# Small crafty project: Custom LED backlit 40"x60" frame for a canvas



## fixrite (Mar 1, 2009)

If this were my project I would want to be able to move the lighting on the inside. You may find "HOT" spots in certain areas. And you did say you will be anal or for those that are dyslexic "lana". Anyways, whenever I do under counter lighting I always adjust the lights for best effect by moving it in or out. You could even make silhouettes to change the look of the picture. That would be cool.


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## Coochgrass (Dec 26, 2012)

I can't offer you any tips but that is a very cool idea, can't wait to see how it turns out


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## Wandererone (Mar 23, 2012)

Wow!!! You sure like to throw a bit of paint around judging by your studio 
Either that or you have exploding paint cans lol

Looks great but can't help with the lighting. Look forward to seeing what you come up with though.
Cheers


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## iamn8 (Dec 26, 2012)

I work for a sign manufacturer. On our internally illuminated projects, we'll often use a *light dispersion film* applied to the inside of the panel to eliminate "hot spots". That would help give you more consistent illumination.

Endurance sportscar racing teams are required to illuminate the car # during the night hours of the race. They use a thin Electroluminescent panel that is lightweight, low temp, and with low power requirements. I don't know much about cost or standard sizing, but it could potentially simplify your install if you're not committed to LED.


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## RobertoAguiar (Dec 20, 2012)

This looks like an awesome idea, i cant wait to see how it lights up, please be sure to upload a pic once you finish so we can see, im sure im not the only one waiting to see the outcome. I might even make one myself. :thumbup:


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## fixrite (Mar 1, 2009)

the product in question is called "LIGHT TAPE" it comes in very specific width starting at an eight inch wide and going up to about 4 feet I believe. If you look on youtube you can see some videos on it, there is one where it is being used on a gun firing range and it survives hand gun and shotgun blasts, It is very cool stuff. Hope I have helped. P.S. It is NOT cheap.


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## Firefighter3244 (Feb 21, 2011)

You might want to think about using a piece of diffusing film.
Could stick it to a super thin piece of plexiglass... 

It would create a more even light.

You can even order "Milky White" Plexiglass...

This guy used to to make a movie poster, and used it to diffuse the led rope
lighting...


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## andrewss (Dec 22, 2012)

thanks for all the input and comments!

soooo last night I ended up ordering a few rolls of this: https://www.inventables.com/technologies/light-diffuser-film-rolls

I hope it works well 

So I am getting closer to having this thing done.

I'm still scratching my head about how to mount it up on a wall (male/female brackets? some kind of slider? etc? I dunno) and how to get the painting on the light fixture part nicely and with the option of removing it fairly cleanly (I've been thinking about velcro tape stapled on...)

anywho - hopefully I will have the lights wired up and the test fit with the diffuser stuff soon


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## waynestractor (Apr 27, 2012)

I think you would be better off using 5050-3012 and lighting from the edge, as long as the led's are covered so you can't see them. An inline controller would also be easier to install/conceal, better yet an inline remote controller and RGB lights so you can change the color. Sorry about the pic quality, the first one is the inline RGB controller, pretty much the same as the second pic, which is just a single color inline controller, but it has a credit card sized RF remote controller.


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## waynestractor (Apr 27, 2012)

I think you would be better off using 5050-3012 and lighting from the edge, as long as the led's are covered so you can't see them. An inline controller would also be easier to install/conceal, better yet an inline remote controller and RGB lights so you can change the color. Sorry about the pic quality, the first one is the inline RGB controller, pretty much the same as the second pic, which is just a single color inline controller, but it has a credit card sized RF remote controller.


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## andrewss (Dec 22, 2012)

thanks for the input and info, but with this project I am just gonna stick with what I have now - a controller would be cool, next thing I do I will try with that but with this one all I need is dimming adjustments no color changes really.

these are the electronics I have:




















that is the reel.... it indicates that every three diodes you can cut (has a little scissors image)..... so I want to make three sections of 4ft long cuts from that 16ft reel, I need to wire them all together then altogether to the dimmer then to the transformer which plugs into the wall. I want to have the wiring exit the chamber they will be installed in together as one strand if possible, which will need to be about 8ft long and at its end attaches to a little array I will bolt the dimmer and transformer to and hide where I plug the transformers little cord into a wall socket.

I want advice on this, like what gauge of wiring and type I should use and so on... I am a noob to all of this stuff, I have a cheap soldering iron I dunno if I am going to need it - I need advice! so really basic noob to wiring electrical advice would be sooooooooooooo nice 

anyway any input on how I should tackle this would be greatly appreciated

:wink:


ps. my diffusing material should be here tomorrow


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## kckuhns (Jan 3, 2013)

Andrew,

I can't quite read the product info, but I can see the electrical ratings on the 12VDC driver for the LED strip array. It's 12VDC, 30W so the current rating will be around 2 amps[max] for the wire. The strip is made up of 300 SMD [surface mount device] LEDs with dropping resistors. I am guessing that these are 30ma high luminosity LEDs for this application. Anyways, that is pretty low current/voltage for your wiring needs. I would suggest 18 AWG black/red stranded wire. This is much larger gauge than you really need, but it will be easier to solder. At the strip cut points there are solder tabs for the wire. Make sure that you keep the wire color-to-voltage polarity consistent; typically red for positive and black for negative. It is a good thing that you have a small soldering iron, I would not use anything hotter than a 25Watt iron for this project. You need to tin [heat the wire end with the soldering iron, then touch the solder to the wire so that the wire end is coated with a thin layer of solder] the ends of the wire prior to soldering to the tabs; I am surprised that they don't provide some sort of wiring clip for this purpose. If you are using the dimmer, then you need to connect the LED driver output to the dimmer input, then the dimmer output to the LED strip. 

You can cut the LED strip into separate chunks and jumper-connect them as well. Again, using the 18 AWG stranded wire, tin the ends, and pay attention to polarity. 

Let me know if you need more specific help with this project.

kevin


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## waynestractor (Apr 27, 2012)

As Kevin stated, 18/2 is more than adequate for what you are doing. It is too bad you didn't get solderless connectors with your lights, it would make things so much easier, it's almost all I use for my installs. It would be a good idea to watch a few videos on Youtube (Google "solder led strip") to see how it's done, can be a little finicky. Good luck.

Wayne
Infocus LED Lighting
www.infocusled.ca


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## andrewss (Dec 22, 2012)

awesome guys! thanks for the info kevin and wayne - really appreciate it 


the last thing I am wondering is when I have all 3 sections wired up I need to connect all 3 to one wire that will lead to the dimmer - how should I setup the connection of all 3 section's wiring all into one wire? those little cone things? heh - and 18awg b/r stranded is ok to use for the whole thing on this?

sorry for being so noobie 


thanks again!

(watching a LED tutorial on youtube helped my confidence level - good recommendation there!)


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## andrewss (Dec 22, 2012)

soooo I finally have an update for this, finally got the LEDs wired up.

here are some pictures of how it sits now.

soon I plan to staple down all the wiring and have it exit out a hole I drilled in the back all nice and clean... I am thinking I will also staple some on the LED strips themselves as I dont want the adhesive to fail and them flop around in there sometime in the future.

Anyway, besides that I am gonna drill some vent holes and paint the exterior edges black or white (can't decide)

I think from what I have seen from my test run that I actually don't need any diffusing screens - I just need to modify my canvas before I secure it on... that is cut out the frame supports. I am thinking I will use L brackets in all four corners to supplement some support for the hell of it.

sooo

big question is if I should just simply screw on the canvas to the chamber with screws from the backside or do something a bit more thoughtful. 

another big question is how I will create a mounting system for it to easily go onto a wall (gonna have to screw into the studs as this is a bit heavy)

finally I need to bolt the transformer and dimmer onto a lil piece of wood or something so its secure and can just hide behind something fairly easily (I have about 9ft of wire to run out of the chamber to the dimmer/transformer


anywho - don't mind my blabbering (or do lol advice is great  )

here are pictures of the test fit!









^hastily arranged LEDs obviously I'll need to straighten them out and stuff but the tangle of cords was making things annoying at that point










^full bright with a typical ambient light for evening in the apartment










^full bright with the lights off in the apartment




















you can see the shadow of the middle vertical support beam but besides that I don't think any hot spots are noticed that beg for diffusing 


andrew


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## andrewss (Dec 22, 2012)

soooo I have this 98% finished 

finally!

I have the wiring all done and staped up neatly and gave it a lil paint job also I applied heavy duty velcro on the face edges to be the way the canvas secures to the light chamber - I am probably going to have to use a small screw in the four corners though as the framing wood is a lil bit bowed and the edges not totally flat - but we shall see what is necessary.

I modified the canvas by taking out the shadow making vertical support beam but there are still two supports running the other way. Also I put little L brackets in the corners for some insurance (and finally the corresponding velcro tape on the face edges.

I am waiting on my heavy duty aluminum mounting brackets to come in the mail so I can hang this on a wall - so until then I haven't put the painting on the chamber because of storage issues and also I want a second pair of hands to help get it on right the first time (hopefully)

here are some pix:





































andrew


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

Good job, I'm way late and looks like it turned out very nice, my suggestion would've been to aim the LEDs toward the white painted part so they reflect. I think with it being canvas it diffused it enough on its own. In the future if you run into something more clear you may run into hotspots if firing them facing out. Here's a project I posted here using same LEDs as you,
http://www.diychatroom.com/f49/my-somewhat-geeky-wall-art-star-wars-fans-come-140851/
I basically attached all the strips to face firing back into the enclosure that I painted white.


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## andrewss (Dec 22, 2012)

jackie treehorn said:


> Good job, I'm way late and looks like it turned out very nice, my suggestion would've been to aim the LEDs toward the white painted part so they reflect. I think with it being canvas it diffused it enough on its own. In the future if you run into something more clear you may run into hotspots if firing them facing out. Here's a project I posted here using same LEDs as you,
> http://www.diychatroom.com/f49/my-somewhat-geeky-wall-art-star-wars-fans-come-140851/
> I basically attached all the strips to face firing back into the enclosure that I painted white.



ohhhh great work man! 

I know what you mean, I was thinking about aiming them in a different way but after my first test I found that the simplest way worked pretty well for this so I went with it.

I really like your work there, did you just use a jig saw to make those scrolling cuts?

good stuff


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## drtbk4ever (Dec 29, 2008)

I just saw this thread too. That looks fantastic. 

I was going to suggest using a french cleat for mounting but it looks like you may have it handled.

Very nice work.


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## andrewss (Dec 22, 2012)

^ exactly! I got these nice cabinent mounts from a hanging estore and am really happy with them!

these aluminum mounting brackets are great for this project, they are really sturdy - rated for 300lbs and really easy to bolt on and then when you have a male part on a wall then you just slide the painting on it tool'less when the corresponding female part is bolted to the back of the painting






























that wall is dense plaster and it appeared to be be REAL secure but I guess I need to get anchored bolts to be proper but I just wanted to do a test fit - I plan on not keeping this for myself anyway... ideally it will be installed to someone with typical walls with easy to find studs


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## jackie treehorn (Jan 27, 2009)

andrewss said:


> I really like your work there, did you just use a jig saw to make those scrolling cuts?
> 
> good stuff


Good ol router mounted in a table, I don't think, actually I _know_ I couldn't cut much of a straight line with a jigsaw...


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