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| Franco B:
--- Quote from: BigThumbToe on January 14, 2010, 07:01:18 am ---i think i have a rough idea of what you're saying Franco but a pic sure would help lol --- End quote --- Ok, imagine this is your CP Design your CP profile how you want it. I have used a 15mm wide bezel in this case. CNC route the outer profile of the black bezel and then CNC route your inner clear acrylic using the inner profile of the bezel. This is a side view of the panel: The light blue is your clear 1/4" Acrylic, the black is the 1/8" Acrylic bezel and the brown is the MDF. The darker blue is obv the LED(s). CNC route the MDF to the same profile as the bezel and then counterbore an 1/8" recess so that the two pieces sit flush and also route a groove for the LEDs to sit in. If you didn't want the appearance of the acrylic bezel you could get some simple graphics accurately cut for it since you will be working of a dimensioned drawing. |
| BigThumbToe:
ahh yes, i had a similar idea awhile back. didnt think of using a second piece of plex though. i do have a trackball. you think maybe i could run some LEDs from under the mounting plate? that might look too tacky with the plate on top of the plex though. unless i have the plate flush with the top piece of plex :o for the LEDs i was thinking of just using grooveygamegears RGB-Drive module and then running them with my LEDwiz. know of anything better to use? the module looks like its going to cause problems with placement... |
| Franco B:
If I was you and I was LED lighting an etched panel I would use a trackball that doesn't have a mounting plate on top. If you do you will be losing a lot of the area that you can etch plus I think you could etch a nice design/patten in a circle around the trackball. Trackball mounting plates are hideous too IMO. Yeah I think you would struggle to get RGB drives in there and to be honest they are not really designed for that kind of purpose anyway. You should be fine with 5mm common anode LEDs though. I really think you should do this, I think it could look pretty nice. :afro: There have been a few other projects with etched CPs, I'll see if I can dig them up. |
| BigThumbToe:
Im still learning about LEDs. could i use a common RGB LED with my LEDwiz? |
| Franco B:
Short answer, yes. You would want common anode LEDs. Long answer: A normal single colour LED has two terminals called the anode and the cathode. The anode of a device is the terminal where current flows in. The cathode of a device is the terminal where current flows out. The anode is connected to the power source and the cathode is connected to ground, often with a resistor between the LEDs cathode and ground. This is an RGB LED: As you can see there are four leads coming of it. If it was a common anode there would be one lead that is positive where you connect your power supply to and then there are three separate red, green and blue cathodes that you can independently connect to ground. If it was a common cathode RGB LED there would be one common cathode that would be connected to ground and each red, green and blue lead would have its own power supply. For your LED Wiz you want to use common anode RGB LEDs. You feed the LEDs anode power from your LED WIz and then each of the red green and blue cathodes is connected to the numbered terminals on the LED Wiz, usually with a resistor between the cathode and the terminals. Hope that helps a little. :) |
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