Make an Eye-Catching Two-Color LED Signs With Ease

[@olafb.2929]

Really nice project!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Glad you like it!

[@garydugger6728]

This I have never seen before. So cool, thanks Steve

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Happy to help!

[@beavercreekdesign]

Thanks for another great video!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Happy to help 😁

[@IraQNid]

From my first impression I figured you made two sheets of acrylic, made unique etches on each, then layered them to achieve this look with RBG LEDs for each layer. Looks like I was right. Nice explanation of the process.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

😀. Yes, you're exactly right. The trick is to make both layers look like one, so you want to make sure you have the engravings sandwiched together in the middle so it doesn't look like there is any layer separation.

[@CorbyQ]

Damn Steve. That’s pretty awesome.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Best of all they are pretty easy to make, though you realistically need a CO2 laser to make these.

[@ericeinsmann5559]

Great video! One could do this easily on a cnc. I will have to try this!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Yep easy on a CNC too.

[@kenthomas4479]

great video almost over and u mention its not for diode laser.. glad I watched it tho for future crafts

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Sorry, you're right. I'll at least update the description. I figured it was implied since working with acrylic isn't something diode lasers can do well - especially clear acrylic.

[@kenthomas4479]

@@SteveMakesEverything i guess its good to know info to get better laser. this be 2nd day tryin to figure this stuff out. im not gettin anywhere but a lot of messed up tests

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@kenthomas4479 Feel free to shoot me an email and I can maybe provide some help.

[@ou812vh01]

Very nice as usual. I get lots of great advice from your videos. Thank you and keep them coming. Only difference I would make to this would be to use Post Binding Rivet screws to hold everything together

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Yes there is definitely better hardware. Button head screws would be a better choice along with acorn nuts, but you use what you have 😁. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

[@ou812vh01]

@@SteveMakesEverything This also gives me a better idea for making lit signs with LED lighting all the way around.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@ou812vh01 Yes and note that if you were using 4 layers of 3mm acrylic, using different colors on all 4 sides would allow that to happen easily.

[@Ricks2Cents]

*Nice!!! I Need to Try This!!!*

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Go for it!

[@Ricks2Cents]

@@SteveMakesEverything *You should show this on Our Live!!!*

[@holliday9416]

Beautifull Steve u really made very good videos on very nice projects! thank you, i had a diode so... but its allways instructive, i use autodesk inventor professional, i did not know fusion can do the same, wich format u export the draws, to be ready to use on lightburn? plus, autodesk are paid softwares, did u know some goodone that could be free?, im not cheap but im poor in Argentina, but we still have hope due to our new president so im trying to start a micro laser shop to see what happens :)

[@SteveMakesEverything]

You are very welcome! Glad you enjoyed the video. Most of the time with lasers I work with SVG files. There’s a plug-in for Fusion that can export them, so I can jump right into Lightburn an import them.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I wish I could find something like Fusion that was free. There’s FreeCad but the learning curve is vertical on that. Also TinkerCad is free and decent, though fairly limited.

[@Pontus1337]

Hi. Great inspiration, will be trying a variant of this soon. You didn't isolate the two LED-strips lightwise, is there any light bleeding on to the wrong acrylic?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

They are relatively isolated because the led strip is narrower than the acrylic. There’s no bleeding regardless

[@RaicoRosenberg]

really awesome video! Subscribed! In Lightburn how did you get the top part of the acrylic with smooth edges and the bottom half with straight edges?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

This is just how my laser cuts acrylic. If you aren’t seeing this behavior on your laser then maybe it’s time for a calibration

[@dian3145]

Steve, great video! Not having soldiered since my Navy days…way too long ago to remember… what is your opinion of the soldier free connectors? They do look bulky.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I suppose you could use solder free connectors but you would certainly have to redesign the entire base to make them fit. Since to make this you'll end up buying a couple rolls of led strip, there probably not much risk if you make a mistake. You'll be using 6 inches of led strip from a 16 foot roll so don't be afraid to practice.😀 The soldering effort here is really simple if you are using a low wattage iron. Maybe I need to do a video on soldering!

[@ifosd]

Hi, is your led strip for 5V or 12V? what power supply did you use?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I use 12V led strip. There are links to everything I used in the video description

[@rightpassage]

So is there no need for air vents for the LEDs? I assume they aren't putting off much heat?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

No, the ones I used get warm but not hot and there aren't very many of them, so there isn't much current draw. There is a bit of an air gap between the LEDs and the clear acrylic so there some opportunity for air to move through, I've made signs like this that are 1 foot (30 cms) wide with the same LEDs and there still isn't a reason to cool them.

[@veea.4936]

I want to make some signs, but gotta get a CO2 laser. Hopefully VERY soon!!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

If you have the budget, a CO2 is kind of the pinnacle of lasers

[@praveen8]

Please show a light test on "coloured acrylic sheet" instead of clear acrylic

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Light generally won’t pass through coloured acrylic. I have a light base and some translucent red and yellow in my shop so I’ll try this out. Maybe I’ll create it as a YT short when I get a minute

[@praveen8]

@@SteveMakesEverythingthanks for the reply 👏 can we multi-colour (paint)the engravings in 1 sheet? instead of using 2 sheets, 2 led base🎉

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@praveen8 I don't think paint will work because it will block the light completely.

[@bigmd1343]

What about infrared laser?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

IR lasers are tuned to marking but unless the acrylic is dark/black you’re going to be out of luck

[@poepflater]

can upgrade with ESP32 and two RGB diodes... even an old newcomer can learn enough to do this on a weekend.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Be adventurous. Sometimes you need to design on the fly to use what you have. RGB diode string won't be as bright, but if you run two of them, you can get an infinite set of colors.

[@poepflater]

@@SteveMakesEverything I meant using two discrete diodes, he could then adjust colours using an ap, or just let it cycle or whatever.. It is pretty fun and very cheap

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@poepflater If they are single diode, the sign will probably need to be pretty small, but experiment - sometimes you learn what NOT to do and sometimes you get a pleasant surprise when the result is awesome 😄

[@poepflater]

@@SteveMakesEverything I suggest looking through a catalog like digikey or RsComponents depending where you live, the good diodes usually have an mcd number that indicates their brightness... So you can start off with more than luck. You can easily sort the catalog by any field.

[@ggaspord]

Steve, are the two strips individual colors?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Yes. One is red and one is blue

[@gregboop]

What wattage is your CO2 Laser which you use to cut the 6mm clear acrylic? Can a 60W CO2 Laser cut this? I am looking to upgrade from my 10W diode laser soon.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

My big laser is a 90w but you should be able to cut 6mm using a 60w with relative ease

[@gregboop]

@@SteveMakesEverything Thanks for the quick reply and your insights on CO2 laser power for cutting acrylic. Let me also say thank you for all of your videos which have been very helpful as I start off with laser engraving projects.

[@bobreichel]

Anyone ever do a stl 3d file on plexiglass?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I’m not sure, but keep in mind that lasers are not typically thought of as 3D devices. The best you could probably do is a grayscale rendered image on acrylic.

[@jakerazmataz852]

Won't a fiber IR laser cut acrylic? You must have to sell them for $50 to make money.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

IR lasers are really for marking not cutting. As far as pricing these will be fairly expensive if you’re going to make money. Don’t sell for a loss just for the sake of selling