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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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!
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! ;-)
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.
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.
@@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.
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!
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
I just had the idea of getting little brass brads(small finish nails)or use single strand house power wire (sharpen one side solder the other and soldering them to the wires and just piercing them into the silicone.to make contact from behind/under into the copper pads and finish up with a dab of super glue or epoxy instead of going through all the trouble of soldering
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 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.
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?
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.
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!
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
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. 👍🏼👍🏼
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.
Great job, but one question As far as i know neon leds can be cut into 2.5cm pieces meaning that each segment should be a multiple of 2.5cm in terms of length, how can i measure that when im designing the sign? Because i cant cut the strip at middle of those 2.5cm parts so its gonna be short or excess if i don’t design the acrylic sheet grooving length right
Is there a way to do this without having to do any electrical work? Basically is there a way I can do this at home without having to get a bunch of extra stuff?
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
Excellent video. Just a quick question - what about us pre-millenial peasants who don't owe a laser cutter? Any suggestion how do we make a lead channel, but on budget? Thnx in advance!
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?
Happy anniversary, Norm. What a lovely gift for your wife.
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.
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?
I just recently saw these and you're the only one who shows how to do it. Thank you for that
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
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?
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.
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
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! ;-)
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.
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.
happy anniversary Norm and Danica
This channel never gets old y'all taught me through childhood
Clicked on the video as my mother's name is Danica! (Croatian background!)
Great vid! Warm regards from Melbourne, Australia.
oh yea let me pull out my good old handy dandy laser cutter to cut my acrylic sheets lol
Sooooo basically I'm going to have to buy one. LOL
That is so cool. Thank you for sharing! I learned a lot.
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!
Lighting solutions like this come in so many options.
OH I wish my cricut could cut acrylic! I love these
That is fricken amazing!
It makes me want to learn how to work with making electric circuits and put them together.
Very cool, Norm. 😎👍🏻
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 🤯
The end result looks really nice!
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
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
That is an awesome product. Hell Yeah buddy!!!
Cool project, and happy anniversary!
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!
👍
Awesome tutorial
Norm, you make normal things interesting, keep it up!
This is exactly what I needed - thanks Norm!
Hi Norman, what’s up dude!! Happy Anniversary to you and your wife !!
Norm: this tubing cant really flex that well so were gonna have to curve those angles...
also norm: heres a lightning bolt.
XD
I just had the idea of getting little brass brads(small finish nails)or use single strand house power wire (sharpen one side solder the other and soldering them to the wires and just piercing them into the silicone.to make contact from behind/under into the copper pads and finish up with a dab of super glue or epoxy instead of going through all the trouble of soldering
This is cool, i make 3d printed signs with a box and lid then put neo pixles in them.
Happy anniversary.
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!
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!
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!
Brilliant idea and very well executed - Norm, this is awesome :D
thanks so much for this - great explanation, great shooting, fun idea
Very nice project!
Happy Anniversary :)
Exact same way I made mine, those strips are really nice
Loving the Epcot shirt!!
Thank you good sir. I'm attempting to make one!
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 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.
very nice work
Neon signs are so pretty I swear-
Why do you end what you say with “-“
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?
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.
Those lights are great, definitely want to give them a try
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!
This looks like a great project 👍🏽
thats love!!!
Good job 👍
NEXT TIME YOU CAN TRY COPPER MAGNET WIRE. I THINK IT GONNA LOOK ALOT CLEANER ON THE BACK. BTW, NICE JOB, LOOKS FREAKING AWESOME.
1:20 anyone know what video that is I want to watch that one too
Nice name draw
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.
What kind of acrylic are you using? Where could I buy it?
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
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. 👍🏼👍🏼
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.
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?
Love these vids! Thanks Norm!
Nice! Have you found any sources for RGB programmable LED faux neon strips?
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.
Laser cut. Do you make them for people for a fee?
Hello, thank you for your excellent video, what kind of glue do you use? Where can I order?
Can you please tell me what laser cutter you are using? Thank you!!!!!!
Where can I get the neon strip displayed in the video. Here in NZ they don't seem to be able to get it.
how think of acrylic did you use?
hello, a question, what kind of wire do you use to connect the led strips? I guess it's copper, but what thickness?
What thickness of acrylic did you use?
Who does the music score @ 12:02 ? Thanks
My question is what about the end? Like do you connect it to a plug? If so what connection do you use?
There are propper junction boxs to attache the strips together after beeing cutted ;) theres no need to solder!
Can you make a tutorial on how to use the laser cutter w/ any design, how to specifically input parameters etc?
Please tell me how I can find the links to the materials you used...I'm new to this. Thankyou
I want to make one of these really large of the RTJ logo but I do not have any of these programs
Dam Norm, this is awesome.
Great job, but one question
As far as i know neon leds can be cut into 2.5cm pieces meaning that each segment should be a multiple of 2.5cm in terms of length, how can i measure that when im designing the sign? Because i cant cut the strip at middle of those 2.5cm parts so its gonna be short or excess if i don’t design the acrylic sheet grooving length right
you can get 1cm cut neon flex
Is there a way to do this without having to do any electrical work? Basically is there a way I can do this at home without having to get a bunch of extra stuff?
Thanks for making this video! I have been looking at these online and you just motivated me to just build it now.
What a great tutorial! Thank you!
Great video what are the blue grippers called?
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 account for the length between cut points when creating the vector channels?
The Strips look like Twizlers. Both signs look nice but I still prefer real neon signs more. Nothing beats the real thing.
Tin the wire. Tin the pad. Heat the work, let the work melt the solder.
Excellent video. Just a quick question - what about us pre-millenial peasants who don't owe a laser cutter? Any suggestion how do we make a lead channel, but on budget? Thnx in advance!
Greeeaat video! Thank you. You picked up another subscriber. Can I ask, what brand/model is your laser cutter? Thanks again!