LED Diffusers

[Matthew]

LEDs are cool. We all know that. But how can we make them spread over a wide area for a cheep price? Well Hot Glue may work for you. Here are some pictures of a hot glue diffuser at work.

http://optic-illusion.com/blue_lg_diffuser.jpg
http://optic-illusion.com/glue_bright_blue_led.jpg

And for that square shape. All you have to do is put 4 pieces of paper in a square shape together on top anything that wont stick. Wax paper maybe. I used tin foal.

[Chapel]

cool man, thats looks neat and easy to use, ill have to encorporate that into my case some how

[Crimson Sky]

hehehe---Love it! Great idea

[ZeD]

if ya take the clear CD (like the top disc in a black CD thing) and break it or cut it to size. simply mount the LED in it.

[Matthew]

Ok, what. "like the top disc in a blank cd thing" is not exactly specific.

[ZeD]

when you buy a thing of blank discs. the top disc is made of plastic.

[Matthew]

Oh...I thought where talking about the actual disk.

[Frakk]

you can use almost anything that lets light escape from it i think. the other thing is that if you have a clear plastic tube, even if its not straigtht, the light will go all the way through like in optical cables. im sure everyone seen one of those table lamps that has a light in the bottom and a whole bunch of fishing lines coming out of it and only their end is glowing. pretty neat

[jonopaul01]

im sure everyone seen one of those table lamps that has a light in the bottom and a whole bunch of fishing lines coming out of it and only their end is glowing. pretty neat

That whole bunch of fishing lines are actually fiber-optic cables (sorry if you actually knew that but it was not clear from your post).
The actual way that fiber-optic cables work is a process called refraction. Basically when light travels through glass it bouces off the inside of the glass as long as the angle of the light isn't to great. all transparent materials do this to some degree but fiber-optic cables have been treated in such a way that the angle of light that can be refracted is very high.
Plastic of most kinds should give you that refraction as long as the LED is mounted pretty much straight behind it.

[Frakk]

the other thing is that if you have a clear plastic tube, even if its not straigtht, the light will go all the way through like in optical cables

wasnt clear from my post? hmm i might have to spend more attention to them :) i said fishing lines because thats what they are:) its just an other thing that they work the same way as optical cables.

[jonopaul01]

If that is true then please accept my profuse apologies. I just always assumed that they were fiber-optic cables. I suppose that they could be nylon fishing cable. I have never really thought that nylon would be very good at transporting light. Well if that is indeed the case I stand corrected.
Any one else know anything about that?

[Frakk]

fiber optic cables are much more sophisticated, optimized for the fastest speeds of light with minimal distortion, and made out of actual glass not plastic. they are also much more expensive to produce. if that thing with the fishing lines would have fiber optics noone would buy it cause it would cost over $100 :)

[jonopaul01]

You are right Fiber-optic cables do cost a lot of money (relatively).But think about how many kilometres of submarine cables run under the atlantic. If that small amount costs so much, how much must those cables cost. Please can someone else give us some insight as to the nature of, ummm, table lamps (man this is becoming a wierd post).

[Guttenaffe]

There are plastic fiber optics, also remember that standard Acrylic or Plexy-glass will transmit light though it and shine out the ends but not be seen front the side view unless there is a "imperfection" to cause diffusion of the light transmission, this is why LED lit etched windows look so cool.

[Aristo]

And there it is... We've come full circle from our little tangent, but yes, I like the idea of etched/frosted plexi and a few uber bright LEDs to make case feet ;) Gots to add that to the list of mods for my up and coming WOPR jr. :D

[Malatory]

Adding my 2 Cents to this ....

If your going to use fishing line. Make sure you get the invisable line. If you buy the cheap spool you will be limited by the distance the light can travel. 3" was the best I could do with the cheap spool I got. I since have gotten a 15.oo figeroptic plant kit from Micheals. It is plastic fishing line and used one tip ot match it with the better fishing line. Also cutting the ends at an angle will give a wider area of effect.