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is there a way of lighting a clear perspex/acrylic sign?
Hello All
Does anyone know if there is a way of lighting a clear perspex/acrylic sign so that it looks like it glows? I sort of remember seeing something like this somewhere but I can’t for the life of me remember where! I have a feeling it was a wire suspended job that had an external light source nearby that gave it the impression of glowing? I also believe that it was for internal use only, but somebody could well prove me wrong? Perhaps there is a company out there that supplies this type of sign? Thanks in advance, Spooky.
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10 Replies
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i’m pretty sure thaat you’d need to shine a light (led’s work fine) onto the edge of the perspex, the light will travel thru it, but would certainly be used to better effect if the perspex was engraved, you need really to hide the lights so all the lights travels thru the perspex (or glass) rather than in all directions,
i couldnt see the effect being much use if it was to be covered in vinyl decals or owt, be worth a shot though to see what happens !
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They’re called “edge lit” signs. 😀
Try this link:-http://www.metalmaster.co.uk/2-promotional_products_uk_pages/edge-lit-signs.htm
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any body tried doming clear vinyl letters instead of engraving for edge lite signs ? just a thought.
chris
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I don’t think doming would work. The image needs to be etched into the clear panel to catch the light. What does look nice is if you engrave the outline and have a vinyl fill. The glow from the edge lit engraving illuminates the vinyl.
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You need to polish the edge of the acrylic where the light shines through , you can use many light sources like LEDS , cold halogen strip tubes etc , the key to all this is that the perspex MUST rest on the light source , IE must be in contact withy the light. Apart from this , one has to use realtively thick pex , 6-10mm at least – under that , you dont get a great light transmission.
2 methods of getting a “glow” (actually 3) , laser engraving or sandblasting which frosts and router engraving which will generally give a glowing outline. You can combine each method so you get a outline that glows differently from a letter fill. You can use transluscent vinyls to give colours , but you need to use them in the front of the pex (you always do edgelit from behind in reverse) , you can also spray the etched sections with transluscent paint for the same effect.
Using vinyl without any engraving is useless , there is no effect. Doming a clear letter wont work either , the light transmits thru the pex and not out the flat surfaces , the pex acts as a wave guide of sorts.
There is BIG money in this , not so much in terms of sigange , but in terms of stuff like this:
http://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … 608#108608[/img] -
i was thinking of your smirnoff bucket as i was writing my original post Rodney, cool work !
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Thanks for the ideas, it all sounds pretty fiddly and expensive? My main problem I can see for the customer is that she wants to put it outside on a wall at eye level in a place where kids can sometimes hang around – I give it about 3 nights before it’s gone or busted! Cheers All.
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Hello…….as Rodney quire correctly points out – the effect is caused by defraction of the light source. Typically (and always obtains the best results) the Acylic (6mm is fine, 10mm is ideal) needs to be engraved with a “V” cutter.
1 edge need to be polished (nearest the light source), the other 3 need to be covered with a silver foil tape to bounce the light back into the perspex.
The light source itself needs to be encased to prevent the light escaping.
We’ve had great sucsess with these tried & tested methods (made a few thousand for the brewing industries) – Try applying the vinyl’s first and THEN enraving round the Image – works a treat. Have a look at the site
http://www.brainstorm-graphics.com/led. … .signs.htm – These guys are using LED’s to provide the light source, with the added advantage that the LED’s (tri-colours) can produce any colour combination with a little electronic trickery!!Hope this helps
Regards
Mark
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I have produced some striking edge lit signs for my wifes Hairdressing shop. I used Luxeon 1W blue led’s mounted on an aluminum bar 6 foot long which transmit the light through the bottom edge of the panel which is 3 foot high 10mm acrylic with polished edges.
I used a frosted vinyl for the graphics works very well. I have also domed the graphics and this seems to increase the light output and also makes the graphics more 3D. Eveybody who walks into the shop has commented on how effective they are – I even had a sign company come down to give me a quote for some stainless lettering for the shop front – he whipped out his digital camera and started snapping my signs he was very impressed, spent an hour explaining how I did it 😀 😀 !! -
Coming in late on this one but we’ve been using the fluorescent lines of acrylic (perspex) that have become available. These come in several colors and have a very light tint. However, the polished edges absolutely glow with a deep, rich color. It’s quite striking and while we haven’t tried machining lettering into it yet I think that they would glow without having to etch it to catch light. They would have to be edge lit to get the effect indoors but outside they just glow away in the sunlight.
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