playmate

hey everyone....i'm in the process of making a trim peice to go around the amp rack in my girlfriend's car that will be lighted

i've been practicing working with plexiglass lately, and I have got the ring cut, routed (beveled inside edge of ring) and polished using tha torch.

what's the best way to light this peice up so when turned on at night.....all that will seen is a nice, bright glow from the edge of the plexi surrounding the amps ?

any suggestions / tips/ tricks ?

thanks, Playmate

Orion_95

You have to put the light directly around the edge(s) opposite the ones you want to light.

playmate

light source needs to be opposite the side i want to light....

so if i'm correct, if I run like 4 small 8"-10" neon tubes around the perimetre of the ring....set back a few inches so the bulbs won't show, that would be sufficient?

t raver1 smith

it is going to light all of it wether you want it to or not. your on the right track.

playmate

cool...i might try making a same peice that's got the "frosted" look as well, and see which looks better, it won't go to waste 'cuase i can prob use in it my ride

in terms of lighting, which works the best? stick with neon, or maybe do an LED setup or something?

ChevySQ

id use the fibreoptic stuff, u can get it in various lengths, colors, and the come ready to plug n play, check ur local shop, they should have it. That way you can have it go right around the whole piece, and not have to worry so much about placement, and finish

JohnVroom

Interestingly the fiber optic cables are made of the same stuff as the box -acrylic! PMMA (better known as acrylic) is a decent 'end' emitter of visible light but it is 'leaky', that is, it will leak light along its edge as well as transmit to its end point. What that means is some light (1% or so) will exit the edge every foot or so. This will give a nice glow to the project. PMMA transmits green, yellow, and blue MUCH better than red (which PMMA absorbs) but that is only significant over a 20 foot run or so. If you score (scratch) your box the scratch will become an end emitter and release light.

I would shy away from neon as well but due to EMI and RFI issues. Neon is noisy physically and electrically and I would not want it around my stereo. I like LEDs myself because they are DC and that lends itself to an easy power supply from a 12vdc car and they have a long life (10,000 to 100,000 hours) but a fiber optic lighting system will give you much more flexibility!
Yeah yeah I know [img]graemlins/blah.gif[/img]

playmate

i should have paid more attention in my high school Physics class, lights was bouncin' all over the place, those were the good ol' days.....hahahahahaha