Jimmy- the commentary in this video gives a much deeper insight to the years of your videos I’ve watched and your amazing thought process and learning as you Make. We don’t get the hours of behind the scenes work and thought and mistakes made that go into your projects. I respect your humble confessions of mistakes and errors- we as consumers are quick to criticize if it isn’t perfection on the first go, and take that all for granted 👍🏻 you sir, are a mad genius. The first video that hooked me years ago was the Styrene box you made for the folding wooden ruler back in the underground shop in NYC.
I'm wary of potting LED strip in resin, as they are not as reliable as the hype, and it's good to build in serviceability. I do like the push-in diffuser strip though. It has an air gap to help with spreading the light. The LED strip often fails at the factory soldered joints every 500mm. You can bridge those with some super-fine wire.
I was thinking the same, the LED's go bad the sign is bad. Where do you find the push in diffusers? I've been looking for some time, not many places to get them.
In modelmaking we would backspray the acrylic and attach layers with double sided tape, especially if it’s not something subject to particular stress. This way the top surface remains gloss and clean. Or, if it needs to stay transparent, we lasercut a gasket in thin acrylic, 2-3mm wide and flood it with the acrylic cement so any bubble or splat is confined to that very small edge. Your final result looks very good, well done!
I like the quote "We win or we learn, we never lose" I do a lot of industrial type sewing and in the past I would be disappointed in myself when I made a mistake. I would throw the mistake on my failure pile. Now I call it my learning pile. And that small shift in thinking has been huge in my learning journey. "The first one takes you to school" - Diresta :)
Well, and here it is. An anatomy of the creative process. By an artist & master in his art :) There're no good and wrong choices at the beginning, but evaluation of every previous steps & iterations of the final object. I love it!!!
i used to use LED strip for theatre sets for theatre sets, but yes COB lighting strip ellimates a lot of the hot spotting. I always love your videos keep up the great work
I really like your content. You are always challenging yourself. Just a tip for bonding acrylic. If you have a hot press you can put isopropanol between the two sheets and press them at 60°C for about 10-15 minutes. It sticks and doesn't have the "melting" look of that glue.
I love the videos that you do when you show processes on how you get to an end result … the learning curve of this sign and also your casting of the bell a few episodes back is always really cool to see.
Trial and error. That's how we learn. Persistence helps. I'm sure there were some frustrating moments (broken solder joints) but you take a deep breath and just soldier on.😊 The sign definitely has '50's vibes! That feeling when it all comes together after all the hard work and you proudly think to yourself "I made that!"😊
I love how you never come off claiming to be an authority. You can do some stuff and you have your intuition and experience to help you, but you're always learning and able to admit when you missed the mark. But that's learning. Stay awesome
Very cool to see the process! It’d be great to see a video with you learning a new technique and then the technique streamlined and “perfected” with all the experience from the first one.
Have you ever broken a neon sign? What a mess!!! This is a perfect alternative for a shop (or kids' room) where you know there will be a bunch of tomfoolery going on. ❤ this build!! Thank you!!
I used to work at an automotive tint and audio shop and we used similar led stips for accent lighting that you soldered at the cut line. All 12v stuff. This video brought me back! Cool concept thats for sure!
An advantage to this technique is color control, too! And effects you could incorporate into epoxy that you can't do with Neon. Thanks for sharing, this was a cool project to learn with your experience!
Another tip for adhering layers of acrylic: I use 3M 9576 tape. It's a clear, very thin double sided tape. I use it in 2" wide rolls. On your acrylic, peel the protective paper from the back side, then cover the acrylic (at least where you're going to cut) with the tape, edge to edge. Cut your parts as usual and when you're done, the back of your part will have a clear adhesive surface. Just peel the tape liner and apply.
The narrative in this one made me think of the videos from the old bassement shop in NY, I enjoyed it! Have you considered adding another removable panel to the back? In case of led failure and potential repairability. By painting it black I would imagine you could get away with it. Just a thought.
This is why I love you Jimmy, will I ever make faux neon? Maybe, maybe not. But your process and explanation of learning a new skill set is inspiring and will definitely be used in many of my projects in the future
After watching this entire video, I have a suggestion: Please. For the love of God and all things good, NEVER ever stop doing what you're doing!! Thank you for sharing knowledge and bringing maker love. 💛
Something to keep in mind popped up in mine at the beginning of the vid; you mention how somethings don't look as good up close. Unless one just appreciated neon design for the effort and art involved, its not particularly attractive up close or in the daylight; its definitely a nighttime and distance art form. Your work is awesome Jimmy!!
This is exactly the type of work I love, you have inspired me since the beginning of your channel to try and make my own money woodworking (and becoming a machinist) I actualy have bought a cnc router and put it into my best friends shop, I have a few simple projects posted on youtube for now. We have been following you since the very beginning.(I was a cameraman before, machinist now)
Thank you for sharing your experiences with your experiments. It takes a lot of time to do I know. You not only save me a lot of time but you get my mind going with fresh ideas. You are greatly appreciated, I could only hope to express my creativity as well as you do. Thank you.
At first glance I thought it was plexiglass glass routered letters and LEDs Very low tech anyone tried this ? Jimmy love the sign Awesome content Love all the hard work
Jimmy I use locktite super glue on cast acrylic, raise the cutout piece 1/8th inch above the sign with spacers, then drop what I am gluing down from the cutout stencil, let set for 10 seconds, no muss no fuss. I like the led lights.
O MAKE, now my brain won't let me unsee it. Thanks for showing the process. COB (also called dotless) Led strips is probably what your patreon's were suggesting.
Nice to follow the live progress of your project as it evolves into a successful job due to creative solutions on the fly we all learn on the job we never stop lol hope to see you in the UK at the makers fair Birmingham saw you last year
I've done a similar one as the first design but with "EL-Wire" instead of LEDs and it's a pretty convincing effect. I used a V groove bit with the router and put the wire into the groove. I've also frosted the routed groove one one and it looked pretty decent as well. The EL wire is a constant light all the way through end-to-end. It's wired similarly to LED strips but without the gaps between the diodes.
I have a Thunder laser that I haven’t yet had the chance to experiment with yet. I can’t wait to start playing and experimenting like this! Beautiful as usual, Jimmy!
What a brilliant idea! Should be more durable than a neon tube, offer far more design choice and, if you found a way not to embed the LEDs (say put them behind so they could be replaced) far more maintainable.
Jimmy, when using silicon with LEDs it is a good idea to use neutral cure silicon instead of acetic cure. The fumes of the acetic one might harm the phosphorus on the top of the LED chips. Of course, it only matters if you are too concerned about minimum colour changes in the LEDs.
This looks pretty good, I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this but, you might try E L wire for a sign, it truly looks neon and it’s pretty easy to work with and it chimes in many colors
Different and better is the goal. Great words of advice as always. Cant Waite to to see the other versions at Workbenchcon. I really enjoyed the color version. great pop.
You could've tried it with EL wire -- it's much more like neon as it does not have separate point litght sources like LED strips do. You just have to take care not to bend it too tightly, but with such a big sign I don't think it would've been the problem.
Wow I do believe you have invented a substitute for neon signs. That was a very cool and interesting video. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise in design and fabricating.
It was neat watching you develop a procedure. I do wonder how a sign like that would last. LEDs do not like heat and being incased in all that plastic/epoxy they cantt dissipate heat very well which likely shortens their life.
Thanks for showing us your process, Jimmy! I would love to know which LED strip your patrons recommended, and which system you used at first with the rubber top.
Incredible! What a cool piece. I'm sure you learned about the COB lighting. It does not have the hot spots, rather a diffused single strip of light. Only problem with that, is that I don't think you'd be able to make the sharp curves.
Hey Jimmy. Big Fan. Have a great idea. I’m more than sure you have heard that line before. I have a vision of a street legal sports car powered by a searl effect generator and a 10 kw motor mated to a manual transmission for fun. “You drive a manual, you steer an automatic “
Jimmy- the commentary in this video gives a much deeper insight to the years of your videos I’ve watched and your amazing thought process and learning as you Make. We don’t get the hours of behind the scenes work and thought and mistakes made that go into your projects. I respect your humble confessions of mistakes and errors- we as consumers are quick to criticize if it isn’t perfection on the first go, and take that all for granted 👍🏻 you sir, are a mad genius. The first video that hooked me years ago was the Styrene box you made for the folding wooden ruler back in the underground shop in NYC.
Thank you! going forward I’ll do this more frequently
I'm wary of potting LED strip in resin, as they are not as reliable as the hype, and it's good to build in serviceability. I do like the push-in diffuser strip though. It has an air gap to help with spreading the light. The LED strip often fails at the factory soldered joints every 500mm. You can bridge those with some super-fine wire.
hey Clive
I was thinking the same, the LED's go bad the sign is bad. Where do you find the push in diffusers? I've been looking for some time, not many places to get them.
Love how humble ye still are. The first thing you said in this video. Stay that way. Love it.
In modelmaking we would backspray the acrylic and attach layers with double sided tape, especially if it’s not something subject to particular stress. This way the top surface remains gloss and clean. Or, if it needs to stay transparent, we lasercut a gasket in thin acrylic, 2-3mm wide and flood it with the acrylic cement so any bubble or splat is confined to that very small edge. Your final result looks very good, well done!
I like the quote "We win or we learn, we never lose"
I do a lot of industrial type sewing and in the past I would be disappointed in myself when I made a mistake. I would throw the mistake on my failure pile.
Now I call it my learning pile. And that small shift in thinking has been huge in my learning journey.
"The first one takes you to school" - Diresta :)
Well, and here it is. An anatomy of the creative process. By an artist & master in his art :) There're no good and wrong choices at the beginning, but evaluation of every previous steps & iterations of the final object. I love it!!!
Thank you! 🙏🏼
i used to use LED strip for theatre sets for theatre sets, but yes COB lighting strip ellimates a lot of the hot spotting. I always love your videos keep up the great work
I really like your content. You are always challenging yourself.
Just a tip for bonding acrylic. If you have a hot press you can put isopropanol between the two sheets and press them at 60°C for about 10-15 minutes. It sticks and doesn't have the "melting" look of that glue.
That's fantastic to know... one more reason to buy a hot press (other than for vinyl, because my crappy "shop iron" just can't get it right)!
I love the videos that you do when you show processes on how you get to an end result … the learning curve of this sign and also your casting of the bell a few episodes back is always really cool to see.
I agree with Big L
loved watching this process and listening to you problem solve along the way.
I love what you concoct in your mind then make with your hands for us to see as you explain the journey.
Trial and error. That's how we learn. Persistence helps. I'm sure there were some frustrating moments (broken solder joints) but you take a deep breath and just soldier on.😊 The sign definitely has '50's vibes! That feeling when it all comes together after all the hard work and you proudly think to yourself "I made that!"😊
Hey jimmy Thanks for the tips on working with cardboard those tips are going to be very useful with our groups project!
I love how you never come off claiming to be an authority. You can do some stuff and you have your intuition and experience to help you, but you're always learning and able to admit when you missed the mark. But that's learning. Stay awesome
Making everything a bit better, DirNeon's best Epoxy sign! Really nice work. Go to school one the first one is my new motto. Thank you.
I love to watch you create and share your thought process.
Nothing that I love more than Jimmy experimenting. Fantastic brother!
Very cool to see the process! It’d be great to see a video with you learning a new technique and then the technique streamlined and “perfected” with all the experience from the first one.
I'm too old to explore but I very much enjoy watching you Jimmy. Thank you for sharing.
Have you ever broken a neon sign? What a mess!!! This is a perfect alternative for a shop (or kids' room) where you know there will be a bunch of tomfoolery going on. ❤ this build!! Thank you!!
I used to work at an automotive tint and audio shop and we used similar led stips for accent lighting that you soldered at the cut line. All 12v stuff. This video brought me back! Cool concept thats for sure!
An advantage to this technique is color control, too! And effects you could incorporate into epoxy that you can't do with Neon.
Thanks for sharing, this was a cool project to learn with your experience!
I've never seen this before. A really cool effect Jimmy!
UV curable glue is used a lot to bond acrylic, being clear the UV can pass through the material and cure the glue.
I Love being a Patreon subscriber because I get some context before I watch the video. Well done Jimmy
Another tip for adhering layers of acrylic: I use 3M 9576 tape. It's a clear, very thin double sided tape. I use it in 2" wide rolls. On your acrylic, peel the protective paper from the back side, then cover the acrylic (at least where you're going to cut) with the tape, edge to edge. Cut your parts as usual and when you're done, the back of your part will have a clear adhesive surface. Just peel the tape liner and apply.
That’s what we do. Buy 24” wide rolls and back the whole acrylic before laser. Fast and strong if not worried about getting crystal clear panels.
@@MikeCheung1 Man, that 24" wide roll must cost a fortune.
its given me a great idea for my coat of arms
looks great jimmy
The narrative in this one made me think of the videos from the old bassement shop in NY, I enjoyed it! Have you considered adding another removable panel to the back? In case of led failure and potential repairability. By painting it black I would imagine you could get away with it. Just a thought.
This is why I love you Jimmy, will I ever make faux neon? Maybe, maybe not. But your process and explanation of learning a new skill set is inspiring and will definitely be used in many of my projects in the future
After watching this entire video, I have a suggestion:
Please. For the love of God and all things good, NEVER ever stop doing what you're doing!!
Thank you for sharing knowledge and bringing maker love.
💛
Awesome job, Jimmy. I love going on these exploratory journeys with you. Thank you for sharing. Love and Respect from North London U.K.
Something to keep in mind popped up in mine at the beginning of the vid; you mention how somethings don't look as good up close. Unless one just appreciated neon design for the effort and art involved, its not particularly attractive up close or in the daylight; its definitely a nighttime and distance art form. Your work is awesome Jimmy!!
Love your thirst for learning more everyday, it's really inspiring to see and feed off of!
Thank you Jimmy! Always a pleasure to watch and learn from you.
This is exactly the type of work I love, you have inspired me since the beginning of your channel to try and make my own money woodworking (and becoming a machinist) I actualy have bought a cnc router and put it into my best friends shop, I have a few simple projects posted on youtube for now. We have been following you since the very beginning.(I was a cameraman before, machinist now)
Thank you for sharing your experiences with your experiments. It takes a lot of time to do I know. You not only save me a lot of time but you get my mind going with fresh ideas. You are greatly appreciated, I could only hope to express my creativity as well as you do. Thank you.
Awesome job, best way to learn is by doing, very satisfying when you discover better methods during the making process.
That looks beautiful!!! Dang, I like that more than a REAL neon!!
At first glance
I thought it was plexiglass glass routered letters and LEDs
Very low tech anyone tried this ?
Jimmy love the sign
Awesome content
Love all the hard work
Jimmy I use locktite super glue on cast acrylic, raise the cutout piece 1/8th inch above the sign with spacers, then drop what I am gluing down from the cutout stencil, let set for 10 seconds, no muss no fuss. I like the led lights.
Like every video you put up on TH-cam it's very entertaining and educational and skillful done. Your big fan Rod.
Great film and lesson. Always Iterate. Mahalo for sharing! 🙂❤️🙏
Jimmy - thanks for the endless life lessons and inspiration. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Love how it looks!!! I got ideas on how i could make my own signs!! Beautiful work as usual jimmy
O MAKE, now my brain won't let me unsee it. Thanks for showing the process. COB (also called dotless) Led strips is probably what your patreon's were suggesting.
Nice to follow the live progress of your project as it evolves into a successful job due to creative solutions on the fly we all learn on the job we never stop lol hope to see you in the UK at the makers fair Birmingham saw you last year
I've done a similar one as the first design but with "EL-Wire" instead of LEDs and it's a pretty convincing effect. I used a V groove bit with the router and put the wire into the groove. I've also frosted the routed groove one one and it looked pretty decent as well. The EL wire is a constant light all the way through end-to-end. It's wired similarly to LED strips but without the gaps between the diodes.
I've used xylene and toluene as acrylic glue and both work incredibly well.
It's nice to see someone so seasoned sometimes has to make it up as they go too.
I have a Thunder laser that I haven’t yet had the chance to experiment with yet. I can’t wait to start playing and experimenting like this! Beautiful as usual, Jimmy!
Very cool going through the whole process with you. This has given me some ideas that might work to accomplish a similar result.
Thanx for sharing your product development/experimentation
It was entertaining
Enough so that I'm gonna pursue in creating my own light
What a brilliant idea! Should be more durable than a neon tube, offer far more design choice and, if you found a way not to embed the LEDs (say put them behind so they could be replaced) far more maintainable.
Jimmy, when using silicon with LEDs it is a good idea to use neutral cure silicon instead of acetic cure. The fumes of the acetic one might harm the phosphorus on the top of the LED chips. Of course, it only matters if you are too concerned about minimum colour changes in the LEDs.
17:40 Of course we watch this far!... And all the way to the end 👍🙂🖖 Greetings from Belgium ⬛🟨🟥
I loved this video 👍 It started to remind me of the old school California plates. Could be an interesting take on your experiment
Hello mister Jimmy Diresta beautiful sign beautifully made good job well done
Very cool project. I agree you learn as you go no mattter what you are building or doing.
Awesome build. There is always something to learn, isn't there Jimmy
Jimmy!
Very innovative -that is One Beautiful Sign!
Thank you for Sharing. 👍❤️
Genius idea. it really looks like neon tubes on the video.
Great example of the design and problem solving process.
I use Acrylics in my doored shadowboxes for the UV protection. Usually for rare comics or autographed posters. Nice to see you use it differently. 🤙👍
Looks great. Jimmy the tinker. Trial and error is the way to go like u say.
This looks pretty good, I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this but, you might try E L wire for a sign, it truly looks neon and it’s pretty easy to work with and it chimes in many colors
Looks great Jimmy! I’m definitely going to have to give that a try!
Damn Jimmy that looks awesome!! It's always cool to hear someone troubleshoot through their process.
Quality with Jimmy.
Every time.
Can't wait to see what you do next with this. It really pops!
Different and better is the goal. Great words of advice as always. Cant Waite to to see the other versions at Workbenchcon. I really enjoyed the color version. great pop.
Nicely done, and really nice to follow along your process!
Thank you for the insight into your process, it's fascinating. The sign looks awesome too. :)
I’m loving this new style of video dude. Inspirational 🤙
You could've tried it with EL wire -- it's much more like neon as it does not have separate point litght sources like LED strips do. You just have to take care not to bend it too tightly, but with such a big sign I don't think it would've been the problem.
Modesty for learning makes people genius and beautiful ❤😮😮
Great video, Jimmy. Definitely look into acrylic that comes already backed with 3M adhesive film backing. 👍🏽👍🏽
Wow I do believe you have invented a substitute for neon signs. That was a very cool and interesting video. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise in design and fabricating.
Enjoy watching the experimentation. Cool sign ideas too!
Love everything about this video!!
Nice, I don't know enough about this to have an opinion on what you hafta do. I just like it.
It was neat watching you develop a procedure. I do wonder how a sign like that would last. LEDs do not like heat and being incased in all that plastic/epoxy they cantt dissipate heat very well which likely shortens their life.
The end result is fantastic.
I love this! Since it's resin, maybe Re-on? 😂
The more you know. the more you always realize you still don't know. I always admire how you aren't afraid to take off just doing stuff.
Thanks for showing us your process, Jimmy! I would love to know which LED strip your patrons recommended, and which system you used at first with the rubber top.
That is really cool - enjoying watching you experiment.
Incredible! What a cool piece. I'm sure you learned about the COB lighting. It does not have the hot spots, rather a diffused single strip of light. Only problem with that, is that I don't think you'd be able to make the sharp curves.
It looks nice Jimmy
This is why I like watching this MASTER CRAFTMAN !
Magnificent looking 👍🏼
Jimmy is my Hero! 🎉
Hey Jimmy. Big Fan. Have a great idea. I’m more than sure you have heard that line before. I have a vision of a street legal sports car powered by a searl effect generator and a 10 kw motor mated to a manual transmission for fun. “You drive a manual, you steer an automatic “
Different & better is the goal... well said. That's what makes the difference between a 'jack of all trades' and a 'master of all trades'.
That's pretty sweet Jimmy.🎉
You make this look easy.
Love the gloss, would also like to see that pure flat black paint
That looks really good well 👍
Really cool video .. gave me ideas. Thank you.
The sign looks great jimmy!
very cool I enjoy learning new stuff from u