Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Animation Back light Final!







Here are some pictures. After about 10 hours of work this is how it looks!! It lights through about 6 pages easily enough. I have some tape on it in one picture because i had to refit one part and the resin was drying. I think my next step is velcrowing it to the back, id rather that then damage the actual disk. The middle light is dim in one picture because my current was to low to run all 3 lights. Thanks for looking at my work! if you need help just message me! I like to help and build stuff!

STEP 6:



STEP 6:
The finally! now that you have everything fitting inside, powering up and looking appealing to you(not a requirement, but why do so much work if it looks like #$%&!). First off work from bottom to top. Solder your power supply to your switch and other cables. I have ran 3 lights so i will have parallel circuit of 3 negatives in and 3 positives out. connect these to the power supply and into the circuits. I used hot glue to hold them in their slots. and also hot glued the cicuit boards down. after eltrical taping all the open soldering points you can move up to the lights. First off plug them into your lower boards. and run the cables through your mid plate hole or slot. once you have them up to the next level place the plate down to cover the lower circuits. Now its time to glue or tape your back lights into place. I taped mine so that i could change them if they died on me. but well enough they aren't going to flop around. once they are down you have successfully made the box. I will post some pictures of the final look!

STEP: 5





STEP:5 This is the test run!! you get to see if your measurements payed off. No worries if they didn't, you can do some minor adjustments to get everything fitting inside. Remember dont glue anything down yet. you will regret it! Once you have everything hooked up in place you can attach a power supply to your circuit. make sure you use the proper voltage and current or else you will risk damaging your parts. Also I made a small plate to place between my lights and circuits so that light didn't escape as easily. As you can also see my wire job is nothing to be proud of yet. But it is organized, not glued and wont come apart.

STEP 4:



STEP4:
Installation time!! now before jumping the gun and installing all your parts take the time to check circuits on a bread board. It took me a few tries to get the input correct on the circuit board. Once you have everything lighting up and turning on and off properly cut wires to fit you project properly. There is nothing worse then having a short tugging cable. I glued down my circuit boards that came with the light when i completed my final run of the circuits. i don't recommend gluing down anything the first time you place it in.

STEP 3:


STEP:3
Okay now that you have measured and cut out all your pieces of acrylic and the frames of the back lights are removed its resin time. This is a very important process. Make sure to drill any holes you need for in and out wires and buttons before gluing. The resin will not just glue your two acrylic pieces together but actually melt them nearly seamlessly into one. So you cant take it apart after. It will look very nice once you finish if you do it correctly.

STEP: 2



STEP 2: Materials and Tools Needed.
First off get a large sheet of 1/8 inch acrylic
Second make sure you have electrical tape and wire, and soldering tools!
Third and the most costly part of the procedure is finding back lights. (i picked up some 3.5/8 inch ones at a local surplus store. 3 across fits my animation screen dead on)
Forth you will need either thermoplastic resin or super glue. masking tape for holding parts in place is recommend.

Fifth Something to cut your acrylic with and something to sand the edges smooth. ( file and sand paper from large grit to fine grit).
Sixth, a perm marker scotch tape for labeling wires, tin snips or scissors to cut of frame of back light if needed, and of coarse a ruler to measure everything. (don't under estimate the importance of a straight line, the resin wont work to connect unless its perfectly flat against another piece).
and last but not least a switch! to turn your device on and off.
STEP 1:
First off, get the measurements of your animation-disk. Front and back. If you have a desk already made then its recommended to get the measurements of it as well so your box containing your lights wont stop rotational ability.
My animation disk had a lay-in radius of 9.3 inches. This is the measurement for the hole that my desk with require. also not that if your box is larger then this it will rub against the side of your desk. Im going to make my container fit around the frame on the back side of my animation disk.