I was in need of a LED for a project and all I had on hand was various colors of 5mm LED's. The size of the LED didn't please my eye and I also didn't like how it threw off a focused beam of light.
Here was my solution......
Its very fast and easy to do. All I used was a cordless drill and a file. The LED lense material is easy to mill and also very strong. You can make it pretty thin without worrying about it breaking off.
I'm probably not the first person to think of this, but I havn't seen it done before.
Here was my solution......
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Its very fast and easy to do. All I used was a cordless drill and a file. The LED lense material is easy to mill and also very strong. You can make it pretty thin without worrying about it breaking off.
I'm probably not the first person to think of this, but I havn't seen it done before.
carlsonmark said:I know at least one person who has done that before, but I hadn't seen it until now.
I flattened the top of a 3mm blue LED on my T-amp mod to kill the concentrated glare from in front, worked quite well. The dome shape is the main "lens" that determines beam angle on LEDs.
A guy called macroman at Bit-Tech drills holes into LEDs and fits a length of fibre-optic cable for a tiny point of light on such things as control knobs...he must have the touch of a midwife. That was first published Jan 1, 2002 so maybe pioneering.
btw, you can buy LEDs like the top one, "lighthouse" case down to about 2mm dia, though not in blue or white AFAIK.
Yes, the diffused look was ultimately what I was going for. I could have just sanded the end, but I also wanted something smaller than 5mm.
I know you can buy diffused LED's of different sizes, but this forum is about DIY!!! Not to mention I have about a bazillion 5mm clear LED's.
I know you can buy diffused LED's of different sizes, but this forum is about DIY!!! Not to mention I have about a bazillion 5mm clear LED's.
This is to show my love for DIY Audio.
Man, I don't think its normal to be up at 3:30am doing this kind of stuff....hehehe.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Man, I don't think its normal to be up at 3:30am doing this kind of stuff....hehehe.
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