Neon Desk Light
Prototype developed by Mick Byrne 2024
2025 Workshop developed by Applied Creativity & Meg White
Workshop presentation
The Neon Desk Light workshop has been created into a slide show for presentation and documentation purposes. Please feel free to download and use the guide and files as per our CC license in the footnote.
Some pages may link to other online workshops, tutorials or guides created at The Edge, you may require internet to connect and view links.
Workshop Walk through
45mins - Electronics 101 - what are the different tools/materials and how circuits work etc (Induction and Simple circuitry combined)
15 mins - SLQ collections, Neon exhibition, inspiration
15 mins - laser demo and choose your template word
30 mins - Facilitator demonstrates the basic workflow for participants to then start to compile their signs choosing their preferred colours
15 mins - break
Remaining session (2hrs) is working through completing the light and testing.
Workshop Development notes
Fabrication component;
- Make sure your design is something short that will be achievable with the relatively short run of 300 linear mm LED filament, including the connections which will be hidden by heat shrink. You can plan out what kind of run you can achieve with a piece 300mm string
- Choose a simple font for your text in a vector design program, or draw your own letters (single line font with curved corners works well)
- Convert text to a single path
- Give your path a thickness of 4mm - this will be the channel where the filament runs
- Make an offset path for this to be the clear acrylic that surrounds and holds your letters together
- Work out the most efficient way to run your filament including the connection runs that will run behind layer 2 in layer 3.
- Add thru holes to layer 3 and channels for hidden runs in layer 4
- Add top and tail holes start and end in layer 4 also.
- Copy layer 1 as layer 4 and add positive and negative holes.
Electronics component;
- Establish and mark polarity of filament tails - which end is positive and negative (calculator battery)
- Run filament thru channels on Layer 3
- Test fit Layer 2 - adjust until you have filament centred and running along channels.
- measure heatshrink lengths for hidden sections.
- serially fit heatshrink - adjust and heat into place.
- Strip and fit heatshrink to USB cable
- Thread Cables thru Layer 5 of acrylic
- Solder resistor to neg conductor
- solder resistor to neg tail of filament
- pos jumper to pos tail of filament.
- tidy everything up and Heat the Heatshrink
- tidy everything up and Glue everything together.
Design file templates
You have 5 different word art designs to choose from, see below designs - these are pre-cut for workshop sessions
Word | File | Artwork for laser cutting |
---|---|---|
Love | 03 Version | lovesign_3layer.pdf |
Neon | Small version | neon_sign3_layer.pdf |
OMG | 01 Verison | omg_neon_sign3layer.pdf |
WOW | 01 Version | wowsign_3layer.pdf |
HEART | heart_sign3_layer.pdf | |
Read | Coming soon |