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can anybody reccomend any sights on how to make lightboxes??
Hi all,
I’m looking into making lightboxes and would like to know if there are any sites out there which show how to make lightboxes from scratch. some videos would be a great help.
thank you.
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14 Replies
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Unlikely as it’s not something that most people would be able to do for themselves, far to many problems with things like electrical certification if these are going to be sold and fitted in public places.
If you are looking for info on making them from scratch then I am guessing you also have no engineering skills to speak of, don’t mean that as a criticism of any sort but just by looking at one I could tell you pretty much how it was made and what equipment would probably be needed/suitable to manufacture them.
From memory you would probably be looking at guillotines, benders, welding equipment, riveting equipment (probably air operated) and test equipment for electrical certification. Would imagine it would be a major expense to set up from scratch and something more suited to an engineering works that was looking to expand rather than anyone else. -
fathers got 20 plus years in being an electrician
got a big enough unit
bought a saw suitable to cut profiles and got a supplier of profiles.
I feel I already have the ingredients and the recipe. Just want to cook it following a visual video to make sure all goes well! 😀
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Phillip, buy a small lightbox from Kestrel and see how they go together from that.
Probabnly a lot easier than trawling for a vid that might not exist!!
F
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quote Fred McLean:Phillip, buy a small lightbox from Kestrel and see how they go together from that.Probabnly a lot easier than trawling for a vid that might not exist!!
F
exactly…
doing them in "volume" and being properly set-up, is the key, i find building them as and when needed, is time consuming and just as well ordering in. only real benefit i saw making in house is you had your box quicker.
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Totally agree Rob, unless you’re set up for doing box after box………just as economical buying one in, espicially from Kestrel, their prices are very good. 😛
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I love building lightboxes. It is quick and easy once you’ve done a few, and it is one of the highest profit "normal’ sign products we produce.
Basic tools: Aluminium Mitre saw – preferably one with a laser guide, Pop rivit gun (pneumatic is easy on the hands….) and an angle grinder (if you dont have a guilliotine for cutting the backing plate)
We use the very strong "Mae West" alu profiles (Google "Mae West Aluminium Extrusions – you will get a good picture. ) with mitred edges (you also get cast alu corner sockets, but not so neat) with "Baby -H profile to hold the face panel. Finish off the corners with 25 x 25 alu angle, and Bob is your mother’s brother.
Basic wiring skills required. Our regulations allow us to wire the box, even if you are not a registered sparky, but we may not connect to the mains power supply. Any connections to the mains must be done by a qualified sparky registered by the relevant local authority. (Funny enough, if you install the self-wired box, lay the power cable, and attach a normal wall plug, all is legal, since the wall SOCKET is connected to the mains, not your plug…..)
In terms of time: 2 Guys can build a 3 x 1m box, wired, panel installed in about 3 hours. While they build the box, the applicators can prepare the face panel. Profit will pay both guys wages for almost a month 😀
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fully understand what your saying Gert, and mean no disrespect. but your in "Namibia" south africa? if i could sell a 3×1 metre lightbox and pay two guys wages for a month ide setup a seperate division entirely doing that only. 😀
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LOL, Robert,
South Africa are the guys who lost to Australia last weekend. We (Namibia) are the guys who "were lucky" to score 0 against South Africa… 😀
But yes, things are scewed if you try to do comparisons. Some things are way cheaper here ( like rent, property, petrol, electricity etc) and some things far more expensive (like cars, tools, etc – basically anything imported)
What makes comparisons even more difficult, is when you try to compare costs relative to the cost of other items.
Things that are cheaper here may cost relatively more than in the UK. Petrol, as an example, costs about 1 Euro per litre. Cheaper than the UK, I presume? But a teacher with 4 year Uni degree will start at 900 euro per month – enough to buy 900litre of petrol. A UK teacher with a 4 year degree will afford a bit more than that, I should think.
Still on teachers wage. A small car, bottom of the range, is more than 1 year’s wages. About 11000 euro for a Dawoo Matiz, for example. A new Golf GTI is about 32000 Euro…….
What I tried to say, in our market it is a profitable venture to make lightboxes. And in any event, we cannot source ready made blank units. We are more "diversified" by what we have to do in the local market.
A quick cost breakdown (Namibian prices) for the 3×1 box: Materials: 250 Euro. Labour: 15 Euro. Portion of fixed cost: 40 Euro. Total: 305 Euro. Selling Price: 900 Euro…..Profit E 600. For 2 guys working 3 hours to build the box…( The fixed cost component covers rent, equipment, graphic designer wages etc, based on total costs devided by 22 working days and 9 hours per day, and keeping in mind that the 2 guys working on the job makes up 25% of workshop staff)
The 2 employees in question earn about 250 euro per month each….
But we still have to compete against other companies that operate in exactly the same environment, so we are no better or worse off than you guys 😉 [/b]
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quote Phillip Patterson:fathers got 20 plus years in being an electrician
got a big enough unit
bought a saw suitable to cut profiles and got a supplier of profiles.
I feel I already have the ingredients and the recipe. Just want to cook it following a visual video to make sure all goes well! 😀
Phillip if you are manufacturing them then your farther may be able to build them but they will need to be certified and I am not sure if 17th edition would be suitable for that, worth checking.
You will need a suitable bender to form the boxes and a welder suitable for ally plus someone who can ally weld.
You will need some way to cut the ally sheet to size and a guillotine would be the best way to do that and of course a rivet gun and as I said above and Gurt has said something along the lines of an air driven gun would be best which would require a compressor. -
Martin, you can buy ally extrusions that actually make up the whole box, no bending/welding require
Main side extrusion-single or double sided, beading that holds the panels in/strengthening rib section and corner section. 😀
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quote Fred McLean:Martin, you can buy ally extrusions that actually make up the whole box, no bending/welding require
Main side extrusion-single or double sided, beading that holds the panels in/strengthening rib section and corner section. 😀
You learn something new every day, Thanks for educating me Fred :lol1:
Been a long time since I have fitted one to be honest but I was almost certain that it had been folded and the corners welded. Will have to learn to apy more attention 😳
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quote Martin:Will have to learn to apy more attention 😳And type more slowly 😉
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:lol1:
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i know sorta know the ones Martin mentions, pretty old hat these days though..
but, i still get flex-face lightboxes that have been heavily aluminium welded. i would imagine this is due to the pressure the sides are under when cranking the skins tight on the face. well the types ive used anyway.Gert i do get what you mean mate, i sorta did with your initial post too, thats why i was trying to say i didnt mean anything negative. thanks for taking the time to explain mate. 😀
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