Desk underlighting?

[Chewy_Solo]

I was thinking about getting some under lighting for under my desk. I had the idea of rope lights but the shortest i could find was 18 feet.

What can i use for this?

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l222/Chewy_Solo/Computer%20related/0111091126.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l222/Chewy_Solo/Computer%20related/0111091126a.jpg

[EvilNeverDies]

CCFL's or led's in parallel? mind you led's would mean a lot of wires going about

[xmastree]

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50119407

[slytherock]

what about Xmas Leds? a quarter of the price at this time of the year and before reductions alot less then ikea lamps

[Luke122]

Agreed, xmas LED's are cheap.

If you are looking for something with some "glow", then a ccfl will do. LED's will give a more directional beam, which might be nice.

What about cutting a strip of plexiglass that follows the curve of the desk, then edge lighting it with LED's? Wiring could be kept pretty clean, and you could power the whole thing with a USB connection....

[Chewy_Solo]

Im not sure, ive never done LED wiring or anything of the sort. It would be interesting to learn how to do so though. And im looking for a BLUE glow. Sorry i didnt specify in my original post.

What xmas LEDs are you refering to?

And securing it is an issue too.

[xmastree]

What xmas LEDs are you refering to?
The ones you put on your Christmas tree.

[SgtM]

Use hot glue or cable clips to secure it.

[nevermind1534]

You could use a car underbody lighting kit. Or, if you want some more fun, wire up the LEDs yourself.

[Chewy_Solo]

You could use a car underbody lighting kit. Or, if you want some more fun, wire up the LEDs yourself.

What i was thinking, only i have no idea how i would do that or keep it secure.

[SgtM]

Wiring up LED's is easy. You can run a bunch off of 5v which is exactly what you get coming off of USB. You can attach them to the desk with some of these. (http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100586206)

LED calculator. (http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz)

[Chewy_Solo]

that may work but im worried of bumping it and breaking it and such. Should i so some sort of enclosure, or as stated on the previous page, plexiglass?

[BuzzKillington]

plexi would make an awesome mount. Just get a sheet and drill a bunch of holes to hold the leds.

First thing that came to mind from the pictures was a Vegas style stage or something haha

[d_stilgar]

EL wire is going to be the easiest imo. And the prices aren't that bad.

http://worldaglow.com/rcProdmain.asp?c1=4&id=133

[Chewy_Solo]

EL wire is going to be the easiest imo. And the prices aren't that bad.

http://worldaglow.com/rcProdmain.asp?c1=4&id=133

How bright are these things In a real world situation. As in 1/2 the brightness of a Blue Cold Cathode?

[Chewy_Solo]

Anyone know how bright EL wire is?

[xmastree]

From what I've seen, not very. It's ok for making pretty patterns but not for casting light onto other things.
So it's only useful where it can be seen.

[Chewy_Solo]

From what I've seen, not very. It's ok for making pretty patterns but not for casting light onto other things.
So it's only useful where it can be seen.

Then i need to find an alternative. I like the idea of LEDs and plexi, but i really dont know how i would go about it.

[xmastree]

What are you trying to achieve? You probably don't need plexi unless the lights will be visible. If you just want to create a glow beneath the desk then strategically placed LED's on their own should be fine.
Do you want them on a switch, or on with the computer, or something else?

[BuzzKillington]

depending on where/how the tower is mounted, you could run a molex out the back or bottom and run the wires behind/under the counter top to a cathode kit.

If you want to play with leds, plexi would be the best bet in my opinion because if you shaved the tips of the leds and set them in plexi, it would be 2x the anti-directional support.. or w/e the heck you wanna refer to it as. Plus if you look at how the wood meets under the desk, there's a perfect gap to form a plexi shelf. The shelf would hold the wires up and the leds in and as I mentioned before, help spread the glow where as if you used something solid such as wood, the light would have nowhere else to go but straight (depending on how deep the leds were placed of course).

I threw something together really quick just in case people didn't wanna read. Picture should sum it all up.

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/2382/36659734xq1.jpg

[Chewy_Solo]

depending on where/how the tower is mounted, you could run a molex out the back or bottom and run the wires behind/under the counter top to a cathode kit.

If you want to play with leds, plexi would be the best bet in my opinion because if you shaved the tips of the leds and set them in plexi, it would be 2x the anti-directional support.. or w/e the heck you wanna refer to it as. Plus if you look at how the wood meets under the desk, there's a perfect gap to form a plexi shelf. The shelf would hold the wires up and the leds in and as I mentioned before, help spread the glow where as if you used something solid such as wood, the light would have nowhere else to go but straight (depending on how deep the leds were placed of course).

I threw something together really quick just in case people didn't wanna read. Picture should sum it all up.

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/2382/36659734xq1.jpg

You basicly captured what i was thinking! :D

But, i was more thinking of it curving along the edige of the desk. As in it goes around the perimeter, rather than the middle.

[BerticusPryme]

I did something like that but I used rope lights I picked up from target the day after chistmas. They are supposed to be used outside and all but I was like hey these would look awesome under the dask and behind the lcd.

[Chewy_Solo]

I did something like that but I used rope lights I picked up from target the day after chistmas. They are supposed to be used outside and all but I was like hey these would look awesome under the dask and behind the lcd.

that what i originaly thought, but they are way too long for this.

[Chewy_Solo]

So how would i go about attatching the plexi?

[nevermind1534]

How about using 5200 or some sort of epoxy?

[Chewy_Solo]

How about using 5200 or some sort of epoxy?

The problem is, with todays market, my moms job isnt doing so hot, so we may eventually have to sell the house, and she is worried about resale value. (i dont know how this would hurt), and i may also want to change the LED color someday...

[Chewy_Solo]

So any ways of sencuring in a non permanent fashion?

[BerticusPryme]

Velcro. go to a hobby shop and get teh rols of the big thick heavy duty stuff. you can peel that stuff back down easy. hell we use it all the time at work to attach wireless points to walls and such in offices and it works fine.

[Chewy_Solo]

Velcro. go to a hobby shop and get teh rols of the big thick heavy duty stuff. you can peel that stuff back down easy. hell we use it all the time at work to attach wireless points to walls and such in offices and it works fine.

That sounds like a good idea :)

[nevermind1534]

Or what about a strong tape? Not too sure how it would stick to a wood composite, though.

[Chewy_Solo]

Or what about a strong tape? Not too sure how it would stick to a wood composite, though.

I think velcro is the best way to go.

[BuzzKillington]

You may have issues getting velcro to stick to certain wood surfaces. If there's a "shelf" on the other side like shown in your picture, you can rest both ends on it then cut out some Styrofoam to use as a wedge.

[Chewy_Solo]

You may have issues getting velcro to stick to certain wood surfaces. If there's a "shelf" on the other side like shown in your picture, you can rest both ends on it then cut out some Styrofoam to use as a wedge.

nope the other side is just at a 90 degree angle.

[XcOM]

get some scrap wood and screw little lips in to hold it up, then when it gets removed there should be next to no signs there was anything ever there.

[chaksq]

Certain types of rope lighting are designed to be cut to length and capped. When I was much younger my father used to purchase it this way. I remember going to the place he got it and it was on large spindles (like heavy duty cabling would be) and then it was cut at specific lengths (like could be cut every 1-2 feet or something like that). My father used to to scuba repair and used a 2' section of rope light to drop into the tanks to inspect the inside condition.

I was too young to remember where we went to get it, some sort of commercial supply place i think, maybe a hardware store or an electrician shop. I would look into it, just looking online I found a few places right off to purchase it in spindles.

If you cannot find someplace to get it cut to length for you I would suggest looking into LED underglow tubes. I believe you can purchase just one or two tubes. Or else build your own circuit and attach individual LEDs under the desk.

[theshoeshineman]

How about using capping. The stuff they use to "hide" external power cabelling.

You can mount the LED's inside of it and possibly hide any other cabels too.

Only thing is I don't think you can get capping to "curve" very well but I think you can get 45 degree bends to solve that?

Also if you want to sell things or get rid of it at a later date no problem as you can use it to just hide cabels.