Illuminating acrylic enclosure cover

[vid.sicious]

Hey guys. I've only recently gone to the pedal building world but I'm over filled with ideas and this one in particular. I'm thinking of screwing an acrylic plate on top of the enclosure, then feeding pots and switches through it and tightening the thing. The idea behind this is that you could engrave something in the acrylic and make it light up with some LEDs when the pedal is engaged. Something like this but on a pedal


Now, how do you think it'd be best to go about doing it? Where would you place the LEDs and how many of them to successfully illuminate the acrylic? I also assume that painting the enclosure itself black would be probably best (or maybe white? Let me know!). It'd be nice to have some of your thoughts before trying this crazy thing. Maybe you've seen someone do it? Any pictures would be awesome!

[Silver Blues]

Well, you could take a cue from the example you posted and place two or three (for a 1590x sized enclosure) at the very top or bottom edge, which would give you an effect like that sign. I don't really know what the best way to do that would be, or how concentrated or diffuse the resulting light would be. What I can tell you is definitely don't try to light it from the back, all you'll get is a piercing light and not the effect I think you're seeking.

[Beaker]

This is a good idea in theory, but I'm not sure if it would work too well on a pedal.

If you look at your photo, the clue to how it works is in the name - Edge Light. it uses an LED strip light array - in this case along the bottom edge (you can tell that as the bottom of the panel is brighter than the top).

It relies on total internal refraction, caused by mirror smooth edges and engraving, so the sides and the engraving must be done using a lazer cutter/engraver.

I have already seen lazer cut acrylic plates that fit between the lid and the base of 1590B boxes.
You don't need to drill an LED hole on the face of your pedal, simply put the LED inside the box, and the light will shine out of the side and top edges of the pedal when the effect is engaged.

[eldredracing]

Also keep in mind the led light will be blocked by anything in between the led and section that needs to be illuminated.  For example, the posts of your pots and switch would block the light from reaching the top of the enclosure.  Maybe use edge lighting from each side?

[vid.sicious]

Thanks for the input guys! This really has got me thinking more and obviously this idea requires some experimentation. I haven't thought about posts blocking the light. What about LEDs from each side? That should produce enough coverage. I've actually seen people engrave things on acrylic with a dremel and lighting them up with led strips. Also, the acrylic pedal bases are awesome. I shall buy some acrylic in different thickness and experiment with this idea before whacking it on a pedal. I'll keep you updated. Have the ideas rolling though, I hope this inspires other people to try out new and innovative things in their builds

[Travis]

The acrylic bottom plates are a cool idea, but when I've used them I couldn't see the light from the LEDs during the daytime.

Also I don't think the acrylic really does anything to shield the circuit from interference

[vid.sicious]

Yes, daytime is probably an issue with the bottom plates. But if the LEDs are on the top then you probably would be able to see the LEDs themselves of it's daytime. Acrylic wouldn't have anything to do with shielding though. It would be simply for design purposes. That's why I'd be using an aluminium enclosure and put the acrylic on top of it.
In theory, you could sandwich any material on top of the enclosure. Like wooden plates seems a cool idea too.

Vid

On 2 Sep 2015 23:13, "Travis [via Guitar FX Layouts]" <[hidden email]> wrote:

The acrylic bottom plates are a cool idea, but when I've used them I couldn't see the light from the LEDs during the daytime.

Also I don't think the acrylic really does anything to shield the circuit from interference

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[Beaker]

I've done enough outdoor daytime gigs to know that the only LEDs that are visible in sunlight are the bright blue ones. Hence bright blue LEDs are the only colour I use in my builds.

I have not tried using these plates, or seen photos of them in use in bright daylight, but I would think bright blue would be visible.

You are right about the acryilic plate "breaking" the Faraday's cage though, that was my first thought when I first saw them.