Making My Own Version of Nanoleaf Hexagons - DIY Project (No 3d printing, programing or soldering)

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

🎄 BEST Christmas 2024 DEALS (updated daily): amzn.to/41ffvu6 ☑ Check out my sponsor to begin your FREE 14 day trial to Aura: aura.com/chrismaher Recommended: Govee LED lights: amzn.to/3Bn7mod Plates I used: If you cant find the plates at your local store, it looks like amazon has them but they only sell this kind in bulk: amzn.to/2WWfyZz Gorilla Wood Glue: amzn.to/3o3KfqG Painters Tape: amzn.to/3pUMyh1 Wood: Any 1inch x 2 inch lumber will work. Try getting wood that is straight as possible. I covered the back of the project using white poster board: www.dollargeneral.com/artskills-premium-white-poster-board-22-x-28.html ============================= Support My Channel Directly: Become a monthly contributor on Patreon: www.patreon.com/ChrisMaherDIY Buy me a Coffee: paypal.me/ChrisMaherDIY ============================== Links to a few of my other complete how-to projects: RGB Baseboard Trim: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5ybeaF9rcuEp5I DIY Customizable Images: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKLCq6V7mMeLfqc RGB LIGHT PROJECT: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHrFha2LeZd4as0 LED Strip Diffuser Ideas: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmqQl5yNn7VnaLs DIY Hexagon Project: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmrbeKx4acabr7s DIY Corner Project: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHOYeaSNnbKLhNE DIY Edge Lit Designs: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpC3pXuhd6dmrKM DIY Govee Glide: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGqvpJyHdrd5l9U DIY Black Acrylic Floating Shelves: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJTWhICqi8SippI Shop Tools: Sliding Compound Miter Saw: amzn.to/303kopD Music used in this video: Song: Ikson - All Night Music promoted by Vlog No Copyright Music. Video Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gmLdpYiDbLuNerM Song: Fredji - Happy Life (Vlog No Copyright Music) Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Video Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gau0moV3d7t0iM0 Song: Extenz - Gravity (Vlog No Copyright Music) Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Video Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqLElaZqjZKKq7M Song: Lvne - I Need Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Video Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJ_KdKmjeMxpmLM The best way to help support my channel is to like, comment, make sure your subscribed and share my videos with as many people as you can. The other way is to use my links above as I get a small % at no extra cost to you if you buy something. Thank you all for the support!

[@grabasandwich]

I love how honest you are in the description. I suck at putting my mind to things, so I've spent most of my 40+ years being a dreamer. I'm trying to overcome that now, so I think I'll give this a try for my kids rooms. I bought some bulk individually addressable WS2812 strips from BTF lighting, but still need to get power supplies and controllers. Anyway, thanks!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much for watching! For sure give it a try! If your kids are old enough, they might even enjoy helping! BTF lighting is now my go to for projects so great choice on those! Thanks again buddy!

[@LinzJc]

This is probably the best of the maker videos for these....... nice work, looks cool and nice project to do. You can probably use chrome reflective tape inside of the hexagon and maybe get away with just using 1 LED strip. Just in case people can't find the double strip LED and only the single is available etc.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

I'm going to look into that! If it looks the same using that reflecting tape but I only need 1 strip, that would be amazing!

[@lanarm4942]

These are absolutely amazing! This is not what I came to look for on KZbin, but I had to watch and have zero regrets. Thanks for such an awesome video!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much for watching and you are welcome! Glad you enjoyed!! Thank you for the support!

[@fearlessones]

Thanks a lot for the video! I just made 17 of them for my home office, they look great! My first big precision wood project...thanks for making it look easy enough for me to try. Had to make a jig to cut these all precisely since I only had a circular saw but worked out.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

You are welcome and thanks for the comment! Glad you were able to make them yourself. So cool! If you have as picture or video of your finished project I'd love to see!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Very nice! I like yours better than mine! Looks amazing!

[@lupusk9productions]

OOooo! This is the best tutorial for these i think I've seen yet. I will have to try this.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks! If you do, let me know if you have any questions!

[@DrZzs]

That's super awesome! Well done! I'm working on a similar project. I love the look of black gap inbetween the hexes!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much!! I love all your videos! I watched your sphere one yesterday. Blown away at how much work went into that and how awesome it turned out. My kids said "we need that Dad" lol.

[@SoulfullSinger]

So I followed your video, and I have to say I'm super impressed by how they came out!! I love it!!!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

That's awesome! So glad they turned out good! Definitely a fun project!

[@kheladhulaobiram]

Hey man. I was wondering. Does paper diffuse the light well enough?

[@SoulfullSinger]

@@kheladhulaobiram The paper does a really good job of diffusing the light in my opinion. One thing I would suggest is you paint the inside of the HEX white to better diffuse the light.

[@DagrtOne]

The Hefty plates made me chuckle. This was a surprise, but it makes sense. 😀

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for watching! They worked perfect for this project! However if i wanted to make bigger hexagons, i would have to find something else as the plates are only so big.

[@chris4869]

I think you should raise some of the cells higher than the surrounding cell so you'll get more of a 3D effects. It'll look better than Leaf.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

That is a really good idea! Might have to try that sometime down the road if I ever try a version 2! Thanks so much for watching!

I believe you can solder a piece of a previously cut LED strip at the end of the first one so you can have only one input, or if you want to “recycle” some old piece of LED strip (meaning it wouldn’t become useless when you cut it, providing you cut at the right place).

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

That's a good idea! I'll have to try that next time! Thanks for watching!

[@not.lynwood]

why do you look like the beans I ate for dinner

[@Re7nuh]

@@not.lynwood no cap I had beans as a side for dinner to ight

[@not.lynwood]

@@Re7nuh yes

[@tezgray]

That should work to extend the first strip with an off cut, just got to be a bit careful with the arrows and joining the same pads. But would you be able to get the 2 distinct colours like in the still picture? Now I'm torn between it costing me 2 strips and being able to control them individually , damn I hate choices , I want both 🤣

[@JohnSmith-kn5wt]

This video is by far the best I have seen on how to DIY a killer project. What I greatly appreciate is there is no really annoying beatloop in the background during the entire video as others do. The only music is during the high-speed parts. I have subscribed and look forward to more projects.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment! I'm glad you liked the video! I will unfortunately let you know that most of my new projects do have the music in the background. But I try to make it pretty low volume so its not super distracting! Thanks again!!

[@TimSpreitzer]

I agree, prefer not to have the background music.

[@darkosub2806]

Right now we are remodeling our garage so I can use it as a bedroom and I will be making these Nanoleaf panels for the room

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

I'd love to see how they turn out and any ideas you have along the way to improve on how to make them!

[@jack0cat]

Before I saw this I was thinking of the diffuser panels for ceiling lights but that would involve a lot of cutting and waste I never dreamed of using styrofoam. Dude you saved my life 😂

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Lol Jesus is the only one who can save but I'm glad the plates worked! Dude I was close to using ceiling light panels! However it was going to cost way more that I was willing to spend. I still might try to make something from puff cloud diffuser light panels since I love the way it looks with led lights but that will be down the road. Thanks for watching!

[@LittleJa2002]

@@ChrisMaherDIY the styrofoam plates idea is genius, plus cuts down on the weight too.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@LittleJa2002 That is true! So much lighter than pretty much anything else! Only downside is the size of the hexagons or whatever shape you want to build has to be pretty small since plates are not that big. But for the price, you cant beat it!

[@LittleJa2002]

@@ChrisMaherDIY your hexagons are only 1 inch smaller than the large nano hex from point to point which is just fine. I’ve already taken your tutorial cuts and measurements and put it into AutoCaD to figure out how much wood it would take to build my design. $1374 for 52 Nano project is build cost is ridiculous! Your hex light build and tutorial is the perfect alternative! “Subscribed”

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@LittleJa2002 Thanks so much! Yeah they are just crazy expensive! Even if i had the money, it would still be hard to justify spending $1,400 for the real thing. Let me know how yours turns out and thanks again!

[@michaelsteven3990]

Letting you know we did this for our sons wall. Smaller section of 12, used a nodemcu with Wled he controls with his phone. It came out fantastic and he loves it.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

That's awesome! So happy to hear! Sounds like you made it much more customizable with the LED setup and WLed. Do you have a picture of how it turned out?!

[@michaelsteven3990]

@@ChrisMaherDIY kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmTJg52nmtR3orM

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@michaelsteven3990 Wow Very cool!! They turned out great! I love the effects you were able to make with the more advanced LED's. Thanks for sharing!

[@nydissa]

Just finished mine and it's up in my office! Thank you for the awesome guide. I ended up using a thin acrylic in front of the styrofoam plate to protect it long term since a broken plate would be terrible! The Hefty plates also had a recycle imprint on them that showed through with the lights so I found an alternative dollar store brand that worked great

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

That's awesome and you are welcome! And I love what you ended up doing to protect them. Genius! Thanks so much for the comment!

[@nydissa]

Images of my completed build if you're interested :) imgur.com/gallery/tNYGVrj

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@nydissa absolutely amazing!! I love the design and the empty hex in the middle! Soooo cool. Thank you for sharing!!

[@beemerrobbie]

@@nydissa that blank space in the centre is such a cool idea.

[@lanarm4942]

Wow... it's so beautiful! Thanks for sharing how great yours came out. You and the OP did amazing jobs.

[@jesusbibieca52]

Great job, I loved the project and its simplicity for that good of a result. I'd suggest that you add the same demo v roll of the finished project at the end. I felt that was a missing piece, like yeah I saw it at the start of the vid, but after the long vid I totally forgot that it looked and had to go back and look at how it ended.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for watching and for the feedback! I agree with you. I should have put it at the end. I'll for sure do that with my next how to led project!

[@seanrickard5526]

should have more views! People are missing out! definitely the best diy leaves i have seen! great job

[@ReviewyCA]

Hexagons are the bestagons!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Lol amazing!

[@corbintheintern6229]

If you're going to do this again in the future, or with larger ones, I would suggest looking into Plastazote foam. It's commonly used in cosplay to diffuse LEDs.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

I'll take a look for sure! That is something I don't think my many hours of googling came across! Thanks so much!

[@corbintheintern6229]

Hey, no problem! It's also known as LED foam sometimes, too.

[@BodoPoker]

It looks noble, custom and great built quality... and all that for a reasonable price. Well done dude ♥

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much!! Appreciate the support and thanks for watching!

[@kevinm6885]

I cut out all my plates at once. Cut out the Hex shape, place on stack of plates supported by wood, use saw. Saved so much time.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Brilliant! Thanks for the great feedback and for watching!

[@cannarris]

Very nice! You can solder thin 24 gauge wire to the contact points to join them.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thank you! I'm going to have to try that. I know the instructions on the box said they could not be cut and spliced together but it sounds like you have much more experience in this area than I do and I will take your word!

[@pbertlin6194]

@@ChrisMaherDIY Look on amazon they have clip on connecters that don't need to be soldiered

[@tansanite09]

Looks like a nice project for wled and esp32/esp8266 - thanks for the inspiration👍🏻

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much for watching! If I were to do this again I would for sure do it with wled/esp! Appreciate the support!

[@Garage_gg]

the same leds can be spliced and cut and joined together. you just need some leads to be able to solder the copper contacts across. Great project btw!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much for watching and great tip!!

[@Garage_gg]

Pretty sure you already knew this :)

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@Garage_gg lol well actually at the time when I made this video I did not! But now I know they can be spliced and cut and joined together!

[@Danuka_Savinda]

Try WS2812b led strip with a weMos D1 mini and flash that with WLED it's open source too that's the best way to control ARGB leds🔥

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for the update! Doing that would definitely make things look even better. Does it require much programming skills or soldering?

[@Danuka_Savinda]

@@ChrisMaherDIY not at all

[@thepepishow9878]

@@ChrisMaherDIY and if your intrested look at drZzz channel he haves alot of information about wled and how you could intergrate it to home assistant so you can controll it with google home or alexa and your smartphone

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@thepepishow9878 thank you! Just watched a few and great stuff! I am already thinking of ways I could improve on future builds.

[@thepepishow9878]

@@ChrisMaherDIY good to hear🤙🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻

[@Out_Raging]

Awesome idea for people who dont want to deal with learning to program! Gave me an idea for my own video without any power tools :D

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for watching! I appreciate the support! I'd love to see your idea! Let me know if you put a video together.

[@OAbbas]

Thanks for detailed explanation. Now i need a miter saw 😁

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

You are very welcome! Glad you enjoyed! You could also do this with a table saw im sure! Thanks for watching!

[@OAbbas]

@@ChrisMaherDIY I got bandsaw. Not the best option for this kind of purposes but it has ability to make miter cuts. Shall try. Or transform my circular saw to table saw 😁

[@nirux4785]

I’m just waiting for the Led Stripes and then I’m done:) Great Diy 👍

[@inspectorsteve2287]

I believe you can cut led strips and take small wires to solder it back on to the connection points.

[@tharon6530]

I was about to say the same, but wanted to make sure nobody else already had.

[@inspectorsteve2287]

@@tharon6530 I'm glad you agree. I was starting to think I was wrong and these were a special kind of LED strip.

[@dennisvanlanduyt7552]

You can solder these together. I had three 5m strips that I soldered together to make one continuous 15m strip across my roofline for my Christmas lights.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for the advice! You are right. I tried this out after all the comments saying I could and it worked hooking up the leftover strips to a separate controller I found on amazon. Thanks!

[@inspectorsteve2287]

@@ChrisMaherDIY that's good. We learn something every day. Keep up the great videos.

[@kyleguadagno8233]

You're the man, these videos have been so helpful. On my way to home depot to get some materials now.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thank you!! Glad you enjoy and hope it turns out amazing! Let me know if you have any questions at all!

[@kyleguadagno8233]

@@ChrisMaherDIY I actually do have one! How come on a couple of these builds, you do soldering, and on others you just weave the LED strip through? (Also, on this video, the description says 1x4 lumber, but pretty sure you're using the 1x2)

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@kyleguadagno8233 good catch! I definitely used 1 x 2 in this video. I'll have to update that! As far as soldering, this was my first video and first led project I ever did. I really didn't know what I was doing and I had no idea how to solder. As I did a few more projects I realized soldering would give me the ability to do more customized projects. So I watched some videos and learned how to solder. If I had to do this over again, I would use ws2812b led lights and control them using WLED installed on an esp8266 or esp32 board.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

However if someone doesn't want to solder, doing it the way I did in the video does work just fine. But the more I solder the more i think it's actually kinda fun and it's always good to learn something new!

[@kyleguadagno8233]

@@ChrisMaherDIY so im just making this for over my desk, don't really need to be able to control it too custom. My main concern is the rest of my house is Philips Hue, so if I put a Govee light strip or similar its not going to work with the rest of my house. and Philips Hue strips are way too expensive to buy 32ft+ haha

[@pachii4198]

Those plastic plates are actually a good idea!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much for watching and the comment!

[@spfttt]

Awesome. Beautiful. I will start this build tomorrow. I have the same exact sliding compound miter saw, I have the 1x2x8 furring boards, I have 1 package of plates, and the Goove RGBIC LED strips. EXCITED AS HECK. I've been going crazy, "smart-homing" and RBGing my house with all the fun stuff. Liked, subscribed, and THANKS!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Sounds like a fun weekend! Let me know how it turns out and you are welcome! Thanks so much. Also, what are the odds you have the same saw lol!

[@minhalraza8791]

I feel so dumbfounded after seeing you use plates that’s genius!!! Going to try this soon

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Lol Thanks! It is shocking that after everything i tried, they looked the best. Thanks for watching and that's awesome your going to try it!

[@theimpulse77]

This is an older video and I know you have a table saw now, but I wanted to comment for anybody watching as well. Cutting those slots in the little pieces would be done much easier with a tablesaw on the full length boards. Then you would cut them down to length. Great job coming up with a jig to get this done on a miter saw though! When I first saw you holding that piece like you were gonna cut it, it freaked me out. Thanks!

[@SethCohn23]

Nice build. The plates are a true find.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks! They really were! Just wish I could find ones that were bigger so I could use them in some other larger designs.

[@SethCohn23]

@@ChrisMaherDIY looking at their website, they make an oval platter that's 12x10 in the same material, since you are cutting it down, that's still slightly bigger if you don't need symmetry.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@SethCohn23 thanks! That's so much bigger! Opens up a lot of different options. Thanks for the heads up!

[@michaelglenn4014]

what a great idea

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks buddy! Glad you liked it!

[@JonLake]

Use a router or table saw on the 8foot piece for the slide cut. Time saving !

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

100% yes! So much easier than doing what i did for every piece.

[@bonertv9375]

@@ChrisMaherDIY That wouldn't work as you had to flip the board to get the same angle on each end of the 4" pieces. So you would end up having some pieces with the slide cut on the wrong side.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@bonertv9375 yeah you are right! Half of the cuts would be on the long side of the wood when you need them to all be on the short side! Good catch!!

[@bonertv9375]

@@ChrisMaherDIY Still though, excellent craftsmanship. Your jig to bust those cuts out quick is wicked and the styrofoam plates for diffusers is brilliant. I'm an avid maker as well and watching your process was a lot of fun, cant wait to see what you post next!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@bonertv9375 thanks! It was for sure a fun project! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@kozz3]

2:10 "If you don't have one of these ask your dad" lol

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Lol the older you get the more likely you are to have tools. That's my theory haha

[@bella-mi8wo]

@@ChrisMaherDIY wait "if you dont have one ask your dad" if you didnt have the machine how could your dad have it if your family does not own the machine lol

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@Pepiitoo QC maybe a friend would have one? Or might want to just save up for one likes I did!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@Pepiitoo QC lol man I'm gullible. I was first like that's so sad!

[@LifeofTechUK]

Amazing work, Chris. Thanks very much for the video 🙂

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much and you are very welcome!! Glad you enjoyed!

[@shaunengler9740]

I would paint the stick black then cut and retouch it up afterwards to make it look cool for day time and lights then it’s going to look cool

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

That is a great idea! Probably easier to paint before like you said and touch up after! Thanks for watching!

[@jameswilliston9926]

Good video. Clear and concise directions. I stumbled on your page and I think you've convinced me to make my own nanoleaf hex project. Thanks for keeping things simple

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks! I appreciate the feedback! If you have some of the basic tools it's a pretty simple and fun project. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

[@RaGPeyton]

I am working on these at the moment with my dad! I will have a video showing them when they are done.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Awesome!! For sure I would love to see how they turned out!! Thanks!

[@RaGPeyton]

@@ChrisMaherDIY Also what did you use to hang them up?

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@RaGPeyton I just used some picture hanging stuff I found at home depot. Here is the exact thing I used but I'm sure many different things would have worked. www.homedepot.com/p/PicGenie123-40-Piece-50-lbs-Picture-Hanging-Kit-Hangs-Pics-Up-4-Pack-M50-MK4/302044281

[@RaGPeyton]

@@ChrisMaherDIY Thanks!

[@RaGPeyton]

mine are finished but they look terrible on my phone. they are very nice in person!!

[@nrm5520]

That's look awesome man!!! I wanna try it out

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much and thanks for watching buddy!

[@matthewallen6183]

24:44 "you can't splice them back together".... um.... yes you can. I've done it before. It's fiddly but possible. You just have to cut on the right spot, where the blobs of solder are. In my case I soldered wires onto those solder blobs. If there isn't enough solder, you just add some of your own first. And have something to keep the LED strip from moving around. Weight it down.

[@jessedogg]

This will be a great weekend project with amazing results. Thanks man!!! Definitely one of the best tutorials I have seen so far.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much! Its a fun project for sure! If you know more about LED's than i did when making this, I'm sure you can make it look even better by using some ws2812b strips.

[@cenote6492]

This is awesome and I hope to make this too.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much! Thanks for watching! If you try making it, let me know if you have any questions I can help with!

[@cenote6492]

@@ChrisMaherDIY can i use a (1 by 1 inch) wood..?

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@cenote6492 I would stick to the 1 x 2 inch wood. You can certainly try and I could be wrong, but I think using 1 x 1 you would be able to see the individual led lights through the plates because the lights are so close. Using 2 inch wood keeps the led lights just far enough away so that everything is lit up evenly and you can't really see hot spots.

[@cenote6492]

Thank you very much ❤️

[@martinheinrichs4867]

im building custom LED Stuff for 10 years and never came to the idea to use styrofoam as a diffuser! intersting! i will try it out. i always liked to use acrylic from the manufactor Plexiglas as they offer a wide range of different diffusing acrylic with different transluzient percentages and diffusing effects.

[@threadchemistry]

Hey just FYI, not sure if someone has mentioned this, but you could've gotten away with using only 1 strip to cover the whole thing without doubling over and/or back. Starting where you did and staying on the right just like you did, and circling around to the 10th one (where you circled all the way around) instead of going all the way around and coming back right there, stop where that last one (10th) connects with the center, go in the center, loop the full center piece, exciting back into the 10th where you came in, then finish the 10th till circle, go into the 9th, and continue back to the beginning now on the left side... Save you some led strip. Hope that helped if it hasn't already... Awesome job though man. Very impressed with all your work. You're about to save me hundreds, probably thousands of dollars without losing nearly any, if at all, quality to the look. So thank you for that my man.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for watching and for the great idea! I didn't think of that but it sounds like it would work great! Appreciate you taking the time to comment and help me out. Hope you have a good one buddy!

[@M2dScientist]

Great video, really good job!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much!! Appreciate the support and thanks for watching!

[@kashifa723]

I liked purely out of respect for the video format. Thank you for this.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thank you and thanks for the comment! I'm glad you enjoyed!!

[@rwilcox_71]

This is fantastic! Great work! I will be making my own!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thank you for the comment and let me know how yours turns out and anything you do to make it better or easier to build!

[@rwilcox_71]

@@ChrisMaherDIY I certainly will! I have a few tools that have been waiting to be used so this is a great project to do so! Thanks again for sharing!

[@cooljaybz]

try using addressable leds.. Ws2812b or ws2811... that gives you the aurora effect.... it usually is a 5v led strip. its easy also to use sp107e sp108e controllers...

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for watching and the comment! When I made this video I had no idea what I was doing. If I were to do it again now that I know a little bit more, I would definitely use ws2812b lights! They are so much more customizable! Thanks for the suggestion! you were 100% right!

[@fruferSK]

Nice tutorial! Instead of suggested WS2812b you can use newer WS2815. It has DC12V input instead of DC5V. And "with 12v input , the WS2815 LED strip can run longer than WS2812B strip light because of less voltage drop."

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

I'll for sure take a look at those. Is Amazon still a good/best place to buy LED strips like this or is there a different place that is better?

[@fruferSK]

@@ChrisMaherDIY aliexpress for sure. I just checked them there

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@fruferSK thanks!

[@drewskiofdunbar]

I love this project and I will probably tackle it in the next few months. One suggestion: use a table saw to slot the boards before cutting the edges on the miter. Any thoughts?

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much! Let me know how it turns out! Someone mentioned the same thing and I was like yeah, that would be super easy! But then someone also mentioned that if you did that half of the slots cut would be in the wrong side since you have to flip the board with every cut on the miter. You would just have to make 1 extra cut each time in the miter if you use the table saw but in my opinion it would be worth it since using the table saw to make that cut would save a lot of time!

[@berrberr3194]

Chris Maher Maybe you could mirror the cut to the other side of the board as well to cover the other half of pieces, and then it would form the same continuous line on the exterior and would simply look like an intentional design.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@berrberr3194 i think that would work and probably look pretty cool with a line on the outside as well! Thanks for the great idea! Brilliant!

[@Semtex199]

most ingenious tutorial ever, awesome ! thanks a lot, just made one and it worked prefectly !!!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much! Glad it worked perfect!

[@bryantm32]

This is awesome!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks B! Appreciate it buddy!

[@Southernhosp]

Correct me if im wrong cause im not sure either way. But I was told not to lift blade back up while its running to reduce chances of it catching on the cut piece and tossing it out.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

I think you right! I'm not a woodworker so I'm not 100% sure but keeping it down until the blade stops does seem like it would be a lot safer!

[@cmart7307]

WOW! Super RAD! Great job! Stay clean my brotha!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much!!

[@victorx3820]

if you use 2812b leds you could cut them and still make the rainbow effect y recomend you using the sp501e controller sorry for my english its not my first langauge

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for the comment and the recommendation! I'm going to have to try this! I'm also going to check out the sp501e controller. Thanks so much!

[@exystml7254]

What can you recommend a much cheaper substitute material to the wood frame? Like rubber or styrofoam that is enough as substitute, i want to try

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

I would say the only thing that might work is cardboard. Wood is pretty cheap where I'm at but requires more tools. I think if I took the time I could make a really sweet looking one using cardboard!

[@exystml7254]

@@ChrisMaherDIY yeah i meant foam board , sintra board there but yeah cardboard is good. Thank you

[@thunderbear0]

Just go to home decoration market you will find alot of cool and cheap stuff and then customize it You can make alot of nice and cool stuff for cheap without any machines

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for watching and the great idea! Definitely easier to start with something and customize vs building everything from scratch.

[@JustPlainRob]

You can absolutely cut and splice addressable LEDs. You just have to make sure you splice them back together in the order you want the addresses to run. That's why they have the cut points in the first place, and why there are solder pads there.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

You are 100% correct. I didn't know much about LED lights when doing this project. The manufacturers info on these lights said if you cut you can't use the rest and I didn't know any better. My only guess is maybe they meant you can't splice them together and have it work with the controller that the lights came with? I have successfully used the leftovers now using an esp8266!

[@herantd]

WS2812b led stripe and also a microcontroller such as esp8266 which is cheap and easy to use and also comes with built-in Wifi. I also noticed you used the hot glue which might not be the best option as that cool down abit too fast and leaves a gap between those hex pieces.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks! I'm loving all the great recommendations on LEDs to use as I'm not to familiar with everything out there. And great observation and I agree about the hot glue gun. You have to be fast and it definitely can leave gaps. I would say wood glue would be better if you have clamps and patience. I had clamps but not the patience. Lol.

[@herantd]

@@ChrisMaherDIY Great build

[@Robotinnovations]

Hi you can remove the silicon from the point to cut. Then you need to use the very first led set that is the driver ic to the cut point . That's it enjoy

[@haye101]

you can cut Ws2812B led strip and it still works fine

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks!! appreciate the comment and thanks so much for watching!

[@gabygee9917]

Thank you for taking the time to share this, I hope I can try to make my own sometime!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

You are welcome and thanks for watching! It was a fun project!

[@ShahZahid]

great job man, the issue with most of these diy builds are that they have led hot spots which take away some of the attraction but yours are among the few thst look perfect man also i had never thought about using wood but its a pretty good alternative to other materials if u dont want to 3d print

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much! Those were my thoughts exactly! I couldn't find a video on youtube that had the end result i was looking for since most had hotspots.

[@davidvanson1786]

Try the SK6812 RGBW tape they save a bit of power by having the white led included so you don't have to use the rgb at full brightness white.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thank you! That's a great idea! Love the recommendation and thanks so much for watching!

[@fictionfacts8910]

keep it up bro! make a triangle will more interesting!

[@ElliottRodgers]

That's a really good idea

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

I actually started out making a triangle but switched to a hexagon. I definitely to want to try making a triangle at some point!

[@jerowns]

I’m planing to make straight strips connected by pivot points like a snake. No clue yet how to make them tho

[@patrickmckowen2999]

Great project - thx

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

You are very welcome and thanks so much for watching and taking the time to comment!

[@justincowans2677]

Great video. Thanks you for all of your work. Now just need my wife to let me buy all the tools.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for the comment and it was a fun project. When your having fun it doesn't feel like work :) Facebook Marketplace always seems to have some good deals on tools! Thats where i usually buy mine!

[@josezuniga3747]

You can buy a cheap soldering iron at Walmart for like $10, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles but it can be used to connect led strips. Only other thing you'd need is a led controller that matches your led strips, it will allow you to control the LEDs and resist the amount of power running through them.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for the pro tips! In a couple other of my newer videos I give soldering a try and it was really fun learning a new skill! Thanks so much for watching and the great advice!

[@woji1707]

loks nice

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thank you! Thanks for watching!

[@GT.Bugger]

The best video I've seen on this, keeping costs down and simple enough for anyone. Not sure if your know already but you can actually use the rest of the led strip you cut away.. It just requires buying a seperate power supply and you can buy crimping connectors which join the strips together.. So maybe you could have extended the first one you used.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for watching! I have very little knowledge of LED strips but I'm for sure going to try doing what you recommend. Sounds simple enough!

[@DJROBONE1]

really nice project..

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thank you so much!!

[@nczioox1116]

Any thought to 3d printing to save some effort?

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

I am for sure at some point wanting to get into the 3d printing game. It would open up so many different options for all my project. Just haven't had time to really jump on the bandwagon yet. When I do though, do you have any suggestions for a good printer?

[@nczioox1116]

@@ChrisMaherDIY Good to hear! I highly recommend Creality for beginner printers. The ender 3 series is probably the most popular

[@StolenCry1]

Awesome video! The instructions were very clear.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it! Definitely give it a try. Very easy to make and you will love the way it turns out! Looks better in person than in video.

[@mason1966]

Got the materials, im gonna try this today

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Awesome! Let me know if you have any questions and I would love to see how it turns out!

[@mason1966]

@@ChrisMaherDIY I got all my pieces cut, and I’m just waiting for the paint to dry. Only got one board so I made 5 hexagons.

[@OpinionFactChecker]

Even with the cost of materials in Australia (about 5 times as much) this works out cheaper. Seeing how cheap material were in America I'm not surprised inflation has hit hard, it's called the elastic band effect!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

A few other people have also commented on how cheap stuff is here. I just take it for granted but I probably should not! Yeah, I think if things were 5 times the cost of what they are now, DIY might not be as popular lol.

[@notagamer6]

U should try to make an epoxy river table with leds

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Man i would love to try something like that but epoxy seems like its on a different level from a difficulty standpoint and I could be wrong but doesn't epoxy cost a good amount of money?! Maybe someday I can try doing something like that! Love the idea!

[@notagamer6]

@@ChrisMaherDIY definitely something to think about in the future because it can be an expensive project. But if anyone can figure it out and do something unique with it, it's you bro. Keep up the great content man

[@carrycartoon]

I'm your 350th subscriber bro best wishes for your next videos

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks! I appreciate the support! Working on the video now!

[@kamikadze9974]

Have a look in to "Govee led strips" they bluetooth have so many mods and u can cut them

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for watching and the tip! I've heard of govee but have never bought one of their light strips. Ill have to check it out!

[@liualisa5618]

great video!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much!

[@andrewii115]

YOU ARE A F***ING GENIUS

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thank you for watching!

[@ironpanther5894]

Great video please make more

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks! Almost done with a new build.

[@DanielH]

Nice work

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thank you and thanks for watching!

[@donaldchilnerjr175]

Use a table saw for the groove. And datto for blade in table saw for led channels

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Great idea!! That would for sure look better and be much easier to do than how I did it. Thanks!!

[@markmaisy4858]

You can get WS2811 LED's they have 366 dream colour effects and can be cut every 3 LED's so you have no wastage. They're 12V and supported with an abundance of controllers too

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much for the suggestion! I'll have to look into them. They sound really customizable!

[@stephengrant6894]

Hi Chris, love your projects! Have you looked into wled for your led controllers? You can then use individually addressable led's that can be spliced together to create that single strip you wanted. Also wifi controllable with a smart app and compatible with alexa/ Philips hue etc. Have some really cool effects that would really make these projects stand out more. Keep up the good work man 👍

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much for watching and the comment! If i were to do it again that is exactly how i would do it! In my latest 3 projects I started using and esp2866 wifi board with WLED loaded on it to control some ws2812b led strips. I'm loving the customizability of doing it that way. When i made my first couple projects, I really had no experience with LED lights so i didn't know what all was out there. I'm slowing learning a little bit with each project that i do. Thanks for the support!

[@stephengrant6894]

@@ChrisMaherDIY I recommend you check out a bit of kit called the dig-uno. Is a great bit of technology that will save soldering the led wires and also offers protection via a built in fuse. Maybe better for larger projects. Check out some great videos from a guy on KZbin called drzzz on how it all works. Costs about $20.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@stephengrant6894 awesome!! Ill for sure check it out! Soldering is not too hard but I wouldn't say I enjoy doing it. Would be nice if I didn't need to do that anymore! Thanks!

[@exodeus7959]

I really do like this project. Looks really good. And you described everything exceptionally well. You ever get the SKU number for the wood in the description? Because there is no way that was $1.85 for those boards. Looks like select pine.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much!! Here is the link to the wood. Its from Home Depot. The link should work if you are in the US. Looks like the price has gone up a good amount since making this video over a year ago! At least its still not as bad as gas! www.homedepot.com/p/1-in-x-2-in-x-8-ft-Premium-Kiln-Dried-Square-Edge-Whitewood-Common-Board-914584/100037592

[@mrrazzee]

I can't make this... But it is the best way to make nanoleaf at home...👍

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thank you for watching!

[@TheLumiSax]

Try WS2812B leds. It's individually addressable and you can cut it as many times as you want. Then you can connect it to some ESP8266 module and control it by wifi with free open source firmware. I'll be happy to help.

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

I'm almost done with another project but my next one i think i'm going to try using the WS2812B. I may very well be reaching out! Thanks!

[@TheLumiSax]

I went thru a lot of trials and errors with my led saxophone. I'll be happy to share my experience ;)

[@GeeKayOfficial]

❤❤❤ Wow, hectic but great job ❤❤❤

[@TeezMonkey]

Quick tip when cutting out the paper hexagon could have used ruler to make perfect cuts

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks for watching and the comment! Yeah that's a good idea! Probably would have went a little faster too! Thanks!

[@ashraionart]

he's an ARTIST....

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks!! Appreciate the support!

[@GuillermoSampallo]

awesome work!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thank you!

[@stephenpatterson9499]

When you strung the LEDs through like you did, how did you group them in each hex for programming? An example would be hex 1 you'd have LEDs 1-4 and then let's say 80-84. Can you group those two segments so they work together?

[@thediyamateur1355]

Brilliant project. I might have a go at something like this myself. You sir just gained a new sub :)

[@welshtony1]

Make that 2 subs... So I dont miss the content (the DIY Amateur is my new channel for my projects lol)

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it! Love to see what you make if you do one yourself!

[@TB-gg1mn]

You should be able to cut those LED strips and solder in wires to create a gap between each end of the cut. As long as the path of the LED strip remains the same. (there should be an arrow indicating direction on the strip PCB)

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

Thanks and I might try that on a future project! (I would first need to learn to solder though) but that would open up so many more options for design! Thanks for the great idea!

[@TB-gg1mn]

@@ChrisMaherDIY They have quick connectors that you can use instead of soldering to, you just have to make sure the spacing on the pins in the quick connectors matches the strips contact spacing, so the contacts line up. But awesome video man, I'm getting the parts for it this weekend myself!

[@ChrisMaherDIY]

@@TB-gg1mn Awesome! Let me know how it turns out. I'd love to see the end result and improvements you made!