How To Make a Custom Neon LED Sign!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ส.ค. 2021
- For a recent wedding anniversary, Norm embarks on making a custom LED-lit display that looks like a neon sign. Follow along as we guide you through the process of taking a hand drawn image like cursive text and turning it into a laser-cut display using off-the-shelf flexible LED lights and some patient soldering and wiring. The finished effect looks convincingly like a neon tube light!
Flexible Neon LED Strip Light: amzn.to/3AUKV8K
Silicone End Cap for LED Tube: amzn.to/3kezMck
USB Soldering Iron: amzn.to/2UA9eJB
22awg wire: amzn.to/3D651ik
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Shot and edited by Norman Chan
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Thanks for watching! - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Flexible Neon LED Strip Light: amzn.to/3AUKV8K
Silicone End Cap for LED Tube: amzn.to/3kezMck
USB Soldering Iron: amzn.to/2UA9eJB
22awg wire: amzn.to/3D651ik
do you know anywhere you can get this with 2815 strip inside?
Is it possible to measure the strokes in the designing process to make it easier to know if the lengths of the strokes will match up with the cuts of the material? Like say how much material will i need for the letter c or the letter d?
@@HaruHaru404 , unfortunately no, you cannot measure the length along the path of a given letter in Illustrator.
What you could do, is create your design in Illustrator to scale and print it out. Then use a string to measure along your letters to determine the scale length of your word, then multiply that by whatever your scale is to get the full-size length.
I use the method in this link to measure the total length of selected paths and then divide by 2 for approximate length of LED strip needed: community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator/measure-the-length-of-a-path-in-illustrator/m-p/4526937
Hi Norm. This was a great video, but the only question I was left with was: How are you powering the strips? you showed that you made a bunch of parallel connections with your soldering, but never discussed the power supply solution you used.
We installed a larger version of that type of light strip, in a pretty high end house, on some landscape stuff. So far 4 years later it runs 10-12 hours a day, 7 days a week. Pretty cool stuff and you can do all sorts of fun things with
Thanks for the information my sister was thinking about putting that kind of lighting around hers swimming pool area, but don't know how it will hold up in the winter time. Just rain here no snow.
It would make the area look so much better.
And where do you get that quality stripe from?
Thank you for including the whole build process including the digital design stage. That’s the part that trips me up, so it’s great to see how you do it.
I have been wanting to make one of these for my studio! Norm get OUT OF MY BRAIN
A good way of getting the tight corners is by cutting a bit of the inside of the corner on the strip to allow it to bend even more without having to cut it fully and more wiring
Omg 😱 genius
Happy anniversary, Norm. What a lovely gift for your wife.
Great info on how to make a sign like this. These would work well for making seasonal window decorations, house numbers and all kinds of things. Thanks, Norm!
I’m so glad you brought this new lighting strip that has the look of neon to my attention! What a cool project! It gives me all sorts of new ideas! Thanks
New? Maybe for you or that guy. They've been around for cheap signs.
Thanks for sharing this with us, was wanting to make something like this for my sister and her fiancé. Also, happy anniversary to you and your wife!
Always be testing, as you go along! 18:20
Life advice right there.
If this slogan isn't in their merch store they are missing out.
Looking at life from 35,000 feet, it's the same as, _“Don't make any assumptions, know when you're making assumptions, and test those assumptions.”_ DAMHIKT! ;-)
So cool. And that shirt! 😎 Love working with LED strips. And a beautiful name - one I’ve loved since the original Wonder Years…I think she’d love seeing this. ❤️
Norm, you are the reason I have a Glowforge so I have to say I love when you make videos utilizing it.
Hey there, what model of glow forge do you have? Would you recommend it for laser-cutting beginners?
Finally, exactly what I was looking for! Dollar General has 6 ft sections for 5 bucks in blue green red and white, was wondering if I could of used them to make a neon. This is perfect. Now I don't have a way to make a channel board so that's my next challenge. Thank for the video.
Hey Norm, we do this at work.
We cut out a groove with a 3/8" offset on top in whatever material people want and slap addressable RGBs from Environmental LED on the inside from both sides.
We then cut a milk white plexiglass to fit on top of that groove and it gets glued in.
The milkplex acts as a diffuser anyway and you get no spots.
Aerospace industry does similar with its light plates for the cockpits, though they also rely heavily on painted coatings to either reflect or block light.
@@DracoOmnia yeah actually had a project that we ended up just researching what and how cockpits worked and used. ended up buying super expensive fiber optic lights to get what we needed.
@@jezza_fat I noticed you make these at work...how would I go about getting pricing or ordering one?
Love the project, something I’ve been looking to do for a while. But don’t carry solder over using the iron, it’ll boil off the flux and make your job a whole lot harder, it takes practice but you can bend the solder to allow you to melt it directly onto the pad. 👍🏼👍🏼
Brilliant idea and very well executed - Norm, this is awesome :D
It’s easier to make a thicker stroke then select “outline stroke” for the channel. You get a better path curve that way. It will create an outline from the middle.
Also, I prefer using Command + W, I think it’s that shape merge tool, it’s more interactive for adding and deleting shapes. You have to select all the shapes first you want to augment.
Cheers.
Is it possible to measure the strokes to make it easier to know of the strokes will match up with the cuts of the material? Like say how much material will i need for the letter c.
@@HaruHaru404 Yep, in the Properties panel in Illustrator you can turn on Object properties, which will show you the length of a selected path.
@@Matchstiix Kevin - can I contact you about how to do the outline stroke for the channel? i need it to be 5.1mm and I'm having a hard time figuring it out.
That is fricken amazing!
It makes me want to learn how to work with making electric circuits and put them together.
I used the 22 awg wire for my first attempt and I regret not getting something a bit more durable. The fact that it's a solid core and already so thin makes it really easy to break the wire right at the solder joint while positioning the wire afterwards.
Gosh all I could think of is how delicious they look. I really need to grab a bag of gummies next time I'm at the store
I was thinking the same thing!
This is amazing, I love all the projects on this channel. I definitely want to make this for my daughter.
I can see this being slightly awkward getting her to sign a few times on the ipad. "Don't worry honey I'm only going to forge your signature." 😄😋😁
I had the same issue with the little copper pad after sniping them in half. What I did that helped was put some hot glue over the solder to assure the solder wouldn't snap off while putting in the LED.
oh yea let me pull out my good old handy dandy laser cutter to cut my acrylic sheets lol
I have a few strands of this stuff that was sold as Christmas rope lights at Lowe’s a couple years ago. Mine are white and blue. The white is blindingly bright.
This channel never gets old y'all taught me through childhood
thanks so much for this - great explanation, great shooting, fun idea
the power leads all tied together was such an ingeniously simple inventive idea! It is strangely a "backwards" way to think of it, and it made thinking about the whole idea of a project for a neurodivergent like myself way less anxiety ridden!
I just recently saw these and you're the only one who shows how to do it. Thank you for that
I see the "n" had a troublesome curve. What was the minimum bend radius you were able to achieve without risking damage to the strip?
happy anniversary Norm and Danica
For LED projects I like to use 24 AWG wire because it is thin which allows me to solder more easily. Maybe you should try.
This is exactly what I needed - thanks Norm!
Thanks for making this video! I have been looking at these online and you just motivated me to just build it now.
Love my TS100 soldering iron. This looks like a fun soldering project, but without access to a laser cutter or CNC, I wonder if I could make a router jig to cut those channels and not teat the plexi to bits?
whoa I’ve been thinking of getting my name in a neon sign & would’ve never expected to come to YT to see this on my recommended 🤯
Those lights are great, definitely want to give them a try
How do you account for the length between cut points when creating the vector channels?
Appreciate the video Norm. Nice signs as well. I'm looking to make 1st sign today actually. Something small as a trial 🤔 maybe something for the desk top. Thanks for sharing. Now let me get to it 😆
Hi! Thanks for sharing this! Did you get your acrylic sheets online btw? I am looking for large sheets like that. Thankss
Norm: this tubing cant really flex that well so were gonna have to curve those angles...
also norm: heres a lightning bolt.
XD
Lighting solutions like this come in so many options.
This looks like a great project 👍🏽
Love these vids! Thanks Norm!
Somebody buy this man some glasses!
Love this LED neon light idea! Now I have to figure out what to make! Thanks for the vid!
👍
The end result looks really nice!
Hey Norm - great job on this! Did you find that the end caps added width dimension making it harder to fit into the graphic channels? Or not really a problem?
What a great tutorial! Thank you!
Cool project, and happy anniversary!
That is so cool. Thank you for sharing! I learned a lot.
Great video! How do you actually attach the power supply to the LED strip?
Look on Instructables for how to make some other signs too, like logos and stuff. There is a cool Daft Punk helmet one up there. If you don't feel confident in something complex then do as I did, make the Star Trek delta logo. I bought some in "golden rod" color and it looks great and was fairly simple!
Love the classic EPCOT t-shirt!
thanks for the heads up about where to cut, leaving that 1/8" makes a lot of sense. ive been wanting to play around with this stuff, my order will be here soon. very interesting video
hello, a question, what kind of wire do you use to connect the led strips? I guess it's copper, but what thickness?
does these silicone strip exist with each led in a diferent colour ? or maybe you can change the colour ?
Hi Norm, Great video. What kind of laster cutter did you use to cut the acrylic board? Thank you.
Norm, you make normal things interesting, keep it up!
I made an LED neon sign similar to this (using the same LED strip) and soldering was def a bit challenging lol yours looks a lot cleaner than mine tho
hi do you know if there is a program to work out the measurements to get the right size of sign / and to work out the cuts of the text as you can only cut the led every 2.5 cm????
OH I wish my cricut could cut acrylic! I love these
Hi Norman, what’s up dude!! Happy Anniversary to you and your wife !!
This is cool, i make 3d printed signs with a box and lid then put neo pixles in them.
What do you use to test the neon flex before assembling
Dam Norm, this is awesome.
What a fun little Projekt. I could use this stuff to do interior lighting on the hotrod. That would be sick.
You can parallel the strip as long as the strips are constant voltage, not constant current. Good video cheers
I don't know if I missed it but how did you design it with the specific cut points in mind?
Norm is there somewhere to get a custom piece cut, that I can add the led's to myself? Not all of us have access to the fancy stuff hehe.
Saved this video for when I’m actually ready to build my sign! I’ve seen people use a glue to secure the lights to the acrylic in other videos I’ve watched so I wanted to ask... Do you ever do that; and if so, what kind of glue works for that?
Cyanacrelate
Very cool, Norm. 😎👍🏻
Very nice project!
This is cool! What kind of wire are you using to connect each led section? Also, what kind of battery power supplies are available, and how do I connect the led strips to the power?
What do I do if my laser cutter is... nonexistent?
MDF and a router?
Or have the letters cut out, cut out the channel with a scroll saw or a jig saw and then use a backer board? You could clamp the two sheets together and cut the outline at the same time so they match, then jig saw the channel. That’s probably what I’d do, or the router option.
I just heard the Joann Fabrics near me has a Glowforge available to use by the hour. I haven't had a chance to check into it yet, but am really hoping that I can test it out soon!
Contact me and ill give you a good price
I wish I had a glowforge
Howdy norm..great turorial...still a little sketchy on the letter length. The strip i got gets cut every 1" like yours...what did you do on the ends that were to short or to long?..super thanks for the video
You only need to have wires at one end of each strip so the other end can be cut anywhere. Say you have two strips, I would orient them “Back to back” so the wires are together in the middle.
@@conorfitzpatrickdesign9616 super thank you for the reply....i meant the strips ive got canni ly be cut every 1/2"...possible link to your leds?...ty again
Exact same way I made mine, those strips are really nice
Neon signs are so pretty I swear-
Why do you end what you say with “-“
Greeeaat video! Thank you. You picked up another subscriber. Can I ask, what brand/model is your laser cutter? Thanks again!
this is great, May I know how do you know how much to buy LED strips? and how do you measure your acrylic sheet, I am trying to make a sign as smallest as possible with RGB NEON FLEX and another one with NEON strings, but I don't know how can I do the math, can you please help?
is there end cap that connects the ends , so you do not have to solder wires?
@Adam Savage’s Tested what glue do you recommend to use to glue the strips for to plexiglass/ acrylic I don’t have a laser cutter
Can you make a tutorial on how to use the laser cutter w/ any design, how to specifically input parameters etc?
Where did you get the fume extractor for the soldering iron?
What do you mean by 12v alligator clip to test? How did you do this? How do you plug it in? What do you use? I have never done electrical work, so I am wanting to know how to do these steps and what I need for a plug. Thank you
How do you find the acrylic size that will fit in your Glowforge?
Nice! Have you found any sources for RGB programmable LED faux neon strips?
Loving the Epcot shirt!!
Very informative video. Ty
Have you ever seen a 3 to 4 second delay from plugging in the LED strip to lights on? I am trying to add this to an automated Lights-o-Rama show and need a consistent on/off time. Maybe a higher Amp P/S?
What kind of acrylic are you using? Where could I buy it?
If you had UK Amazon links too that would be very appreciated 😍
I got you mate.
Flexible Neon LED Strip Light: amzn.to/2YfFpzC
Silicone End Cap for LED Tube: amzn.to/3mPOdGw
USB Soldering Iron: amzn.to/3DBnGTu
22awg wire: amzn.to/3gLMLRW
My question is what about the end? Like do you connect it to a plug? If so what connection do you use?
I ordered the same Flexible Neon LED Strip that you recommended, but for me, I can see every single LED in the strand. The diffusion is not the same as what I see in your video. I know that in-person vs. video can be different. Do you also see the individual LEDs or are you seeing it like a traditional neon tube presents?
Norm, what types of acrylic did you use (thickness) and what was the final dimension of Danica’s sign?
1/4 inch for the top layer for better pressure fitting of the tube, and 1/8 inch for bottom layer. Ended up roughly 36” wide!
@@tested awesome! Thank you! Oh, that’s actually a good size and not as large as i thought. I now have a Christmas gift project for a friend.
What did you hook it up to for powering it on? Can you show that part?
Clicked on the video as my mother's name is Danica! (Croatian background!)
Great vid! Warm regards from Melbourne, Australia.
Thank you good sir. I'm attempting to make one!
Great video what are the blue grippers called?
I have a few questions. What brand of laser cutting machine do you have, and how thick is your plexiglass. Didn't see links to either one.
did he switch from solid core wire to stranded? it looks like solid at 16:17 and stranded at 17:54 and definitely 19:29
Thanks for sharing this with us, i need the name of the tool you used to fixing the neon in the minute 15. Thanks