How to make a Mini Neon Style Sign with 3D Printing - Tutorial DIY

[@turbotoshy]

Hello! Watched the video for curiosities sake, but ended up solving an issue I have had for a while, getting DXF into an extruded shape, and also learnt about how good Onshape is, very useful video, even beyond the project tutorial! Thank you!

[@nick_the_maker]

Really happy to hear. I'll keep them coming and hope to inspire/grow the maker community! Thanks for the sub!! :)

[@______IV]

I rarely see projects that make me want to get a 3d printer, but this definitely inspired me. Excellent tutorial!

[@nick_the_maker]

Hope you join the community, it is a lot of fun! I will publish more ideas to inspire soon, many around 3D printed projects you can try.

[@gothgammy666]

@@nick_the_makerthis is a seriously cool project! I really wanted to make a faux neon light for my dollhouse. Now I just need the printer.

[@LUDOVICOPAPALIA]

One of the best 3d print tutorials ever!

[@nick_the_maker]

Someone give this guy cake! Just made my day, thanks for the positive words!!

[@KingdomCome811]

Nice little project. Perfect pace, clear instructions, no fluff. Love it, keep it up.

[@TheDeepDiveLLC]

This is a very adhd, autistic, engineer's statement

[@nick_the_maker]

Huge thank you, great feedback! More coming soon! :)

[@HomeWithDrew]

Agreed, that 8 mins didn't seam like 8 mins as was so captivating and to the point

[@Spice]

I've known about these flexible filament LEDs for a while, but I had no idea they were THAT flexible! I got really anxious when you just started jamming it into the print lol

[@Twosoc]

Not sure if anyones said this but onshape can export in step format which gives a higher def model than stl. If your slicer can handle step files then it gives you lots more control as you can often break a complex model apart in the slicer and print in different materials and colours etc.

[@hectorgironc]

man , you have amazing storytelling skills, everything was crystal clear ( and i am not english native), direct to the point, great camera work, Wish you the best and now youu got a new follower

[@plugger410]

That was actually really well done, easy to follow. Would love to see a video on a full-size sign

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you! It's a great idea and something I would like to work on. Thinking about a step-by-step guide printing a full sign by individual letter, using the max standard bed size for each letter and assembling afterwards. Will post a vid once I get through testing. ;)

[@plugger410]

@@nick_the_maker nice, that would be amazing. There are a few videos out there I feel like that talk about some of the specifics with the printing, but none that I saw that were detailed with every step, including wiring. They assume you already know that stuff. Keep up the great work!

[@nicolaiveldorm6940]

@@nick_the_makercould this not just be scaled up to bigger size? Could you make at video on how to make a back cover?

[@FilamentStories]

This is just all around fabulous. Thanks for the tutorial making it so easy to do yourself. Love it!

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you, very happy you like it!

[@marcus3d]

WARNING! You can't just hook a LED straight up to a power source! LEDs have low internal resistance, so since I=V/R you'll get way excessive current if you don't add a resistor in series! Those LEDs tolerate only 100 mA, any more than that and they'll have an increasingly short life.

[@nick_the_maker]

Hey, thank you for bringing this up. Totally agree to err on the side of caution, it would have been smart to give a clear warning in the video for those with less experience and thinking about trying alternative power supplies. In this case of the suggested button battery, max discharge current is extremely low, so an added resistor is not necessary.

[@jebronekitty]

How do you calculate how many batteries you need, what resistors you need per wire?

[@xxxBlueIncendiaxxx]

@@nick_the_maker Yeah I figured with the coin cell battery a resistor wouldn't be necessary.

[@Nate-Wilcox]

@@jebronekittytake a look at the voltage drop or forward voltage of the LED. If it’s 3V, in general you’re safe with a household 3V battery in series. That means a cell battery like you saw in this video is fine, or two AA’s in series for example (as they’re 1.5V each)

[@jebronekitty]

@@Nate-Wilcox awesome, what if I have 6 different wires hooked up in succession?

[@Rick_Cavallaro]

Shoot - a couple years ago I made a much larger neon sign using that same glowing wire. But it didn't occur to me to 3D print forms. I with it had. Instead I printed the signs on paper, and used that as a template for putting a whole bunch of nails in a board. Then used a bunch of stripped wire to attach the glow wire to the nails. It came out great, but it was a lot more work. Then I used an arduino to create various effects like a slow "breathing" effect and a flickering effect to look like the old neon signs.

[@nick_the_maker]

Sounds like more steps but I imagine the project came out awesome!

[@travismiller5548]

boy was i doing it the hard way. as a glassblower and commercial signage fabricator and installer, i was bending 3mm borosilicate glass rod like it was miniature neon, using LEDs heat shrunk to the ends as tiny neon electrodes. sandblasting the glass made it so the the LED light would diffuse out. this is way easier. 😂 i like to make junky little sign dioramas.

[@nick_the_maker]

Would love to get into glass work someday.

[@impatientmaker8469]

@@nick_the_maker I took a glass blowing class. Very fun and interesting and WAY harder than it looks (like most things)

[@Armadurapersonal]

this is really cool. a base or stand with two AA batteries would work as both energy supply and weight to keep it standing nicely.

[@nick_the_maker]

A great idea. Working on a video to inspire more added features, will include a base option as well! Cheers!

[@UncleJessy]

Just saw your post on Reddit about this. Friggin wild! Can’t wait to try this out

[@m00se23]

This is awesome and I've made a couple of these on my printer already, but I wish he would answer some of the questions that people here in the comments have. BTW Nick, you're a great teacher! Keep it coming!💯

[@nick_the_maker]

You rock, thanks for the positive feedback! I am just going through all the comments today, so sorry!! Work, family, and a business trip... all while this thing started blowing up and I couldn't believe my eyes! 😅 I think I have most questions answered, and currently working on new vids to help with further design and power options. Stay tuned!

[@SooGuy1968]

thanks so much for that. I didn't even know led filament was a thing until just now. I had looked at doing similar LED Neon using neon strips but this looks more interesting

[@ahmedalkhoudiri5435]

Nice project! You could add a base to host the battery, a switch, and wires connection.

[@ricardoolivares7611]

I was thinking the same, but boxes for 2032 bat even wired and with button are cheap.

[@piquat1]

Filament is cheap. Elegoo PETG, $12.50/kg. A little box is less than a dollar and custom to your needs.

[@nick_the_maker]

Thinking the same, great idea! Working on this and other variations now. Will keep you posted with new vid updates. Thanks!

[@nick_the_maker]

By the way, check Ikea. So far one of the cheapest places to buy button batteries fast if you live near a store.

[@jackietan555]

I did this in cuttle folllowed by tinkercad. In cuttle, I exported SVG of the original file. I had to make one modification in cuttle and "remove holes" in the text to generate a solid text base. Save another file as SVG. Import both files into tinkercad. In tinkercad, resize height of each item (base 0.4mm and walls 10.4 mm). Match the length and width and align them along length width and height. You'll need to flip things to get the correct orientation prior to the final height alignment. Anyway, a workaround if you only use tinkercad. I love this project and am looking forward to printing it on a multicolor printer that I built last week!

[@marazsilva]

Cheers from Brazil. amazing tutorial. Thanks. I am printing my mini sign right now.

[@Cuttle]

Really nice project! 😻 There is also a feature in Cuttle called "Connected text" so you don't have to apply the boolean union, but most importantly it will also join the dots on the i's automatically. It was nice to see the Cuttle to Onshape workflow too :)

[@nick_the_maker]

Great tip, I will give it a try. Really nice feature for laser cut projects I work on too! Thank you for creating such an incredible app and user experience! :)

[@macciejdsbsys7180]

please tell me where "Connected text" is

[@fredericapanon207]

​@@macciejdsbsys7180 the Help menu should have a search box. You now have keywords to enter there.

[@wewe365]

Does Cuttie have a utube channel for beginners?

[@Elmojomo]

So where is the 'connected text' option? I don't see it anywhere in the interface...

[@azadvertised]

Love how direct and informative this was. Subscribed

[@aarrodri]

Same. Straight to the point, no bs fillers. Most KZbinrs sound like Billy Mays nowadays.

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you! Doing my best to cut out all the non-essential "over talk". Thanks for the sub! :)

[@namssab1]

Props for showing your methods using the ender 3, making this accessible for everyone. subbed

[@Dave_the_Dave]

You can actually make the hollow inner part and open back all in the slicer, so if you can get an SVG of the text, you might not even need to use Onshape.

[@MedicYoda]

The programs you used look terrific and just what I need for some projects. Also I love the neon lights.

[@jenniferhansen210]

Wow, I love this! Would love to see a second video which has a box for the button battery and a magnet to really finish out this project.

[@ricardoolivares7611]

Mee too, indeed I just order the led lights and the boxes (with button included) for 2032 battery. Pretty cheap on Ali. I will use this light for my Xmas tree with the names of the family

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you, happy you liked it! Publishing more videos soon with added features to inspire.

[@nick_the_maker]

Cool idea for Christmas, would love to see the result!

[@spartan5280]

I recommend exporting the file as a STEP insted of an STL since it will result in smooth curved surfaces on your prints. Though STEP files don't appear to be supported in Cura, though you should give orca slicer a try since it supports STEP files as well as a lot of other nice features.

[@mattrohrKSU]

solid video! thanks for sharing those cool tools! never heard of cuttle and onshape until today! Will come in handy

[@nick_the_maker]

Awesome, hope you make some cool stuff! :)

[@sourcererseven3858]

Great entry-level project! Good choice to not over-complicate things. Anyone who wants more than that button battery bodge will do it themselves 😊

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you, I was thinking the same. Didn't want to take it too far, but a lot of people are asking for more. Will make a couple more vids for those that want next steps.

[@philippkowalski1105]

what a fantastic tutorial. This is really awesome and just imagine how much easier it becomes when you have an AMS. Going to binge the next videos 😁 Subbed of course.

[@leagueleaders]

Super cool project. Never knew about those filament leds.

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you, hope it inspires you to make cool stuff!

[@Beatfreak19831]

Cool project and I liked your style of presenting 👍

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@renxula]

Neat project and good result! I think a pause for a filament change is risky though. My basic printer supports the M600 command for filament change, where it moves up and retracts, and lets me extrude the new filament as much as needed, and then continues the print after I confirm I'm ready.

[@nick_the_maker]

Sounds like a good option to make the change. Thanks for the feedback!

[@jhartwells]

I just picked up my very first 3D printer ever..... Used, hopefully I will be testing it this weekend. I don't recommend that you buy a 3D printer without saying it print, but that's what I did. So wish me luck. Hopefully I get the opportunity to make one of these shortly

[@steffenmuller2888]

This is great! I like the approach and this can be used for so many things. Thank you very much and keep posting your brilliant ideas!

[@DiyEcoProjects]

Hi, ive never printed before and im thinking of getting one. I just want to thank you for a very clean and concise video. Well done. All the best

[@DiyEcoProjects]

Hang on, this is your First video? Wow! Good lighting, good script, great sound, and realy good editing!. Wishing you every success as your channel grows, ive subbed Can i ask what microphone are you using please? Also i like the format of "this is what you can make / and ill show you how to do the 3d program"

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you for the feedback and kind words! Working hard to produce the best I can and will continue trying to make it better with each new video. Using a Yeti microphone for sound. Thank you for the sub!! :)

[@ChristianTinyLiving]

Very nice. Simplicity becomes amazing. Great idea and great job amen.

[@playmotion.trailer]

I never changed the filament during printing. Thanks for the tip and awesome video !

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you, happy you liked it and found something useful!

[@mato_2000]

This is brilliant! I had not sound problem at all. Im gonna try to do this at home! Keep it up! But im probably just gonna print the front freestanding and glue it on.

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you, hope it goes well! I will make some more follow up content soon to inspire options for a base, wall mounting, power supply and so on. Cheers!

[@VGPbr]

Very nice. I will try some of this sometime. The sound was very low, but using the stable volume setting on the cog menu made it sound ok.

[@nick_the_maker]

Hope it goes well. Sorry about that, I screwed up somehow on the audio side.

[@JamesOKeefe-US]

Just got my first printer, really enjoyed this . Subbed 😁

[@blakey271able]

Absolutely amazing and you make it look so easy really great idea and video definitely saving this one for later thank you.

[@TheSlyMouse]

Aww man I was excited for real mini neon lol

[@nick_the_maker]

Sorry man, didn't mean to mislead. Just neon style, not planning to work with gas anytime soon! :D

[@JerseyTom]

@@nick_the_maker didn't mean to mislead, but still leaving the misleading title... glow sign, illuminated sign, backlit, etc. plenty of other things to call it, but here we are

[@Ali-Bee]

@@JerseyTom not misleading title. neon doesn't just mean neon-gasfilled-glass-tube lights anymore. my Neon fishes also don't contain any neon yet here we are. The definition of neon lights has moved on. nobody makes real-neon lights anymore.

[@ScottLoweVA]

​@@Ali-Bee it is still a trade--there are plenty of businesses online that make and sell custom neon signs.

[@daarshg]

Great tutorial with nice and detailed steps, and explanations for all the decisions you made. Thanks!

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you, happy you liked it! More coming soon!

[@1620GarageAndFarm]

So awesome little project, and congrats on going viral with your first video drop !! Looks like I need to order some materials and fire up the 3D printer !!

[@nick_the_maker]

Haha, right on, hope you give a try! Thank you for the positive feedback. Making more soon. :)

[@ShaunKirkwood]

This is such a cool project, and your video is so easy to follow and well explained. Thank you for taking the time to put all of this together, much appreciated.

[@nick_the_maker]

Awesome feedback, thank you so much!

[@HomeWithDrew]

Thanks for this. I see why you add the black walls as it makes it a lot like 5he barrier in real glowing neon lighting. I have been interested in making some in the past and have got close then not don5inued to get close4, I have an SLA printer and again print flat side down. I will give this a another try one day, not thought of using filament lighting, wh8ch I would class as Electroluminescent wire which I have some of already, just need to c4ack out the printer again

[@nick_the_maker]

Good luck, hope it goes well!

[@PhG1961]

Amazing! Great video and ingenuity!

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@czappa44]

Love the tutorial. Happy I came across your channel - subscribed!

[@enriquep2677]

Straight to the point and very well explained! Thanks

[@jim5148]

That's actually pretty neat. Thanks for the video!

[@kellyjean4981]

I love this project, and you made it very easy to understand. Thank you

[@TheDeepDiveLLC]

This is a very adhd, autistic, engineer's statement.

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you, appreciated!!

[@mlopezrossi]

Excellent tutorial! Thank you so much!

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you, happy you like it!

[@PritamSonkusare]

And thats a perfect tutorial video, will need a tutorial on how to make such tutorials too 😅

[@williamdavies_ewill]

A brilliant project and KZbin video. Clear simple instructions of a great thing.

[@nick_the_maker]

Thanks a bunch for the positive feedback!! 💪

[@octahedron646]

Super cool addon for my futur projects !! Thanks for the tips ! Love it. Volume level is OK btw..

[@nick_the_maker]

Awesome, happy you love it. More coming soon to inspire. Thank you! :)

[@deziomakes]

Excellent teaching! Thank you!

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you, happy you liked it. Will publish more soon!

[@jimmysgameclips]

What excellent little lights. Great use case

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you! They are cool for sure!

[@daviddavidc2197]

Brilliant idea...thanks!

[@mretuck]

What a fun project! Thanks!

[@nick_the_maker]

You bet! Thank you! :)

[@AmeliCarrano]

This is so cool! Thanks for sharing!

[@tinkerman1790]

Great tutorial 👍🏻 Subscribed!

[@nick_the_maker]

Awesome, thanks so much! :)

Clear, concise, very well explained and pretty cheap project to do with the kids. Thank you!

[@nick_the_maker]

Thanks for the positive feedback. Definitely a good one for kids as well. More coming soon! :)

[@AlanMelling]

I’m surprised to see that this is your first non-short video. Was hesitant to sub bc lack of content, but did anyway. Hope to see more. Cheers!

[@nick_the_maker]

Haha, happy you liked it. Gotta start somewhere, right? :D More coming soon!

[@DreamingSheep]

If you don't mind the extra effort, if your 'glow' area is only 2 layers thick, you could pause the print between the 'outer' and 'inner' parts of the text, print the two layers, then swap back to your outer filment to finish the print. So: Filament one to do the stroke around the text on layer one. Switch to filament two to finish layer one and print the text in layer 2. Switch back to the first filament to finish the layer 2 stroke and rest of the shell.

[@deathspawn54]

Omg i love this so much, i have always wanted a "neon" sign for my business

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you, hope you make something cool. Working on a bigger neon style project to publish soon!

[@tillorrly1128]

For bigger signs go with those LED strips in silicon tubes.

[@Kedarwaas]

Nice work subscribed❤

[@gvetech]

Thanks for sharing, just the straight forward tutorial I've been looking for! Well done.

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you for the positive feedback! Will keep them coming. :)

[@nathanmusser5025]

So many useful tips, sites, and advice. Thanks!

[@nick_the_maker]

Thanks for the positive feedback!! :)

[@SamPockerOfficial]

These are great! Wish i could just order one instead of doing it myself in this case, but they are really cool.

[@andrewslovak1]

This is so awesome, I might actually do this! Thank you!

[@nick_the_maker]

Awesome, you should for sure. Hope it goes well! :)

[@RobotWargen]

Amazing video super informative and gets me excited to do this myself!!!

[@nick_the_maker]

Go get it! Hope you make something great!

[@gselzbrot]

nice little tutorial. good inspiration

[@lisalee5910]

so lovely and fantastic !!!

[@primozpecar2636]

wtf algo is blessing me, thanks for showing your process

[@nick_the_maker]

Haha, very happy you liked it! :)

[@Coutta_13]

Awsome workflow and explation of the steps! I hadn't stumbled across cuttle, I've been doing text with blender and cutting this out with knife project, your flow is much cleaner for topology. Thanks I'll be trying this! Sub'd for future content 🎉🎉

[@nick_the_maker]

Right on, thank you so much! Great positive feedback! :)

[@cheartisan9681]

真棒！期待后续的电源+布线+控制模块！！建议尝试一下蓝牙控制模块

[@AlbertoMazarro]

Cool idea!! Thanks for sharing

[@TroyCroatto]

That is awesome, loved the video, straight forward and easy to follow! I’ve been printing for years but never really done the pause for a filament change but since you have shown it so smoothly I might try it in my next print. Also just thinking of the potential with this, you could have the old cartoon “racy night club” with the leg in stockings moving up and down in 3 frames, just a simple arduino circuit and a loop going through turning each on and different colours etc. definitely subbing for more of these types of videos! Thank you for sharing

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you for the feedback! Really great idea I would like to experiment with soon. Cheers for the sub, more coming soon! :D

[@taysfunnyist]

Change at layer would be much better. That way you don't have to sit there and watch it. It'll stop the print and wait for you to change instead of pausing. Then you control the start up again. Just for people that forget

[@33v4.]

more more tutorials!! this is the coolest

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you! Working on more stuff right now. :)

[@atharvabedarkar]

I love videos like these please try to make longer videos and go in detail 🙏

[@nick_the_maker]

Lot's more coming, thank you for the feedback! Will do my best to provide more next time, either in a single video or series of videos so people can decide how far they want to explore. Creating a series of more on this lights soon. :)

[@SimplisticallyDigital]

I really like these!

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you! Hope you get to make one! :)

[@InXsense]

Great workflow you win a sub.

[@nick_the_maker]

Right on, thank you!! :)

[@Remy21289]

Thank you so much for this tutorial! ❤

[@jdolguin8558]

Excellent tutorial, thanks 🤙

[@felipegilhiriart]

Hello, could you make a follow-up video with the batery and the switch please?

[@nick_the_maker]

Definitely will do! Working on it now and hope to publish soon. Cheers!

[@ahmed3d169]

Nice work

[@scsdenver]

Great project. Cool stuff!

[@carlosmcnulty]

This is great for kids project!!!! Thank you.

[@nick_the_maker]

Thank you, happy you like it! :)

[@makcraft]

Cool project and very detailed tutorial.

[@coreyappleby]

Oh wow, super fun project! Thanks for the tips, I was unaware of those online tools!

[@nick_the_maker]

Def some of my favorites because they are free yet powerful options from the browser. More coming soon. Happy you liked it!

[@coreyappleby]

⁠@@nick_the_makeryeah I've got young kids so I've been meaning to look into how to model words/names easily. I find most CAD software overly complex for what I'm doing so simple web based stuff is a huge help.

[@gelordtube]

this was my first 3D project, thx!!!

[@nick_the_maker]

Super cool, great to hear! Keep printing and having fun. Will add more project videos soon to keep you inspired.

[@ksharber]

subbed because i have the same hanmatek power supply lol great vid, keep rockin

[@mthornton]

Thank you. Just successfully replaced it on my mom’s car!

[@mark6302]

thats awesome i definitely want to try something like this

[@conorstewart2214]

If you just run the LED strip directly from a voltage source there is a good chance of burning it out or reducing its lifespan. You need to limit the current when using LEDs, you can do that easily by just adding a resistor and you can also control the brightness that way too.

[@gopro2027]

maybe im wrong but typically the reason we use a resistor is when going from 5v or 12v to the led's... in this case he directly wired it to 3v which is probably what the LED is rated for, so no resistor needed.

[@marcus3d]

​​@@gopro2027You are wrong. The resistor is there to limit the current.

[@nick_the_maker]

This is a great comment and absolutely important to consider if you want to maintain a good light lifespan. Not a serious concern if working with a button battery, but working with other higher-current power sources, you should definitely consider a resistor to limit current. I'm working on new vids around added features like a base, switches, and power supply to help around this topic. Huge thank you for bringing this up @conorstewart2214 !

[@jack1d1XB]

Not into 3D printing but I thought this was really great work and will give many fans some home project work.😊👍 P.S, I would love to see you create some Nostalgia signs such as: Nuka Cola etc 🤔😏😉😁

[@nick_the_maker]

Happy to share inspiration. Thank you! Working on tutorials around large signs, but I think your idea a lot! I will keep experimenting to see if I can make some nostalgic original styles. :)

[@originalhotrodder4337]

Straight forward and to the point, got another sub!

[@nick_the_maker]

Awesome, thank you!!

[@sammaldonado5931]

Audio sounds normal. Great video

[@nick_the_maker]

Awesome, thank you!

[@merkabaenergy9558]

Brilliant!!! I saw these filament the other day (god bless the algo-rhythm!) Please make more of these short form tutorials, easy to follow, great result.

[@nick_the_maker]

Happy you liked it! Working on lot's of new content around these lights and other cool maker projects. More coming soon! :)