In this instructable/video, I will show you how I made this minimalistic design super bright and colorful RGB lamp. 💡

The lamp is made from plywood, plastic, aluminum, and 3D printed parts. Using an aluminum sheet to improve heat dissipation is essential as there are so many LEDs in a relatively small area. To make the plastic cover you will need to make a very simple but very useful bending tool - https://www.instructables.com/Acrylic-Bending-Too...

Provided Amazon links are affiliates. You can buy anything through them with no extra cost to you and support my work, thank you! ❤️

Main Tools:

3D printer https://amzn.to/3syckJk
12V drill https://amzn.to/2U5QQmL
Drill press https://amzn.to/35f93nO
Jigsaw https://amzn.to/2rg4uXx
Speed square https://amzn.to/2Ee6lDh
Combination square https://amzn.to/2oLYnwv
Clamps https://amzn.to/2YKWmRS
Small clamps https://amzn.to/39CliLU
Soldering kit https://amzn.to/2X0eCVq
Multimeter https://amzn.to/3bLuEIx
Wire strippers https://amzn.to/2ZR3KJp
Cutting pliers https://amzn.to/3qTLNWC

Main Components & Materials:

Plywood https://amzn.to/2R1IsVL
Wood glue https://amzn.to/2UvRrjX
Aluminum sheet https://amzn.to/3xtGwb0
WS2812B RGB LED strip https://amzn.to/3gsDn5S
SP107E Controller https://amzn.to/2S03PKC
Plexiglas https://amzn.to/3q1jtSD
Frost glass spray https://amzn.to/3gv8u0I
AC power cord with switch https://amzn.to/2SEH2UT

Other Things:

Wires, electrical tape, screws, sanding sponge

Step 1: Preview

Main features of the light:

Minimalistic design
Different lighting patterns
Custom RGB colors
Brightness adjustment
Pattern speed adjustment
Ability to connect audio input for reactive lighting

Step 2: Main Things You'll Need

These are the main things that you will need:

Aluminum sheet 2-3mm thick (150x380mm size in my case)
5m WS2812B 5V Addressable RGB LED strip
SP107E Bluetooth Controller
5V 20A 100W PSU
Plexiglas sheet 2mm thick (375x390mm final size in my case)
Some scrap plexiglass to cover the back of the light
Plywood (12mm thick in my case but it doesn't really matter)
3D modeling and 3D printing skills needed unless you want to make the top and bottom covers from plywood

Step 3: Gluing Strips

The first step of the build is to calculate how many and how long strips will be. Cut them to length, clean the surface, and mark gluing guidelines. At the ends where the contacts of the strips will be, add insulation to prevent any accidental short circuit. You can see that I used a scrap aluminum piece, that's why it has so many unnecessary holes for this build. When gluing strips make sure that directional arrows on the stips facing the right direction. Basically, you want the first row to face up, next down, next up, next down, next up, and so on.

Step 4: Wiring All Strips

Soldering is super easy if you have a soldering paste that helps solder to stick instantly. And you will need to solder A LOT of wires, make sure you also have patience for it, haha!

The wiring here is super simple. If you glued the strips facing the right direction you can easily connect the Din/DAT/DATA (green) contacts in series like shown in the last picture.

And to power the strips you group all positive wires to one point and negative to another. After this, you will end up with only 3 wires.

Step 5: The Frame

You will need to cut some parts and make a frame that will hold all the other parts. Using plywood here is probably the best solution.

Step 6: Gluing Frame

Not much to say here. You just glue the pieces, make sure they are square, and clamp them, easy peasy.

Step 7: The Front Cover

To make the front matt cover you will need to cut the plexiglass to size. Use an acrylic cutting knife and make a deep groove into the sheet. Then, just break it, easy.

Too bad the sheet is transparent. No problem. You can sand both sides with a sanding sponge.

Step 8: The BENDER

Well, you will need to bent that sheet somehow. DIY bending tool makes it easy - https://www.instructables.com/Acrylic-Bending-Too... It is a very useful tool to have when working with plastic sheets, so if you still don't have anything similar, what are you waiting for? :)

I had to unscrew the hinges and bent the sheet manually with a scrap plywood piece and squares, as the piece was just a little bit too big for my made bending tool.

Step 9:

Heat smooths out the surface on the bends, so make sure to sand it. After this, you can finally spray the front cover with a glass frost spray. From my testing, sanding + the spay gave the most matt surface.

Step 10: The Inserts

You will need to secure the aluminum sheet to the frame. The most reliable option here is to use threaded inserts. I additionally added epoxy to make an extra-strong bond. At this point, you can varnish the plywood. I used a polyurethane-based finish.

Step 11: Securing to the Frame

Now you can secure the aluminum sheet with bolts and spring washers. With LEDs mounted you can make custom holders for the power supply, disassemble the controller and secure it to the frame.

Step 12: LEDS to PSU

Next, secure your power supply in place and start cutting wires to connect LEDs to the power supply. The wiring here is straightforward, just make sure to use thick wires (for positive and negative connections) that can handle high current (10-15A).

Step 13: Front Cover to the Frame

Drill some holes and secure the cover to the frame. If you never drilled plexiglass/acrylic make sure to practice on a scrap piece first, as you can very easily crack it when drilling.

Step 14: Final Wiring

The last thing that you need to finish up the electronic wiring is the power cable with a switch. Connect it to the power supply to Live and Neutral connections (ideally, you want to use a cable that also has the Ground wire as it is an important safety feature).

Step 15: Final Touches

To finish the lamp, use any plastic sheet at the back for covering the electronics. To make the top and bottom covers, I transferred dimensions to SketchUp and made a basic cover, that I later 3D printed. If you don't have a 3D printer you can always make it from plywood with a router. Just make sure parts have a snug fit.

Step 16: Something Will Always Go Wrong

After spraying the cover with a glass frost spray I noticed these very weird "slashes". They are only visible when looking at an angle from top or bottom. I have no idea why. But if you do, please post it in the comment section.

Step 17: Connect to the Controller

To control the lamp you will need the LED Chord app. Turn on Bluetooth and Location. Open the app and connect to the controller. Select GRB WS2811. Select how many segments (individual strips) you have and enter the number of LEDs in one segment. And now you have full control of the settings.

The max power of the light is 60W when all RGB colors are at full brightness. But it is not recommended to use it as it produces a lot of heat. And the heat will degrade LEDs faster. All other colors and modes are perfectly fine at full brightness as those never go over 40W. Tested at 21-22C room temp.

When making the lamp, make sure to leave vents at the top and the bottom for air circulation. And that is pretty much it. One thing that I didn't cover is reactive music lighting. To make it, you just need to plug an audio cable into the controller with a provided audio jack splitter.

Step 18: END

If you like what I do and you want to support my work Patreon is the way - https://www.patreon.com/DIYPerspective
There I make post-project updates/mods/improvements, behind-the-scenes projects, and more. So if you can and want, thank you so much! ❤️

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