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[hamwbone]

just throwing this out there, but what about using glow wire? (electroluminescent wire) wouldn't need near the amount of soldering/wiring

that would look clean as hell, route the table and embed the wire into to the border then put some clear filler and gloss over it.

[o The Drizzle o]

ok, thanks again sick, youre a huge help.
as for wire, i looked at radioshack and i can get a 100' spool of 22 guage for $5
http://www.radioshac...rentPage=family
is that the right kind of wire to use?

another thing... how much light do cold cathodes give off, like if i use 4 15" uv ones, could they light up the entire table if everything blue was painted over with some clear uv reactive blue paint?

basically... is this possible


and do uv markers work good? like we were thinking about once its done, everyone who comes and plays on it, have them sign it with a marker, so in regular light it just looks like the top picture.. but under blacklights, the blue lights up and the signatures are visible.

i made a quick mock up of the frame too...



i wanted to just have the cross ones all a foot apart... but since the lights are 15"... it wasnt possible.
the greyish box below the nittany lion is the power supply... is it able to be mounted on a board like that?

oh and hamwbone...you come up to central pa and im sure you could stop by and play a few games for the hassle of coming up haha

edit: we could use EL wire... but on the sides... we want to alternate blue and white leds for PSU's school colors.

[SICKdimension]

Ya, the UV cathodes should be able to light up the UV paint on the board no problem. You might want to play around with the positioning though before bolting them on permanently, so maybe you can hook them up and try some different locations before building the framing for them. Keep in mind, the lights probably won't be as vivid as you're anticipating unless all of the lights in the room are off.

That wire will work great for the large groups. It is very thick though, so for soldering to individual LEDs, you'll want some thinner wire. I'd use the 22awg to bring the power from the PSU to the center of a group of 25 or so LEDs, then from there, divvy it out to the LEDs with some thinner wire. Or, if you're very careful of shorts, you could strip the entire length of wire and solder the LEDs straight to it without stripping each section. Just throwing some ideas out there. You should try soldering some LEDs before you start this project to get a feel for it. If you want some bulk LED boards to make things easier, I can get you a discount.

I wouldn't recommend EL wire. The wire itself lights up, but it does not emit light like LEDs do, so it wouldn't light up the table.

[o The Drizzle o]

yeah, i figured they wouldnt be as vivid... but i just copied a layer style from another picture i had... so thats why its so vivid and bright.

perhaps when we pick up that wire.. we'll grab a smaller roll of like 26 or 28 guage too...

but right now im in texas and wont be starting till i get back in pa in like 3 or 4 weeks...

as for wiring... could i strip two long sections.. lay them side by side (well wit distance between them) then solder in the leds... kinda like a railroad look.  then just go over it all with like electrical tape or hot glue?  or what could i cover it all in?

[SICKdimension]

Ya, that's what I was getting at. You could inlay it under the wood and secure it so there would be no shorts, then just put a piece of plexiglass in front of the LEDs so the wiring won't get bumped. It would have to be secure though to leave the wires exposed like that.

[o The Drizzle o]

we plan on having the leds mounted in the wood.. like drill holes all around, put the leds in, and secure them with hot glue. then wire them up underneath...

btw, whats the rough estimate of plexi nowadays, like per square foot?

[SICKdimension]

I think a 3' x 4' sheet runs about $20.

[hamwbone]

What part of texas? A practice session might be in order! haha

[o The Drizzle o]

well right now im in paris... top right corner of texas

[SICKdimension]

QUOTE(o The Drizzle o @ May 15 2008, 03:20 AM)

well right now im in paris... top right corner of texas

If you get a chance, check out a band called The Triptones. They're from Paris, TX.

[o The Drizzle o]

...
its like blues music. not my type haha.
there was a band called Jolly Lhama from here too... its a hard rock band... more my taste haha. my sister got me listening to them because she was friends with the one guy in it...
but then they moved to seattle and changed their name to alchema
and split up and became the delirium falls.
but yeah.. i have the cd from when they were Jolly Lhama.
http://www.myspace.com/jollylhama
check out Kincuven (The Hate in You is really good... but they dont have it on their player)

[hamwbone]

thats only bout an hr from my crib. paris, thats a little podunk town  

[o The Drizzle o]

haha, thanks.
well im not from texas... i lived my entire life in central pa...

if you think paris is middle of nowhere.... its nothing compared to back home. atleast here there are stores and restaurants haha

[lostboyz]

I did this awhile ago when i was bored but an easy wiring solution for you might be to get some speaker cable, and just slide the led over the cable then solder through one on each side, and do your 25 in parallel that way. Ill get a picture up to show you. I was trying to make led rope light. It works pretty well i just have it sitting in my room.

[o The Drizzle o]

ok.. heres a question.
what would be more feasable and made more sense

we originally wanted to put a big sheet of glass over the table, like router (or is it rabit?) a lip into the side and end boards of the box frame so that the sheet would sit flush with the top of the table
but... we plan on coating the wood in some high gloss clearcoat (i believe polyurethane?).. so would the glass really be needed?

and for glass... would we beable to get a sheet of 2'x8' and any idea how much it is roughly per sq foot?


basically... is it worth putting a big sheet of glass over top of it?