Just a idea:

What if i put leds in one side of my acrylic and in the other side a in the border a mirror ( same width and height of the border of the acrylic) instead more leds, that reflect the light coming from the other side and reduce the amount of leds i need???

Sorry for my English.

Yes that’ll work as long as the mirror is directly coupled are pressed against the other edge. It might need more light though.

Better yet, would girft wrapping work? You know, use the other shiney side, or tin foil’s shiney side? It’s cheaper and easier to make. It might be difficult to slice a mirror that thin and long. I think cerupcat is right, i think you’d need a bit more leds on the one side. But sounds like a splendid idea…

asadeddin: a true mirror would work much better since it would reflect a significant amount ore. Foil doesn’t reflect nearly as much. Not even mirrors reflect the full light.

Yeah I guess so… Maybe lasers would more appropriate for this kind of application, non?

asadeddin - 29 October 2008 03:51 PM

Yeah I guess so… Maybe lasers would more appropriate for this kind of application, non?

Using the already hard to adjust LLP lasers with even harder to adjust mirrors is asking for eye injury! It would be near impossible to align the mirrors perfectly parallel and since the light is bouncing around back and forth so much it would eventually leak. (See Diagram) The mirrors may make it slightly less powerful but it will still be extremely harmful.

I’m not sure what the diagram is madmod.

The original poster is referring to FTIR and just using a mirror on the other side to bounce the light back instead of putting another set of LEDs. There’s really no reason for lasers to enter the equation.

Hi,

On the topic of trying something new with LED positioning and FTIR, what would one say to my idea of drilling minute holes into the edges of the acrylic so that the LED’s fit in there snug??
My wanting to look for a solution other than the method of building a seperate frame to house the LED’s in came from the fact that we’re wasting all that light that pours out the side of the LED’s and I wanted to make use of it,
I’m not thinking stingey lol I’m thinking or rather trying to think economical

My only fear is that this will send the light that hits the acrylic beyond its total internal reflection point straight towards the camera and viewers eyes!!! But hey, its a small trade-off

***EDIT***
If that idea’s screwey how about simple mirrors around the led enclosure directing stray IR towards the acrylic??
my drawing attached trys to illustrate this, live with my M$ paint talents for awhile longer till fedora 10 is released and I’m back to GIMP :D

Ruvy.

Hi Ruvy, both of your suggestions have been done before. Search the forum for drilling + LEDs and I’m sure you’ll find some results. It works, although time consuming and there’s no real optical benefit in doing so and it essentially removes the lens of the LED.

Ok, thanks buddy I’ll run that search.