Need Help Finding Something For LEDs

[fjl]

Tried researching a bit but did not find anything. What I need are those clear plastic attachments for LED's. Like the kind you find on stereo system and other electronics. Basicallly its a clear plastic shaped into a mold and is then attached to a front panel of an electronic device. An LED is inserted behind it and when lit, it causes light to be displayed in the shape of the mold. Best example i could think of is the little triangle on top of the dreamcast system.



Where can I get something similar to this? I'd like some custom pieces I could mount on my CP. LIke one large rectangle to put above my joysticks so the LED-Wiz can light it to indicate the joystick is used. What are these things called and where can I get some?

[polaris]

you could make one out of a piece of frosted perspex , i doubt anyone sells them specifically, but i could easily be wrong

[fjl]

frosted what? Enlighten me please... 

[slider2732]

Or, you could get a piece of plexi and cut it with an exacto knife. That way you'd get the shapes you wanted.
Depends if you need them to be moulded I guess, but if they are to go under the CP, then the plexi would make the fitting flush and you could use something like black foam between them.

Many old computers have those mould shapes on the LED's too...maybe you have one or two packed away somewhere ?

[Kaytrim]

To make your own 'frosted' plexi take and use a 60 grit sandpaper to the plastic.

TTFN

[polaris]

sorry dude plexi  us = perspex uk
what slider said is what im saying
if you cant get frosted, get some frost gel/filter from a theatre supplies to wash out the led or do what kaytrim says in the post he beat me to

[slider2732]

Heck and i'm from Cheshire in England but live now in the USA 
Just shows huh, getting too Americanised.



Yeah, plexi/perspex, same thing

[fjl]

I don't know if any of you have ever seen one but they are shaped to retain the LED plus molded to refract the light inward and outward ONLY where it mounts to the outside. If I just make a "window" with the plexi, then it would basically just be an LED shining behind glass and the whole window wont be lit, only where the LED points to it. Perhaps using frosted plexi might help to disperse the light througout but somehow I doubt it will do a very good job of it.

So no one knows the name of these molds and who manufactures them?

[crashwg]

I highly doubt you'll find someplace to buy all sorts of shapes and sizes of this sort of thing.  What I would do is just keep your eyes open for any junk electronics that you can salvage one from...

[fjl]

Okay after much googling, I found something similar called Light Pipes. Problem is that just as the name implies, they are manufactured bent like pipes and only light up a small area at the end of the pipe/mold. Perhaps there is a different name for the ones that are bigger and non-bent. I believe these things are also called Light Transporters.

I can't really keep researching this right now since I have to leave for work but perhaps someone here can help me find something. Perhaps Randy, with his excellent design skills can create some of these for us to use with our LED-Wiz's. That would kick ass.

[bfauska]

I think the best solution would be for somebody to make a few varieties of hollow joystick shafts w/ some different shapes and colors of translucent handles.  I may work on this myself sometime (way too long from now for anybody to get hopes up) I don't think it would be that hard to throw some tubing on my dad's lathe and machine the appropriate grooves for a few joystick styles.  I have some omni-sticks, wico-microswitchs, and 1 wico-leaf I could try to make custom shafts for.  I know I can get clear balls from a plastics company locally that I could frost, drill and tap.

More on-topic for what you are asking... if you cut a custom shape out of plexi, sanded it, and lit it from the sides so you only get indirect light through it then it wouldn't be like looking at an led through a window, you would have a glowing plastic part, you would get a similar, but less defined effect w/o sanding it, but the frost may make it more apparent.

Another Idea would be to take some fiber-optic strands, maybe from a silly lamp (should be some at a thrift store) or novelty flashlight (carnival, or theme park,) and drill tiny little holes in whatever shape you want or maybe little holes all around your joystick in a circle, put the fibers in and run them all to an LED somewhere under the CP.

[AcidArmitage]

wrap some aluminum foil on the sides of the plexi where it doesn't show and it should reflect it until it finds the "out"

[fjl]

Yeah, thats what I was thinking of doing. Actually I was one up on you cause I was thinking I should dip it in chrome paint. 

Still gonna keep researching some more of these things though. Perhaps they have one I would like.

[LiquidFire]

I would look into clear acrylic shapes, such as small round or rectangular stock sold by a plastic supply house. If you polish the lighted end of the stock, then light will transmit to the other end, frosted or polished.

[AcidArmitage]

Yeah, thats what I was thinking of doing. Actually I was one up on you cause I was thinking I should dip it in chrome paint. 

Still gonna keep researching some more of these things though. Perhaps they have one I would like.

actually i had used chrome paint before to reflect and it didnt work that well... it turned grey on me 

minus one for you!

[fjl]

Was it actually chrome or just metallic gray paint? 

[NickG]

I was looking for ...something... on mouser.com and I ran across some  panel mount lenses  they might have - or can get - whatever color and size you need.   

[fjl]

Cool, I'll look into it.