peternewman Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Hi all, I recently purchased some LED pixels (thanks to a link someone posted on here, http://www.response-box.com/rgblights/2007sale.shtml for anyone who is curious). Anyway I want to find some translucent spheres to put the pixels inside, in a similar style to Pulsars ChromaSpheres etc. However I'm not currently having much luck. So far I've found the following: Clear Acrylic Sphere (would need frosting spray or similar)Cube, Sphere Egg (with LEDs that would need removing first) I'm going to drop Pulsar an email in a bit, to see if they do spares. The pixel boards are 47 x 60mm, which obviously decides the size of the container. The real challenge is I've only paid about six quid per pixel, so I don't want to spend loads in comparison on the spheres. So any thoughts? If I can't get spheres then cylinders (jars of some sort would probably work okay, although I didn't have much luck with them either). The guy who made the pixels is using these jars, but the shipping is more expensive than the pixels were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 A web search for a plastics "rotational moulding" company in your area of home or work might locate some hollow plastic spheres. Opal white is sometimes a problem and you want the opalness in the thickness not on the outer surface that way you only have to be careful not impossibly so with the finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 ...So any thoughts? If I can't get spheres then cylinders ...... Spherical plastic lampshades from the lighting departments of IKEA, Bodgeit & Quick, Homebase, Woolworths etc. It's 35 years since I moved from Watford, but there used to be a John Lewis there then, or was it Debenhams. Cylindrical food storage containers from the kitchen department of Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons (even our local Coop in Arran has them). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musht Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Cylinders like: http://www.rapidonline.com/productinfo.asp...;catref=14-2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamtastic3 Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Try Ikea... http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/10096375 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted December 10, 2007 Author Share Posted December 10, 2007 Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys. If anyone has any more ideas please keep them coming. A web search for a plastics "rotational moulding" company in your area of home or work might locate some hollow plastic spheres. Opal white is sometimes a problem and you want the opalness in the thickness not on the outer surface that way you only have to be careful not impossibly so with the finish.I had a look and eventually found a few and sent an email. They look like the type of people who will probably be expensive for only a few though, given I only want 12. Spherical plastic lampshades from the lighting departments of IKEA, Bodgeit & Quick, Homebase, Woolworths etc. It's 35 years since I moved from Watford, but there used to be a John Lewis there then, or was it Debenhams.Most of the lampshades I can find, certainly all the Ikea ones are glass rather than plastic. Admittedly I've not had a chance to wander round loads of DIY shops, but it didn't look too promising. OT but Watford has a fair selection of shops indeed, although I'm mainly in London now :). The independent department store has shut though now. Cylindrical food storage containers from the kitchen department of Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons (even our local Coop in Arran has them).Again I've not had an exhaustive look, but most containers aren't very frosted if at all. I'm thinking some kind of diffusion/tracing paper type translucency, so hopefully the whole container will glow fairly evenly. I'll keep hunting though. Cylinders like: http://www.rapidonline.com/productinfo.asp...;catref=14-2020Those look very promising, and a particularly appealing price. The only disappointment is the necks don't get quite wide enough until the container gets quite big, but that may just heighten the effect. Equally I can probably just hack a slot in part of the lid. I think I may well end up going with these thanks. One thing I am pondering is how opaque are they. From what I remember of my days doing chemistry they aren't very see through, so I wonder if they won't let enough light through. Try Ikea...http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/10096375Sorry I should have said Jamie, I really want plastic so it will take a bit of abuse and not make a dangerous mess if it breaks. I have also found http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/90103409 which being paper may not gig too well, but they're perhaps cheap enough to just get some spares, I'll have to have a proper look next time I'm in store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyro_gearloose Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 You could use a bunch of these lights from B&Q. They used to do one without the PIR gubbins which sold for £10, but I couldn't find it on their website. Edit : Ignore this link!! I've just read that the globe is glass and not plastic. I thought it was plastic as I bought one which was a few years ago which looked almost identical to this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu00c Posted December 20, 2007 Share Posted December 20, 2007 I have a customer that did something very similar recently. They used the IKEA FADO pendant lamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted December 20, 2007 Author Share Posted December 20, 2007 Rather too expensive and glass again. I've just ordered the plastic bottles suggested by musht, so will let you know how they work out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted January 31, 2008 Author Share Posted January 31, 2008 As an update, I'm rather pleased with the results. Pictures below (as well as my camera represents them). Imagine these hanging the other way up to currently pictured, dotted around the set or similar. http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/peternewman/th_DSCF3536.jpghttp://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/peternewman/th_DSCF3537.jpghttp://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/peternewman/th_DSCF3538.jpghttp://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/peternewman/th_DSCF3539.jpghttp://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/peternewman/th_DSCF3540.jpghttp://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/peternewman/th_DSCF3541.jpg Whats more amazing, is I got all twelve including mounting for about 70-80 quid, excluding my time. Thanks to one of my friends for suggesting the mounting position of the boards, and my brother I somehow conned into doing lots of the cutting and mounting! B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvi675 Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 What is the brightness like of the pixels? I'm thinking of getting a few myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekij Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 People looking for something similar may want to consider these:http://www.amazon.com/AMERICAN-SCIENCE-SUR...E/dp/B000CQOOL8which are probably a little small and not too bright (single LED for each colour) but may be hackable or these:http://www.agt-lighting.com/product.php?pid=33which are probably obscenely expensive (at least in comparison) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoLiEn Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 cheap solution, bulk buy those salads from a supermarket, empty it out, and use that as your translucent half sphere. what we are doing for a backdrop! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted February 1, 2008 Author Share Posted February 1, 2008 What is the brightness like of the pixels? I'm thinking of getting a few myself!That old chestnut. Unfortunately its one of those things I find very hard to judge in the first place, let alone be subjective about. Anyway the boards on there own are standard slightly unpleasant LED style to look at. Anyway I'll try and get some comparison photos soon. If you are interested in some, make sure you get in touch with him, as he recently told me he's got a few more styles of pixel in the pipeline. People looking for something similar may want to consider these http://www.amazon.com/AMERICAN-SCIENCE-SUR...E/dp/B000CQOOL8which are probably a little small and not too bright (single LED for each colour) but may be hackableThey look interesting. Just big enough for the PCB anyway. or these:http://www.agt-lighting.com/product.php?pid=33which are probably obscenely expensive (at least in comparison)No price listed, but as you say liable to be horrendously expensive, although to be honest anything is in comparison to these pixels. cheap solution, bulk buy those salads from a supermarket, empty it out, and use that as your translucent half sphere. what we are doing for a backdrop!Having got my containers and done all the drilling etc, I'm reluctant to change, also if they are the containers I'm thinking of, they aren't translucent or as strong as I'd like. The chemical jars seem to fit most of my requirements fairly well, the only slight downside being the neck could do with being a bit wider ideally, and the whole container a bit shorter. As I mentioned to the guy that made these, the key to successful use is definitely in the enclosure and I think I'm fairly happy with mine, although something like a sphere from the Pulsar range would be great, if the price wasn't so high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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