How much do you think it would cost...

[Zephik]

How much do you think it would cost to build one of these yourself?

Interactive LED Coffee Table (http://www.becausewecan.org/LED_coffee_table_Ripple)

I would LOVE to have one, but at two grand a table its just a tiny bit out of my price range. lol

[LiTHiUM0XiD3]

you wouldnt be the first to ask about such things on this forum...

[Zephik]

The good news: I can and I plan on building one. Feast your eyes on THESE BABIES! (http://evilmadscience.com/majors/46-tables)

The bad news: Because of how much it is going to cost, I will have to build it piece by little piece, which is going to take time, probably somewhere between six months to a year. (Hey, I only get like $200 a month or less to spend on whatever I want. The rest goes to bills and rent. ><)

I think I'll start working on my sketchup model asap. Since the woodwork will be the last thing I do (as its currently winter), I'll have plenty of time to get it right. Well, on "paper" anyways.

Idea's? Opinions? "Good luck you'll need its"? lol

----------BTW----------
What kind of soldering irons would you guys recommend for the "kits" found in the link above? Something around thirty dollars or less preferably, but if its one that you swear by I'll go up to or around fifty dollars. Keep in mind I'll only need it for soldering the LED's, aside from that I probably wont ever use it again. lol

This will be my first time soldering... anything actually. But I've heard that soldering LED's isn't too high on the difficulty list and is fairly easy to learn.

Side Note/Thinking out loud: I hope I have put in enough hours come this friday, because I still want to get my MP3 player as well as be able to pay back the 60 dollars I borrowed, so hopefully I'll have enough for one panel for now and a soldering iron, otherwise I'll have to wait until the pay check after this upcoming one. ><

[Zephik]

**Added Poll to Thread**

Which LED's should I use?

White - Subtle yet pretty, like the stars?
Blue - Vibrant and eye catching, more dazzle?


**Sketchup File**

Here is my first design, just a quick Sketchup with fairly accurate measurements. I was going for a modern-ish look, not sure how I feel about it.

http://www.badongo.com/file/12065786


**Estimated cost to build**

Eight LED Panels = $680 (over a span of about 4 months?)
Two 48"x24" pieces of 1/4th plexiglass = $80 (one over top, one underneath)
One large piece of 1/8th plexiglass = $20 (miscellaneous small stuff)
Tools and Accessories = $50? (guesstimation)
Miscellaneous parts = $20 (power cord? stuff like that I guess)
All the small stuff that I don't want to list = $50 (just in case)
Building material aka Wood = $100 (can't be more than that right?)

TOTAL = $1000 - HALF of the listed retail price, yay!

[xRyokenx]

You're most likely going to spend quite a bit more than $100, the stuff is expensive these days.

[NightrainSrt4]

If I have time I will try and look for a link, but I'm pretty sure I saw something recently where they made one of these tables but they did all the circuitry themselves. It was complex but I can't imagine it costing what even those boards you linked would cost.

[Zephik]

You're most likely going to spend quite a bit more than $100, the stuff is expensive these days.

Your talking for the wood right? or are you missing a zero? lol

If its about the wood, then no worries really. I can always buy the wood piece by piece as well until I have it all. I plan on doing this project right, so I want something really nice and solid, if I have to wait a bit longer for not cheaping out, then thats fine. :)

I've yet to decide on the wood to use though, anyone have any ideas?

It should probably be of a color that goes well with black PCB since I don't currently plan on painting it or using frosted plexi. I'm also not sure if I want knots in the wood or not? I would imagine that that would play a role in what type of wood I use.


If I have time I will try and look for a link, but I'm pretty sure I saw something recently where they made one of these tables but they did all the circuitry themselves. It was complex but I can't imagine it costing what even those boards you linked would cost.

That would be cool.

Eighty-five dollars per board really isn't too much for me though, its easily affordable if I space it all out. I could also put in more hours at work for an extra fat paycheck and go for one of the multiple board deals. If I bought them all at once, I would save like.. what was it... three hundred dollars? lol crazy. I wish I could do that, but meh, oh well, this is fine. ^_^

But yea, if I can get those boards for a decent deal cheaper, then that would only speed up the estimated time to build. I can't see anything wrong with that! :p

[xRyokenx]

Yeah, I meant wood, lol. Actually... you probably will spend more than $1k.

As to the knots, they'll interfere with cuts and stuff and can potentially pop out of the board.

[Datech]

As far as the soldering iron, I'd call the company that makes the boards and ask them what their techs recommend.

If I had the time to do this I'd make my own boards to get the LED's closer together so the effect is more fluid. I feel like those boards for this project will end up looking more like runway lights than something akin to a fluid fireball.

If you do buy those boards, be prepared to pump the total cost to around $1200, cause I think you'll spend more on the wood and tools.

Interesting project otherwise, should be sweet to see the finished product.

[nevermind1534]

Just find a table that somebody is throwing away. If it's really bad, you can refinish it.

[Zephik]

Yeah, I meant wood, lol. Actually... you probably will spend more than $1k.

As to the knots, they'll interfere with cuts and stuff and can potentially pop out of the board.

More th an $1k just for the wood? or for the entire project?


If I had the time to do this I'd make my own boards to get the LED's closer together so the effect is more fluid. I feel like those boards for this project will end up looking more like runway lights than something akin to a fluid fireball.

If you do buy those boards, be prepared to pump the total cost to around $1200, cause I think you'll spend more on the wood and tools.

It will look like this...

Y3ulBf7NIl8

So not too bad, but I agree, I would like to have a more fluid effect. But meh, it works I guess.

Thats fine, like I said, cost isn't too much of an issue since I plan on buying/building it piece by piece over time. I originally thought it was going to take up to a year to finish, looks like that might end up being true. lol


Just find a table that somebody is throwing away. If it's really bad, you can refinish it.

Meh, I'd rather build it myself. I'm actually thinking about designing the table to be more like [this one] (http://www.becausewecan.org/LED_coffee_table_Ripple) than not, I love the looks of that coffee table! But I will probably end up with something entirely different, who knows?

How much do you guys think they spent on the wood for their table?

[xRyokenx]

Hahaha, I'm losing it, apparently. I meant the entire project. *is going senile in his old age*

[Zephik]

Whipped up some more quick designs...

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/5389/12068695xj1.png

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/4660/76372998mf7.png

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/3113/30035748tw2.png

By the way, if anyone ever gets bored enough, feel free to design me a coffee table! Measurements should fit somewhere along the lines of 40" x 26" x 18" high. Other than that, go wild and do whatever you think would be cool/nice/etc looking. ^_^

**Here is the Sketchup file for the third one**

http://www.badongo.com/file/12075797

[Zephik]

I've yet to decide on the wood to use though, anyone have any ideas?

It should probably be of a color that goes well with black PCB since I don't currently plan on painting it or using frosted plexi. I'm thinking about going for that two tone look just like with their table. I'm also not sure if I want knots in the wood or not? I would imagine that that would play a role in what type of wood I use. I guess preferably not?


How much do you guys think they spent on the wood for their table?



----------BTW----------
What kind of soldering irons would you guys recommend for the "kits" found in the link above? Something around thirty dollars or less preferably, but if its one that you swear by I'll go up to or around fifty dollars. Keep in mind I'll only need it for soldering the LED's, aside from that I probably wont ever use it again. lol

This will be my first time soldering... anything actually. But I've heard that soldering LED's isn't too high on the difficulty list and is fairly easy to learn.

Bumped since they were starting to fall behind and because this puts them in one place.

EDIT:

I think I'm going to go with the maple plywood (http://www.global-b2b-network.com/direct/dbimage/50237467/Maple_Plywood.jpg) and cherry (http://www.ashlandfurniturestudio.com/images/Cherry_ebony_1.JPG). What do you guys think? Maybe something a bit darker instead of the cherry? EXAMPLE (http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6717/patternae3.png)

EDIT:

Here is a colored version of my current coffee table design. You need sketchup to view the file. Its free and as a modder, you should have it, so if you don't, GO GET IT (http://www.google.com/sketchup/download/)! :p

http://www.badongo.com/file/12078264

[mittelmeier]

Cherry would look nice but if you want a darker looking wood a nice mahogany would be a bit darker. If you really want to go with a dark wood though you could buy ebony. It's pricey though so it would probably blow the budget.

[Zephik]

Weller WLC100 (http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-Soldering-Station-Hobbyist/dp/B000AS28UC/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1226658114&sr=8-1) - Found my soldering iron!

They recommended "rosin-core solder, 0.020", but not sure if thats what I should get? It seems pretty pricey on amazon. What do you guys think? I know absolutely jack-diddle about soldering and the related, so...