[REBEL]

If you take a Windsuppressr and drill a hole, up into the bottom of the sheet. Then silicone a colored LED in to it. I'm thinking the light will pass through the sheet to the nice radius edges and show the halo in color. I think I will try it. Maybe Purple. And if the SSR engraving is frosted, would that emit color light also?

 

[drtrcer]

lights

:cool Sounds very interesting, will be waiting to hear the results.

 

[Diggs]

Hehhh...

It's your $250. Go for it. I'm sure you can buy another one if it doesn't work....

Sarcasm aside, it sounds like a cool idea. Maybe if you try it with some other sheet plastic first??

Diggs

 

[JoeFargo]

Most plastics are designed to transmit light through the flat part of the glass, and not transmit the direction you are thinking. If it worked that way, there would be a lot of loss to the glass/plastic and it would appear opaque, more or less. There is a special type of plastic that absorbs light on the main plane and exits it along the edges. You see this stuff made into all kinds of whirlygigs in nick-nack stores. Chances are, whatever light is emitted inside the plastic will just exit through the main plane and not much, if any would be transmitted to the edges.

My ex-wife and I used to have a tradeshow display business and I did a fair amount of experimentation trying to come up with some cool stuff, and I was never able to get a good lighted edge to a piece of plastic, and I tried many different types and techniques.

However, having said all that, it would be cool to hear what you get for results if you do try it!!

 

[REBEL]

Testing would be smart, but I want to play now.

What can it hurt? no great heat, And if I drill in where it's hidden behind the seats maybe one each side. I think I seen adjustable strobe LED lights at Canadian tire store. EDIT well after reading about your efforts Joe, maybe it will not work ... But I'll play anyway. Hit or miss you will know next week I hope. Fiber optics is what I was thinking of.

 

[RISSR]

What can it hurt? no great heat, And if I drill in where it's hidden behind the seats maybe one each side. I think I seen adjustable strobe LED lights at Canadian tire store. EDIT well after reading about your efforts Joe, maybe it will not work ... But I'll play anyway. Hit or miss you will know next week I hope. Fiber optics is what I was thinking of.

Rebel

What about using a router to make a small channel around the edge and running some LED rope lights around. It should give you the look you are looking for.

Now....how do we light up the letters????

 

[REBEL]

Yep!

I wanted a faint glow on the edge, not a real direct light. And my unit is plain without ssr engraved, I was thinking of everyone else. But you all can play... playing is when things evolve.

 

[wingrider]

rebel, Some of my friends in my goldwing club have done just what you are talking about to the windshield, they put colored LED lights at the bottom of the windshield and it will cast a glow around the edge of the windshield. If you like i can try to find a supplier of the lights.

 

[REBEL]

ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu ya baby!

Hang on ... see what I can come up with here local. Thanks for your post, it gives me that anything is possible feel again. :thumbs

 

[beer100]

What you want to do should work.

Just taping the lamps to the bottom edge could give a good idea how well.

Don't be suprised if the glow is weak, it can take a lot of light to produce the effect desired.

The shape of the edge, the light is entering, is important too. A convex edge will cause a lot of loss thru the sides. A flat edge is a better while, a concave edge (negetive lens) coupled with a lamp placed at the right distance will couple better.

Also if the drilling and gluing approach is taken there are adhesives that work better than others at coupling the light into the sheet. It has to do with matching the index of refraction. A bad match can cause losses too. There are speciality epoxies for this. (Index matching is why the windshiled repairs seem to compleatly vanish.)

 

[REBEL]

...

Good info ... Mr. Wizzard

 

[Guest]

If you take a Windsuppressr and drill a hole, up into the bottom of the sheet. Then silicone a colored LED in to it. I'm thinking the light will pass through the sheet to the nice radius edges and show the halo in color. I think I will try it. Maybe Purple. And if the SSR engraving is frosted, would that emit color light also?

Nice idea. Vey ingenuitive.

 

[beer100]

Here is a web page where...

Some one took up the challenge of edge lighting a piece of plastic on this page. It's not quite useful because it obscures the rear vision.

 

[Digital]

Ok, anyone done anything on this lately? Buffy and I discussed this on our recent Savannah cruise and I might have a simple solution...I purchased a sign on ebay - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=32847&item=5785791769
I hope that will show up...Anyway, it has a case around the top edge of the acylic. The case has a small (think desk lamp) flourescent bulb that is mounted right above the edge of the acrylic. No contact, just no-where else for the light to go. If a similar bulb could be mounted below both sides of the Windsuppressr, I think this would work. The only visible light would be the engraved letters and the edges.
I will try to take some better pictures of the sign in case anyone (REBEL) wants to pursue this. I have seen similar flourescent lights at home depot and even wal-mart. Using an inverter, it shouldn't be a major thing...

 

[REBEL]

...

I have not done a thing on this project yet, maybe this fall / winter. Yes the halo on the edges is what I hoped to produce in a soft purple glow. I think the problem will be getting it even ,all around the edges. Keep me posted thanks. :thumbs

 

[wallygator]

lighted letters

Is there a flourescent clear paint that you could coat the letters with and then they will glow at night? I know there is the nite glow wire that can be put all around the lexan. I think it is small enough that a routed channel may accept it and then it would be almost invisible and would light up pretty bright in your choice of colors! Try this web site link: http://www.xenoline.com/ . This has to be the answer to this idea!!!!

Wally

 

[REBEL]

...

wallygator that stuff is cheap enough to play with ... It might be a bit to bright but we shall see .... Thanks Wally :seeya

 

[Digital]

Wally, see the link in my above post. The routed letters need no paint to show, they glow the color of the light. The edges also glow the same color, so all you have to do is use that 6' home theater kit at the bottom and encapsulate it in a light proof "channel"...something like 1/2 inch black wire loom comes to mind. Put the light in the loom, slide the loom onto the bottom of the Windsuppressr, install back on vehicle...that might just be the trick...

 

[wallygator]

A little more

Reading a little more about the EL wire, it also comes in flat in different widths. With that, it could be placed on the lexan and I also saw where the DC converter can be dialed in for brightness. Just a thought and less hardware than the idea Troy is talking about and maybe really economical to boot , maybe?

Wally