Edge Lit Acrylic
Mick Byrne, Aug 2024
Acknowledgement
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their continuing connection to land and as custodians of stories for millennia. We respectfully acknowledge the land on which we all meet today, and pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging.
Summary
Edge Lit Acrylic Signs was developed and delivered at 2 Family Maker Club Sessions in July and August 2024. In the First workshop participants learned how to create artwork and then laser etch & cut
Skills Introduced
- Bitmap and Vector Image manipulation (PS & AI) - import image, convert to grey scale, invert and isolate negative space
- Laser cutting
- intro to electronics
- intro to soldering
and for extension if you have time basic CAD and 3D printing
Materials
If your workshop does not require any materials (maybe digital only) delete this section or change to something more appropriate.
| Material | Quantity | Cost | Supplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEDs | 4 | $0.40 | Supplier 1 |
| 47 R resistor | 2 | $0.70 | Supplier 2 |
| Battery box | 1 | $1.30 | Supplier 2 |
| AA battery | 5 | $3.00 | Supplier 3 |
| 10mm Acrylic | 1 | $6.00 | Supplier 3 |
| 3d Printed Plinth | 1 | $6.00 | Supplier 3 |
| Total | $17.40 |
Tools and Preparation
Again, if your workshop does not require physical tools, delete or change this to something like Software required.
Tools
- Tool 1
- Tool 2
- Tool 3
- Tool 4
Preparation
Before the workshop you will need to …
Workshop Walk through
Workshop 1
Step 1
Welcome and Tour
Step 2
Laser Demo
Step 3
Artwork Demo
Step 4
Participants decide on an idea
Step 5
Participants prepare artwork
Step 6
Participants prepare and cut artwork on laser.
Workshop 2
Step 2-1
Welcome and Tour
Step 2-2
Intro to Electric Circuits (conduct a scaled down version of Electronics 101 ) with a special focus on:
- Current flow - Atoms passing their free electron from Neg to Pos
- LEDs - Polarity
- resistors - Restricting the flow of current in the circuit.
Step 2-3
Demonstrate building the circuit in Fritzing edge_lit_acrylic.fzz.zip
Start by showing what happens if you dont have the resistors edge_lit_acrylic_no_resistor.fzz.zip
Step 2-4
Look at https://ledcalculator.net/ for their suggestion for 4 LEDs with 4.7V
and then add the resistors in Fritzing
and show the outcome
Step 2-5
Show how the current flows on the positive and negative sides of the circuit
Positive accross the top and negative from the bottom via each of the resistors
Step 2-6
Participant place their components in the circuitboard board.ai
and using a print out of 
Hints
- add your leds and working from the back of the circuit fold positive legs around the next LED.
- Then add your 2 resistors and then fold your negative led legs to connect these up.
- Finally connect the positive and negative sides up to the leads on your battery box
- Test you have you have LED Polarity right with a coin cell battery as you go
Step 2-6
finish up by soldering all your joints together and then trim the loose legs so they don't cause a short.
Step 2-7
Put your circuit and batterybox in the Plinth that steve designed for 3D printing.
