Back lighting

[Scooch]

I am getting ready to start on a piece for my game room.  It will be back lit.  What is the best way to back light something?  I am going to build  a wooden box for it.  I think the question is between rope lights and small flouresant fixtures.  I can do both without to much problem.

[Kev]

Fluorescent is the way to go.

[JoanFrances]

I am getting ready to start on a piece for my game room.  It will be back lit.  What is the best way to back light something?  I am going to build  a wooden box for it.  I think the question is between rope lights and small flouresant fixtures.  I can do both without to much problem.

Scooch, read my post about "Rope Light Warning", 

[Scooch]

I read it before.  I think that your problem may have been with a certain brand.  I have used rope light for several other projects and have never had a problem like the one you are describing.

[Kev]

Scooch....check out Home Depot or Lowes. You can get fluorescent under cabinet lights that you can link together into a series and they are not expensive. That give great lighting and little to no heat build up. I like to place an opaque border around lit pieces to hide the "Hot spots" where the lights are directly behind the glass.

[Scooch]

If anyone has any pics of finished pieces that are backlit or even designs for the boxes, that would be great.  What I am currently planning on doing is making the piece and framing it.  I will then build the light box and hinge the framed piece onto the front of the box.

[PiscesGlass]

I'm not sure that this will be a great pic, but here is something I finished recently.  It hasn't been delivered as yet, but I'm hoping that the people will like it, it's the name of their restaurant/bar business.

I took Kev's advice and found a fluorescent light strip..actually it appears to be a strip of LED lights.  I'll try to take a pic of just the fixture. 

I built a box out of 3 x 1" pine, glued and screwed the sides together.  I ran a furring strip on either side and inset my stained glass into the box and held it in with clear cabinet clips screwed into the front. 

I made a hinged back so that the new owners could get into it later on, if they needed to change out the light strip for any reason.

I drilled a hole into the top for the electrical cord (they will be hanging it above the bar and plugging it into an outlet above where it hangs). I painted the inside white, hoping to maximize the light from the light source.

It turned out fairly well in spite of the fact that I've never considered myself a wood worker..lol.
And it was pretty easy to to.

De

[Kev]

You did a great job De! They are going to love it!

[PiscesGlass]

Thanks Kev, I'm a total greenhorn at woodworking, but I appreciated your advice and figured I might as well give it a try before I hired someone to build the box for me.  I'm happy with how it turned out.

LOL..now I find out that before they bought this establishment..he was a general contractor. I hope that he doesn't look it over too closely.  He,he..

  De

[memaribeth]

That looks really nice De.  Even if he looks it over closely, he will still love it!

[Kev]

I agree!

[Malinda]

OMGosh, you're my hero, I would be too chicken to make a box like you just did. Your directions show it's so simple to do but I would be affraid to make it idk why.
I think it turned out GREAT!

Shoot, maybe this is what I should do with my last sunflower panel, build a box for around it?
You're awesome De!

[PiscesGlass]

Well Mal, Thanks very much!  To be honest it wasn't as difficult to do (I was totally trying to psych myself out of doing it by telling myself I couldn't.)  But thanks to a pretty involved discussion with a good friend of mine, I decided it was worth giving it a try.  You can do it.  I think that your sunflower panel if you want to see it lit in the evening, would be wonderful in a light box.
You can buy those light fixtures in a variety of sizes.  I'd allow an 1/8" clearance all around for the inside diameter of your box, and then get busy cutting, glueing and drilling pilot holes for your screws!  Simple as that.

De

[Malinda]

wanna come over this weekend and help me?

[Barbara]

De, He will love it.  Even though he was a general contractor it would never get mounted if he had to do it himself.  Remember the saying the shoe makers family had no shoes!! Nice job and it will look great.

[Audrey]

I love the box for that piece. It looks so finished now. Great job.

[TodB]

De:
Nice example of a good solution to the display problem. Did you use something for difusion? - Tod

[Kev]

Another method that can be used to secure the panel into the frame is:

Once the 4 sides of the box are put together, take  .5" x .5"  strips of wood (or 1/4 round molding, though it will have to have mitered corners)and cut them to form a frame on the inside edges of the front of the box. Secure them with small brads and wood glue. This will give the glass panel a surface to rest against when placed in from the back. Once the glass is in place, install a few small blocks of wood, or use mirror clips positioned against the zinc or lead frame of your panel, to hold it secure against this new small wooden frame you just created.

[Judy K]

 

[Anne]

Really nice De, both the panel and the box!