Light It Up!

In my 'Lab' I have a Light-up Plexiglass Board. Recently I was asked to recreate it for a friend's art project.

I originally built this project after taking apart some LCD screens. The basic concept that lights up my plexiglass is the sane that lights up your laptop screen! Most older displays use a fluorescent light tube that is placed next to a sheet of plastic about the size of your screen. The light from the tube is diffused through the plastic, and light comes through the LCD. Newer models of LCDs use LED lighting like my projects. Since I'm not backlighting anything I don't need the light to be diffused evenly, but using a more opaque material or more LEDs can give you a smoother look.

For this Build you'll need :

  • A piece of plexiglass
  • 3mm LEDs (I space mine 2 inches apart)
  • Super Glue
  • Wire
  • Soldering Iron and Solder
  • Drill or Dremel
  • Sharp Pointed Tool
  • Power Supply
  • Resitor

First I marked off my drill points with a dry-erase marker. This will help keep the LED spacing consistent, giving you a nicer look at the end. You can space your LEDs however you like, but I usually do 2 inches between each LED.

This part is optional, but I find that scoring the points to drill helps the drill bit get some traction, especially on the thin side of the plexiglass. Make sure to score as close to the middle of the plexiglass as possible, or you risk breaking the plexiglass when you drill

I used a 3mm drill so that the 3mm LED would fit nicely. As stated above, stay as straight down as you can so you don't break the plexiglass. Also, don't idle and drill to much or your LED will be loose.

I recommend checking the LED in your first hole so you can vary your bit if you need to. Ideally the LED fits snugly in the hole, but if not you can use a dab of superglue to support it into place.

Once you drill your holes you can place your LEDs and begin wiring them. Wire the LEDs in parallel. I used magnet wire, burning/sanding off the wire's enamel where I wanted to connect the wire to the LEDs. This reduces the chance of shorting out the LEDs at any point. A dab of solder will help keep the wire in place.

Once everything's wired together, add a resistor in series with a proper power source, and you've got an LED Board!

The darker the environment the nicer the board looks. You can keep a constant power supply, or use a driver circuit like my motion sensing circuit and pulse all of the lights.

Thanks for reading! Here's a sneak peak at my next project!

I plan to keep everyone posted on my progress with this projects. It's going to be great! If you have any wiring or technical questions, or just have any questions/comments, post below!.