Yep, the Forstner bits are definitely the way to go. You were wise to get yourself a small drill press for it, they can be a little bit dicey to control freehand. I've had to do that in the past (for a subtable for my drill press, quite ironically), and it was no fun. Those flat spade bits are absolute shit.
@@christianmoss4603 possibly. It's a round, disc-shaped bit with a small point in the center, two cutting edges that go out to the perimeter, and then a sharp circular perimeter.
Such a cool and simple idea that I'm surprised I haven't seen anywhere else! These would look awesome on the railing around a deck. Maybe one every foot or so, with a channel routed along the bottom for the wires. I wonder if a conical shape may help diffuse a little more? maybe a tiny round silver sticker at the bottom of the LED hole to block the directional hot spot and bounce it to the side. So many cool applications.
@@bigclivedotcom Oh yeah, that's true. I suppose it would also add more complexity in how infill pattern would affect the light. These remind me of the funhouse mountain at Tivoli with the really old roller coaster that runs around and through it. The warm, multi-colored lights. Wonderful memories. :)
TY for teaching me OpenSCAD. You did give me the motivation and the first script to examine an modify. Getting modestly good at it. Really appreciate !
@@dashcamandy2242 A hole saw would be tough because there's nothing cutting out the core at the bottom of the hole (when you're drilling something but not all the way through). Sometimes you can break the core piece out but it's hard to do cleanly.
@@TDOBrandano If you made the disk solid you could play with different infills, but the star pattern is part of the shape. He did say the top plate was an adjustable parameter. That could be made thick enough for infill.
I’ve been watching for a long time, Clive. I’d love it if you did more actual pinball content. They’re fascinating machines! Signed, a competitive pinballer
Thanks, Clive! I've been experimenting with different ways to light a control panel for Halloween (I have "trick" and "treat" buttons for the kids to press, rigged to a jump scare). This makes me think that a 3D printed solution might be the way to go.
Ooh! You could make some comically oversized buttons if you're 3D printing them! Maybe even have the words "trick" and "treat" modeled into them. I'd just subtract the words from the front by maybe 1-2mm so would leave a negative space that you could fill with colored resin, or even just some acrylic paint. Printer should be able to bridge fairly easily. Hard to explain in words. 😂
@@bigclivedotcomthanks! I have the arcade buttons squared away. What I want are lit labels for "trick" and "treat". I have a microcontroller rigged to swap labels on the buttons and other tomfoolery 😁 I was experimenting with different materials, like foamboard backlit by LEDs with black paint or paper covering the area I don't want to be lit, but I need a better diffuser. I have some "guts" from an old LCD display but I may try 3d printed diffusers like your buttons here. I have clear filament from my covid string lights project.
Looks amazingly nice! You might get slightly better light coupling by using a small amount of silicone grease between the LEDs and the 3d printed "luminaire"! Reduces refractive index losses and seems to improve light spread.
One thing you might want to try is a reflector style back on those. Basically a little three-sided 90° pyramids all over it. The diffusers on a bunch of Omron pilot lights that I have had that pattern on the back. It works much better than the circle pattern that you've got, which is what was used on some other pilot lights that I have replaced.
The STL format, output by openscad, technically used non-specific units. However so much 3D printing software assumes by default that 1 STL unit is 1mm, and it's convenient to just go with that.
Interesting idea. Open to some additions? Seeing your bullseye style got me thinking, take those rings, and continue them up to the stem as appropriate angles to land fully around the sides of the led. They should function as lightpipes and carry the light further from the center to reduce the hot spot contrast... Also... They would be MUCH tougher. Could alter this as tilted pillars to get a polka dot effect. Or triangles for arrows... What of logos graphics or words on the lense layer? And if there was a lip on the edge, you could use a step drill for seating them.
So, to describe the shape better... A cone with the led inserted in the point, and the flat having a thick lip around it to serve as a setting surface... Another idea with the cone idea, you could make a bunch of nested cones into a bulls eye, and then reduce the size of the center post, or remove it entirely right at the lense to reduce the hot spot further... I wonder what a lipped cone shape would look like illuminated, if you just printed two skin layers, then did a 10% zigzag infill... Might really disperse things nicely if one wanted to print in a few extra layers of solid for graphics or such.
Instead of drilling to the exact depth, you can get a board of the same thickness as the depth you desire, and drill it all the way through. Then use a backer plate, or smaller backers for each hole.
I use my little Ryobi cordless palm router. I often do inlays that are lit. It looks so fancy and opulent! I just didn't put the 3D printer into the formula!! Jeez that's a match made in heaven! I ordered a little CNC to do more like this. It's addictive!
I made something similar and used the Forstner bit mentioned by others- it leaves a very flat bottom to the recess. It's the sort of bit used to fit hinges to kitchen and bathroom cabinets. I had great results using white PLA at 10% infill, it diffused the light well enough that it almost eliminated "pin pointing" the LED.
Either one (rings or spokes) remind me a bit of the industrial indicator lamps. I never had thought of printing something like this, but these could be an interesting addition to my office/workshop.
Maybe silver paint? Foil would seem a bit tricky, and of course it conducts so you'd have to fiddle round the LEDs. With paint, you could solder the LEDs up, dip 'em in PVA glue, then paint the plastic.
Here's my edit. // Merged star style w/ concentric ring style, cleaned up code to rely less on magic numbers, added customizer bounds and sections //You can adjust the variables below //diameter of insert in mm size=25; // [10:0.1:120] //depth of insert depth=5; // [1:25] //thickness of front face face=1; // [0.2:0.2:5] //diameter of LED led=5.2; // [0.8:0.1:25] //length of LED stem stem=15; // [3:60] //thickness of outer wall and fins wall_thickness=1.2; // [0.4:0.1:5] //additional plate thickness right in front of LED to increase diffusion led_front_padding=0; // [0:0.1:5] /* [ Radial Fins ]*/ // set to true to render radial fins render_radial_fins = true; //number of radial fins fin_count=10; // [0:24] /* [ Diffusion Rings ] */ // set to true to render diffusion rings render_diffusion_rings=true; //diffusion ring height cylinder_height=1; // [0.1:0.1:5] // diffusion ring width cylinder_thickness=1.5; // [0.1:0.1:5] //number of radial fins /* [Hidden] */ $fn=100; eps=0.1; echo("The center stem has diameter of ", (led+2*wall_thickness), "mm"); //don't adjust anything below here difference(){ union(){ // center disk difference(){ union(){ //main disk cylinder(h=depth, d=size); } //internal cylinder translate([0,0,face]) cylinder(h=depth,d=size-2*wall_thickness); } //star fins if(render_radial_fins){ for (i=[0:fin_count])rotate([0, 0, i*360/fin_count]){ translate([0,-wall_thickness/2,face-eps]) cube([(size/2)-wall_thickness,wall_thickness,depth-face+eps]); } } //diffusion rings if(render_diffusion_rings){ translate([0,0,face-eps]) for (i=[0:4*cylinder_thickness:size-(led+2*wall_thickness)]){ difference(){ //outer part of the ring cylinder(h=cylinder_height+eps, d=size-i-1.5*wall_thickness); translate([0,0,-eps]) //inner part of the ring cylinder(h=cylinder_height+3*eps, d=size-i-1.5*wall_thickness-2*cylinder_thickness); } } } //LED pillar cylinder(h=stem,d=led+2*wall_thickness); } //led hole translate([0,0,face+led_front_padding]) cylinder(h=stem+eps,d=led); }
I think a forstner bit would help you control the depth and quality of the holes. They are available in most of the sizes you mentioned, you may need to use a hole saw the the 70mm one
I see you have the 3D printing addiction. Doesn't take long - Been printing for the last 3 years and its not stopping! lol - Chris Riley = king of TH-cam 3D printing.
Quick tip for diffusion, after the first clear layers you could change the filament to white for 1-2 layers in white, for clearer lenses, print waaaay hotter and slower, so 260 degrees and 40mm/s, Clear PETG prints even clearer
For the "Fresnel lens" effect, Cura has a "concentric lines" option for the top and/or bottom layers. Might be worth trying to print the ribbed one that way if you like the circular effect? 🤔
Clive, I don’t know if you’ll get this message, but you did read my comment/suggestion on your last livestream - it’s the idea of a project to create a “White Noise Generator”. Have the frequency range be the full spectrum (if possible, and modified by a trim pot) but the primary purpose would be to run interception at or on or about 15-22kHz. This range is above most human hearing, but just so occurs to be the precise range our “smart” devices that are supposed to be offline actually go about getting online, through sending packets of data to devices like phones and tablets that are also transmitting as well as listening/receiving on these frequencies via their mic’s and speakers, in order to allow these devices to phone home as they wish. Not cool, but easily rectified as you can now imagine... Cheers! 🥂
hi big clive a forstner bit is the one to use they drill a nice even flat hole when used with a small pillar drill or drill stand love the idea you have come up with these pinball lights
Forstner, just to be clear. You can do it with a lot of different bits. I tend to use twist bits, rather than spade bits. The main deal for using twist or spade bits is that you want something to STOP them continuing on. (drill press, or some other stop)
That is cool, 3D printing and scripting the models has to be a fun combination. Still don't have a 3D printer, but still thanks for putting them out there
I wonder what a fractal pattern would look like in place of the radial bit, very interesting, you have me wanting a 3D printer now, these have a lot of possibilities, thanks Clive 😊
Forstner bits for nice clean smaller holes. For really large holes use a big holesaw to make an oversize template from MDF, then rout out the holes using a router with a guide bush. You can get sets of guide bushes giving steps of 1mm.
I’m just thinking about how many addressable leds are in a pinball machine and it’s blowing my mind how they program all of that. Animated neon setups also blow my mind.
This openscad is really neat! I've never played with it before but it's surprisingly simple. Here's a modified copy of the star script that lets you change the number of fins/spokes //Pinball style star LED insert $fn=100; //You can adjust the variables below size=25; //diameter of insert in mm depth=5; //depth of insert face=1; //thickness of front face led=5.2; //diameter of LED stem=15; //length of LED stem fins=12; //number of fins //don't adjust anything below here difference(){ union(){ difference(){ union(){ //main disk cylinder(h=depth, d=size); } //internal cylinder translate([0,0,face]) cylinder(h=depth,d=size-2); } //star fins angle=360/fins; for (i=[0:angle:360])rotate([0, 0, i]){ translate([0,-.5,face]) cube([(size/2)-1,1,depth-face]); } //LED pillar cylinder(h=stem,d=led+2); } //led hole translate([0,0,face]) cylinder(h=stem+1,d=led); }
As others have said, Forstner bits in a drill press would be the way to go. An added advantage is that you can make clean overlapping holes , so you could make more complicated effects like a flower or possibly a nautilus shell.
Agreed, more organic, natural looking, looks good within the wood. The other reminds me of mechanical spokes. I wonder how a snowflake, petal or leaf effect might look.
Big Clive is obviously not a woodworker. What you need are a Forstner bit and a drill press. Forstner bits create a clean, flat-bottomed hole (with a divot in the middle for the wire hole) and drill presses drill perpendicular to the table (by default) and typically have a depth stop adjustment.
I 3D printed a new disc to go on those plug in Light bulbs with the rotating disco diffuser with different shaped gaps in the disc. Worked OK. I also put a trim pot on the motor so I could vary the speed which worked very well.
@@chronicgaming3280 Bought a decent set from ALDI (Australia) decades ago. Excellent for any price, and THE best method for cutting accurate 20mm holes for press-in sealed switches. Having said that, flat bits do have their uses, and again decent quality provide a good end result.
0:55 - Forstner bits if you don't mind the bottom not being perfectly flat, or a router if you do need it to be perfectly flat (you probably don't for that, though). Plunge routers also come with very precise depth stops, but the bits will generally be a lot more expensive than forstners (and a decent router is also a lot more expensive than a drill, even after you add the plunge adapter).
You should also be able to use concentric extrude to get fancy and have it make patterns on the underside, maybe even importing a shape to do it. You could also look through and create a grid of dots, might create a cool effect and be stable at larger sizes.
Cool! Try printing the star-effect ones using concentric infill instead of rectilinear? And maybe a little cone-shaped nub on top of the LED to diffuse the light more?
As usual great video - would it be possible to do a video on 3D printer selection outlining the pros and cons of various printers in both the low and medium budget ranges - I know there are videos out there but your unbiased and knowledgeable approach would give a more informed result
make the plastic a cone with the led well at the apex. use lambertian emitters, then add silicone oil, gel, glue or epoxy in the bottom of the LED well to eliminate the air gap. just sand the flat base with very fine sand paper. Done. You will get perfectly even, flat illumination of the disk with very good efficiency. They key is A) coupling the LED efficiently to the conical reflector and OBTW the cone surface has to be highly polished, sorry. :) PS: you can machine acrylic on a lathe to near-optical surface quality, and you can hand-polish it TO an optically smooth (sorta, good enough) surface on a polishing wheel.
Good idea, and nice project for the 3d printer. Just wondering if you could print something similar and stick it to the front of an empty Dulce Gusto (or similar) coffee pod. The outlet of the pod seems a suitable size for an LED. Could be useful for a recessed ceiling/ panel /pendant light.
I wonder what a color change LED would look like on a larger, say 2in or so, radial lensed insert. I'm thinking the slight offset of the red, green, and blue emitters in the LED would create some interesting patterns.
You might want to put in a relay between the amp output and the coil(s) of the subwoofer element and turn the relay on/off using a delay circuit, such that the speaker element isn't connected to the amp when the amp is powered on.
Nice...I am sure, it would make for a great effect on a LED DJ booth (hundreds of them)... like i did in my last build project. Your design is well thought out. The LEDs can be replaced from the backside, if needed..
For the larger discs, perhaps a larger hole with angled sides would diffuse the light better, and to hold the led in place the ribs could be extended to the correct diameter.
I'd use PETG instead of PLA as it's water resistant, has a higher glass transition temp so will be better if any hot drinks are rested on it in a bar top situation and is generally stronger/more wear resistant with better layer adheation, I usually use clear PETG for lamp surrounds in garden solar lights, works very well.
I've used painter's tape on the drill bit to identify where I should stop drilling. Not as good as a proper router, but works well enough. Spend the extra seconds to file off rough edges -- it'll save finishing time later.
Did someone say PINBALL? These are actually kinda nicer than the ones used in some games, even modern ones with the fancy RGB lighting as that's still done in an a bit of an old fashioned way with a tiny lightboard underneath.
Also with resin printers, the transparent (no color basically) resins turn into a lovely shade of piss as you cure them. The longer you cure them, the more dehydrated the piss color. Quite fascinating, but probably not beneficial. I do have a translucent green, I might give that a shot, see how it looks.
Not a Fresnel but if you make the biggest outside ring the tallest then the other rings progressively shorter towards the center it may help the ones on the outside to grab more light.
using a forstner bit would probably make the holes easier and more accurate to cut, you could even match the depth of the 3d print to the depth of the size of forstner bit and therefore have the end of the bit flush with the surface when drilling should stop
The lack of diffusion in the 75mm one might be addressed by printing it as if it were entirely made of light guides. So no simple back-and-forth pattern for the top plate, instead have it radiating from the centre. Yeah I'll leave the details to somebody else... Just having several thick-ish radial struts might help. Think about the plastic as it's oozing out the nozzle, the light is going to follow that pattern. Failing that... cast some out of epoxy? You can see in the 75mm one, the light just bounces off the sides of the printed lines, that's gonna happen to them internally as well with the LED light. So maybe print one, smooth with acetone vapour, sand, polish, then make a mould from that and cast a smooth solid piece. Moulding would also save on filament cost. Would probably only be necessary for the biggest ones, the small ones are fine. Nice little invention though, would look nice on an appropriate bit of furniture or even shelves.
Clive why not introduce the ribs onto the lens style one sure it would slightly Affect the light pattern however i feel it would be the best of both worlds in terms of lighting and sturdiness
This is pretty cool! I think a forstner bit is what you want. Would be curious if painting the pocket in the wood white helps even out the light?
I've already got a selection of those bits on order. I also ordered a small pillar drill for cordless drills that I may modify to give an open base.
Yep, the Forstner bits are definitely the way to go. You were wise to get yourself a small drill press for it, they can be a little bit dicey to control freehand. I've had to do that in the past (for a subtable for my drill press, quite ironically), and it was no fun.
Those flat spade bits are absolute shit.
Is a Forstenr bit the same as you use too cut holes in kitchen cabinet doors for the hinges?
@@christianmoss4603 possibly. It's a round, disc-shaped bit with a small point in the center, two cutting edges that go out to the perimeter, and then a sharp circular perimeter.
@@christianmoss4603
Yes, that's a Forstner bit.
Such a cool and simple idea that I'm surprised I haven't seen anywhere else!
These would look awesome on the railing around a deck. Maybe one every foot or so, with a channel routed along the bottom for the wires.
I wonder if a conical shape may help diffuse a little more? maybe a tiny round silver sticker at the bottom of the LED hole to block the directional hot spot and bounce it to the side. So many cool applications.
I toyed with a conical shape, but it would have made the hole a bit more complex.
@@bigclivedotcom Oh yeah, that's true. I suppose it would also add more complexity in how infill pattern would affect the light.
These remind me of the funhouse mountain at Tivoli with the really old roller coaster that runs around and through it. The warm, multi-colored lights. Wonderful memories. :)
TY for teaching me OpenSCAD.
You did give me the motivation and the first script to examine an modify.
Getting modestly good at it. Really appreciate !
Glad to help. Sometimes it just takes reverse engineering a script to make things click.
A forstner -style bit would be perfect for this.
I was thinking that or a hole saw.
@@dashcamandy2242 A hole saw would be tough because there's nothing cutting out the core at the bottom of the hole (when you're drilling something but not all the way through). Sometimes you can break the core piece out but it's hard to do cleanly.
I wonder if you could combine the lensing pattern with the star pattern. This should get the nice diffusion plus the strength.
Maybe it would be sufficient to use "concentric infill" in the slicer parameters while slicing the star pattern?
@@TDOBrandano If you made the disk solid you could play with different infills, but the star pattern is part of the shape. He did say the top plate was an adjustable parameter. That could be made thick enough for infill.
I’ve been watching for a long time, Clive. I’d love it if you did more actual pinball content. They’re fascinating machines!
Signed, a competitive pinballer
I always love those slow changing mood lights
Thanks, Clive! I've been experimenting with different ways to light a control panel for Halloween (I have "trick" and "treat" buttons for the kids to press, rigged to a jump scare). This makes me think that a 3D printed solution might be the way to go.
eBay has illuminated arcade game buttons.
Ooh! You could make some comically oversized buttons if you're 3D printing them! Maybe even have the words "trick" and "treat" modeled into them. I'd just subtract the words from the front by maybe 1-2mm so would leave a negative space that you could fill with colored resin, or even just some acrylic paint.
Printer should be able to bridge fairly easily. Hard to explain in words. 😂
@@bigclivedotcomthanks! I have the arcade buttons squared away. What I want are lit labels for "trick" and "treat". I have a microcontroller rigged to swap labels on the buttons and other tomfoolery 😁 I was experimenting with different materials, like foamboard backlit by LEDs with black paint or paper covering the area I don't want to be lit, but I need a better diffuser. I have some "guts" from an old LCD display but I may try 3d printed diffusers like your buttons here. I have clear filament from my covid string lights project.
Looks amazingly nice! You might get slightly better light coupling by using a small amount of silicone grease between the LEDs and the 3d printed "luminaire"! Reduces refractive index losses and seems to improve light spread.
Really neat idea and looks awesome. Thanks Clive.
One thing you might want to try is a reflector style back on those. Basically a little three-sided 90° pyramids all over it.
The diffusers on a bunch of Omron pilot lights that I have had that pattern on the back. It works much better than the circle pattern that you've got, which is what was used on some other pilot lights that I have replaced.
That could be quite complicated to create an algorithm for.
I really like the fact you're using metric as well!
The STL format, output by openscad, technically used non-specific units. However so much 3D printing software assumes by default that 1 STL unit is 1mm, and it's convenient to just go with that.
Interesting idea. Open to some additions? Seeing your bullseye style got me thinking, take those rings, and continue them up to the stem as appropriate angles to land fully around the sides of the led. They should function as lightpipes and carry the light further from the center to reduce the hot spot contrast... Also... They would be MUCH tougher. Could alter this as tilted pillars to get a polka dot effect. Or triangles for arrows...
What of logos graphics or words on the lense layer?
And if there was a lip on the edge, you could use a step drill for seating them.
So, to describe the shape better... A cone with the led inserted in the point, and the flat having a thick lip around it to serve as a setting surface...
Another idea with the cone idea, you could make a bunch of nested cones into a bulls eye, and then reduce the size of the center post, or remove it entirely right at the lense to reduce the hot spot further...
I wonder what a lipped cone shape would look like illuminated, if you just printed two skin layers, then did a 10% zigzag infill... Might really disperse things nicely if one wanted to print in a few extra layers of solid for graphics or such.
Instead of drilling to the exact depth, you can get a board of the same thickness as the depth you desire, and drill it all the way through. Then use a backer plate, or smaller backers for each hole.
I use my little Ryobi cordless palm router. I often do inlays that are lit. It looks so fancy and opulent! I just didn't put the 3D printer into the formula!! Jeez that's a match made in heaven! I ordered a little CNC to do more like this. It's addictive!
i get where your going with this.. with real love and care(and a lot of patience) this stuff "WILL" look fantastic...
I made something similar and used the Forstner bit mentioned by others- it leaves a very flat bottom to the recess. It's the sort of bit used to fit hinges to kitchen and bathroom cabinets. I had great results using white PLA at 10% infill, it diffused the light well enough that it almost eliminated "pin pointing" the LED.
This brings to mind ideas of light piping & channeling. Thanks!
Either one (rings or spokes) remind me a bit of the industrial indicator lamps. I never had thought of printing something like this, but these could be an interesting addition to my office/workshop.
Piece of aluminium foil on the back may give a more "solid" look to the light Clive.
Maybe silver paint? Foil would seem a bit tricky, and of course it conducts so you'd have to fiddle round the LEDs. With paint, you could solder the LEDs up, dip 'em in PVA glue, then paint the plastic.
BigClive needs a Github repository with all the cool scripts he be uploading
Here's my edit.
// Merged star style w/ concentric ring style, cleaned up code to rely less on magic numbers, added customizer bounds and sections
//You can adjust the variables below
//diameter of insert in mm
size=25; // [10:0.1:120]
//depth of insert
depth=5; // [1:25]
//thickness of front face
face=1; // [0.2:0.2:5]
//diameter of LED
led=5.2; // [0.8:0.1:25]
//length of LED stem
stem=15; // [3:60]
//thickness of outer wall and fins
wall_thickness=1.2; // [0.4:0.1:5]
//additional plate thickness right in front of LED to increase diffusion
led_front_padding=0; // [0:0.1:5]
/* [ Radial Fins ]*/
// set to true to render radial fins
render_radial_fins = true;
//number of radial fins
fin_count=10; // [0:24]
/* [ Diffusion Rings ] */
// set to true to render diffusion rings
render_diffusion_rings=true;
//diffusion ring height
cylinder_height=1; // [0.1:0.1:5]
// diffusion ring width
cylinder_thickness=1.5; // [0.1:0.1:5]
//number of radial fins
/* [Hidden] */
$fn=100;
eps=0.1;
echo("The center stem has diameter of ", (led+2*wall_thickness), "mm");
//don't adjust anything below here
difference(){
union(){
// center disk
difference(){
union(){
//main disk
cylinder(h=depth, d=size);
}
//internal cylinder
translate([0,0,face])
cylinder(h=depth,d=size-2*wall_thickness);
}
//star fins
if(render_radial_fins){
for (i=[0:fin_count])rotate([0, 0, i*360/fin_count]){
translate([0,-wall_thickness/2,face-eps])
cube([(size/2)-wall_thickness,wall_thickness,depth-face+eps]);
}
}
//diffusion rings
if(render_diffusion_rings){
translate([0,0,face-eps])
for (i=[0:4*cylinder_thickness:size-(led+2*wall_thickness)]){
difference(){
//outer part of the ring
cylinder(h=cylinder_height+eps, d=size-i-1.5*wall_thickness);
translate([0,0,-eps])
//inner part of the ring
cylinder(h=cylinder_height+3*eps, d=size-i-1.5*wall_thickness-2*cylinder_thickness);
}
}
}
//LED pillar
cylinder(h=stem,d=led+2*wall_thickness);
}
//led hole
translate([0,0,face+led_front_padding])
cylinder(h=stem+eps,d=led);
}
Very neat. It's these sorts of creations that make me want to invest in a 3D printer soon
Ah, thank you for bringing us light, in both ways
Your timing is impecable! I've been designing a half scale pinball machine in OpenSCAD and hadn't gotten to the inserts yet
I think a forstner bit would help you control the depth and quality of the holes. They are available in most of the sizes you mentioned, you may need to use a hole saw the the 70mm one
I actually like the way the colored one looked with the LED in it.
I see you have the 3D printing addiction. Doesn't take long - Been printing for the last 3 years and its not stopping! lol - Chris Riley = king of TH-cam 3D printing.
Quick tip for diffusion, after the first clear layers you could change the filament to white for 1-2 layers in white, for clearer lenses, print waaaay hotter and slower, so 260 degrees and 40mm/s, Clear PETG prints even clearer
PETG might be more durable too, in that it will bend more (and may deform) but shouldn't ever snap or shatter.
The blue one wayyyy exceeded my expectations 🤣
For the "Fresnel lens" effect, Cura has a "concentric lines" option for the top and/or bottom layers. Might be worth trying to print the ribbed one that way if you like the circular effect? 🤔
I've experimented with that for light diffusing and it does give an interesting effect.
I was gonna suggest this very thing.
It also has a concentric option for the infill. That way you can control the thickness of the ribs as well as the spacing between them.
Wow what a great idea, very pretty
Clive, I don’t know if you’ll get this message, but you did read my comment/suggestion on your last livestream - it’s the idea of a project to create a “White Noise Generator”. Have the frequency range be the full spectrum (if possible, and modified by a trim pot) but the primary purpose would be to run interception at or on or about 15-22kHz. This range is above most human hearing, but just so occurs to be the precise range our “smart” devices that are supposed to be offline actually go about getting online, through sending packets of data to devices like phones and tablets that are also transmitting as well as listening/receiving on these frequencies via their mic’s and speakers, in order to allow these devices to phone home as they wish. Not cool, but easily rectified as you can now imagine...
Cheers! 🥂
Love these ! They look a bit like a cabochon !
hi big clive
a forstner bit is the one to use they drill a nice even flat hole
when used with a small pillar drill or drill stand
love the idea you have come up with these pinball lights
Forstner, just to be clear. You can do it with a lot of different bits. I tend to use twist bits, rather than spade bits. The main deal for using twist or spade bits is that you want something to STOP them continuing on. (drill press, or some other stop)
To paraphrase a well known advert - "ribbed for everyones pleasure"
Well Done Clive.
That is cool, 3D printing and scripting the models has to be a fun combination. Still don't have a 3D printer, but still thanks for putting them out there
Thanks very interesting and illuminating.
I wonder what a fractal pattern would look like in place of the radial bit, very interesting, you have me wanting a 3D printer now, these have a lot of possibilities, thanks Clive 😊
I don't know how I will ever use this, but it is relevant to my interests!!!
They look really cool. It would be super satisfying if you could use them as push buttons, but probably tricky to implement.
That was really stimmy! I really want to buy some clear filament now lol. But I've got ideas of the disco nature. Cheers for the share!
Good Saturday morning to you sir from Wellington Somerset
Possibly use a forstner bit instead of the flat cutter... Love the idea though, may see if can resize to use some ws2812B.
Yep Forstner bit
Forstner bits for nice clean smaller holes. For really large holes use a big holesaw to make an oversize template from MDF, then rout out the holes using a router with a guide bush. You can get sets of guide bushes giving steps of 1mm.
I’m just thinking about how many addressable leds are in a pinball machine and it’s blowing my mind how they program all of that. Animated neon setups also blow my mind.
This openscad is really neat! I've never played with it before but it's surprisingly simple. Here's a modified copy of the star script that lets you change the number of fins/spokes
//Pinball style star LED insert
$fn=100;
//You can adjust the variables below
size=25; //diameter of insert in mm
depth=5; //depth of insert
face=1; //thickness of front face
led=5.2; //diameter of LED
stem=15; //length of LED stem
fins=12; //number of fins
//don't adjust anything below here
difference(){
union(){
difference(){
union(){
//main disk
cylinder(h=depth, d=size);
}
//internal cylinder
translate([0,0,face])
cylinder(h=depth,d=size-2);
}
//star fins
angle=360/fins;
for (i=[0:angle:360])rotate([0, 0, i]){
translate([0,-.5,face])
cube([(size/2)-1,1,depth-face]);
}
//LED pillar
cylinder(h=stem,d=led+2);
}
//led hole
translate([0,0,face])
cylinder(h=stem+1,d=led);
}
As others have said, Forstner bits in a drill press would be the way to go. An added advantage is that you can make clean overlapping holes , so you could make more complicated effects like a flower or possibly a nautilus shell.
Very cool! Off to see if white PLA diffuses better than transparent. :)
Do the first 1 or 2 layers with white and the follow with clear. Should diffuse light without reducing the brightness to much!
Dude that's neat I'm gonna get a driver and some leds and make one for my kitchen window seal at night
Oh NICE!
This is really cool!
Interesting project, but I very much think the concentric rings look way better
Agreed, more organic, natural looking, looks good within the wood. The other reminds me of mechanical spokes. I wonder how a snowflake, petal or leaf effect might look.
Forstner bits will give you a clean hole
Those things reminded me of the wheel in those sherbet push-ups
Big Clive is obviously not a woodworker. What you need are a Forstner bit and a drill press. Forstner bits create a clean, flat-bottomed hole (with a divot in the middle for the wire hole) and drill presses drill perpendicular to the table (by default) and typically have a depth stop adjustment.
I work for Lowe's you will find a brand of bits called Spyder .... all the contractors rave about them.
I 3D printed a new disc to go on those plug in Light bulbs with the rotating disco diffuser with different shaped gaps in the disc. Worked OK. I also put a trim pot on the motor so I could vary the speed which worked very well.
A spade bit is fine. Stuff like Forstner bits are 10% better for 500% of the price.
Forstner bits have their uses. Although, they shouldn't be 5x the price of spade bits. Maybe 50% more?
I think my set of 8 cost me £8.99 from aldi or maybe lidl, not gonna work for professional jobs but works for me.
@@chronicgaming3280 Bought a decent set from ALDI (Australia) decades ago. Excellent for any price, and THE best method for cutting accurate 20mm holes for press-in sealed switches. Having said that, flat bits do have their uses, and again decent quality provide a good end result.
Massive big boy is on again !!!
Very nice! Building a house and I'm going to have an exposed beam in one room, was thinking of something along the lines of recessed lights in it.
Just don't compromise the beam strength with poorly considered holes and channels.
@@hanelyp1 don't worry, nothing in my design is poorly considered ;)
Forstner to the rescue! Very nice 😊
How about the fusion design of concentric circles and the supporting flaps together so lighting distribution and durability comes together.
Thank you Clive. Have you considered setting up a github account for hosting your 3d printer and pcb files?
I have pondered that.
Github would be great. Especially since many the projects involve more than just 3D printed stuff that makes sense on thingiverse.
0:55 - Forstner bits if you don't mind the bottom not being perfectly flat, or a router if you do need it to be perfectly flat (you probably don't for that, though). Plunge routers also come with very precise depth stops, but the bits will generally be a lot more expensive than forstners (and a decent router is also a lot more expensive than a drill, even after you add the plunge adapter).
You should also be able to use concentric extrude to get fancy and have it make patterns on the underside, maybe even importing a shape to do it. You could also look through and create a grid of dots, might create a cool effect and be stable at larger sizes.
Cool! Try printing the star-effect ones using concentric infill instead of rectilinear? And maybe a little cone-shaped nub on top of the LED to diffuse the light more?
cool to have seen this. Many thanks. DVD:)
As usual great video - would it be possible to do a video on 3D printer selection outlining the pros and cons of various printers in both the low and medium budget ranges - I know there are videos out there but your unbiased and knowledgeable approach would give a more informed result
Printer reviews are probably left to the 3D printing channels. They're much geekier in that area than me
make the plastic a cone with the led well at the apex. use lambertian emitters, then add silicone oil, gel, glue or epoxy in the bottom of the LED well to eliminate the air gap. just sand the flat base with very fine sand paper. Done. You will get perfectly even, flat illumination of the disk with very good efficiency. They key is A) coupling the LED efficiently to the conical reflector and OBTW the cone surface has to be highly polished, sorry. :) PS: you can machine acrylic on a lathe to near-optical surface quality, and you can hand-polish it TO an optically smooth (sorta, good enough) surface on a polishing wheel.
Good idea, and nice project for the 3d printer. Just wondering if you could print something similar and stick it to the front of an empty Dulce Gusto (or similar) coffee pod. The outlet of the pod seems a suitable size for an LED. Could be useful for a recessed ceiling/ panel /pendant light.
Forstner bits cut precision holes without tear-out or burning. I use them for wood and plastic.
For those sorts of hole in wood, use saw toothed Forstner bits, in a pillar drill with a depth stop.
I quite like the circles might use the as back lights some shelving I am making
I wonder what a color change LED would look like on a larger, say 2in or so, radial lensed insert. I'm thinking the slight offset of the red, green, and blue emitters in the LED would create some interesting patterns.
I use white pla for this type of prints.
Out of the colors I've tried, I found white to have the most uniform light scattering.
yes ! more Diy thank you !!
Do you ever take speaker to bits? I’ve got a sub woofer with a nasty pop when it gets power. Maybe needs a better combination of bits to avoid?
You might want to put in a relay between the amp output and the coil(s) of the subwoofer element and turn the relay on/off using a delay circuit, such that the speaker element isn't connected to the amp when the amp is powered on.
I can see many uses for this in the model railway hobbyists
Nice...I am sure, it would make for a great effect on a LED DJ booth (hundreds of them)... like i did in my last build project. Your design is well thought out. The LEDs can be replaced from the backside, if needed..
For the larger discs, perhaps a larger hole with angled sides would diffuse the light better, and to hold the led in place the ribs could be extended to the correct diameter.
Fill the concentric one with resin or alike to strength it. 😊
Big Clive, 3D printing, LED's and Arduino's where made for each other
Or even LEDs and custom PIC based modules.
I bet the one with concentric circles would be strong enough if turned upside down and filled with Poundland’s finest epoxy.
I'd use PETG instead of PLA as it's water resistant, has a higher glass transition temp so will be better if any hot drinks are rested on it in a bar top situation and is generally stronger/more wear resistant with better layer adheation, I usually use clear PETG for lamp surrounds in garden solar lights, works very well.
I've used painter's tape on the drill bit to identify where I should stop drilling. Not as good as a proper router, but works well enough. Spend the extra seconds to file off rough edges -- it'll save finishing time later.
Forstner drill bits are the ones you need
maybe do a colour change after the first layer. You cut also make patterns if you "engrave" them into your model
You can probably influence the light diffusion by changing the slicer settings too. do the bottom couple of layers concentric.
Did someone say PINBALL? These are actually kinda nicer than the ones used in some games, even modern ones with the fancy RGB lighting as that's still done in an a bit of an old fashioned way with a tiny lightboard underneath.
The stars look a bit like star rollovers you get on older games
Dammit, now I want a 3D printer
Also, CENTAUR must be destroyed.
Cool! got some ideas now..if only i trusted my electrical capability!!
You could use a string of battery or USB powered lights.
@@bigclivedotcom darn u and your smart ideas!! LOL That I will do!
Also with resin printers, the transparent (no color basically) resins turn into a lovely shade of piss as you cure them. The longer you cure them, the more dehydrated the piss color. Quite fascinating, but probably not beneficial.
I do have a translucent green, I might give that a shot, see how it looks.
With the concentric rings: probably too tricky to fake a Fresnel lens well.
Not a Fresnel but if you make the biggest outside ring the tallest then the other rings progressively shorter towards the center it may help the ones on the outside to grab more light.
Also diff infill patterns would probably be worth trying too.
Bit of a light-guide effect in the spokes
They have a table top epoxy which makes a good finish coating
using a forstner bit would probably make the holes easier and more accurate to cut, you could even match the depth of the 3d print to the depth of the size of forstner bit and therefore have the end of the bit flush with the surface when drilling should stop
Hi Clive, they will look good with a glass of vodka on top. All the Best Brian 🤗
They could have a rim built in to hold a shot of vodka in position.
The lack of diffusion in the 75mm one might be addressed by printing it as if it were entirely made of light guides. So no simple back-and-forth pattern for the top plate, instead have it radiating from the centre. Yeah I'll leave the details to somebody else... Just having several thick-ish radial struts might help. Think about the plastic as it's oozing out the nozzle, the light is going to follow that pattern.
Failing that... cast some out of epoxy? You can see in the 75mm one, the light just bounces off the sides of the printed lines, that's gonna happen to them internally as well with the LED light. So maybe print one, smooth with acetone vapour, sand, polish, then make a mould from that and cast a smooth solid piece. Moulding would also save on filament cost. Would probably only be necessary for the biggest ones, the small ones are fine.
Nice little invention though, would look nice on an appropriate bit of furniture or even shelves.
Clive why not introduce the ribs onto the lens style one sure it would slightly Affect the light pattern however i feel it would be the best of both worlds in terms of lighting and sturdiness
Forstner bits would be the best drill bit option. But yes, a plunge router would be better.