I pretty much did this on my magnifier lamp. If you still need/want MORE lighting or want to have a separate smaller section that is always on at 100%, you can put some strips in rows across the "bottom" of the lightbox facing directly up.
You can use the dimmer(s) to adjust the brightness as needed. If you can build the desk enough to test you can see if 1 row around the perimeter will work, or 2 or 4. This will minimize the 0 0 0 0 0 0 lighting effect. Mount as much of the strip(s) as possible on U-channel or similar to minimize heat issues (the U channel will act as heat sink with a bit of "work") sideways outside of the square/rectangle lightbox. Powered by this (only need the 1 but you can buy 2 if you'd prefer) LEDs (I would purchase 2 reels (10m total) To give an example of what I would personally use. I mentioned soldering because from what I've been able to figure out I'll have to cut the strip into 4 pieces, lay them horizontally where I want them to be on the board, then solder wires to connect them to each other. I would like to be able to run the thing off a plug in and not have to worry about batteries, as I will be using the thing for many hours at a time (in the past up to 12 hours at once) and so a battery pack wouldn't really support that kind of use. I'm not worried about the wood working really, my background is in architecture and have done a ton of wood working doing furniture and other projects. The rest hasn't been built, due to the cost involved, I want to get everything mapped out so that I don't spend extra where I don't need to. One place had them but the kit they had was $140, which seems a bit high considering you can get a roll for $20 on amazon. This is something kinda drove me to here, because local shops have so far been clueless, most even look at me weird when I mention led strips. Can go higher, but would like the cost down as the plastic for the surface itself is going to already be a $200 investment, not counting the wood.
Where I come to you is, how should I rig up the LEDs? I don't play with electronics much so how do I even go about setting them up? Will one string of 16' (4 horizontal strips) be enough light to light up the top that is 1/4" 40% translucent plastic? Is 3" enough of an air space to properly diffuse the dotty nature of led strips? Do you have any recommendations as to which type of LEDs and components to buy?īeen trying to do a bit of research myself but theres just so many variables, a little help would be appreciated.Īlso, here is a pic of a mock up with the lovely Susan for scale.įor the lights, I would like to keep it under $50. Then end product will have a transparent vinyl drawing mat over the drawing surface and a parallel bar mounted. Too many hours in school spent sweating over those things. So in the process of designing the thing, I'm going to use LED light strips in order to give light instead of the standard shop light mounted underneath. So a dream of mine has been to have a large drafting desk, approximately 3'x4' surface area, that the entire drawing surface also functions as a light table.