]

Probably a stupid question, but have you tried your camera in macro mode? Make the room dark, turn off the flash, put the camera into macro, and put it on a tripod. That's what I've found works best for taking pictures of anything backlit (mainly, LCDs).

[EwJ]

Sorry, last post i meant the button discs as an alternative to lens fixtures and/or sanding led's down.
These lens fixtures sound great too - lots of new developments in lighting here lately. Hope you can get some good pics to show.  For camera - as mentioned above -macro mode is good for close-ups, also, if your camera has a 'spot-metering' feature, this gives proper exposure regardless of backlight- it may help - good luck.

[juggle50]

Thanks guys,

I'm sure this camera has a macro mode, just not sure where it is.  I will try to find the instruction booklet this weekend.  Thanks again for the tips gents.

[Kremmit]

Most digital cameras use a little flower to signify Macro mode.