Elemental customer service representative Michael Facer built a custom light box for his movie collectibles using a custom steel box, a piece of white acrylic, and some LED light bars. He provided us with instructions, which can be used for any size or type of light box. You can see his full instructions and more pictures on Michael’s Instructables page.
Materials:
- Custom Box
- Brighter LED Light Bar (Neutral White 20″)
- LED Light Bar Extension Cable (12″)
- LED Light Bar DC Plug Connector (Female)
- 12V Inline On/Off Switch
- 12V Adapter (12 Watt)
- Pack of Grommets
- Tube of Super Glue
- Spray Paint
The first step was to have a custom box made. Michael’s box is 25″ inches long with a height and depth of 5 inches. He says, “You can ask the shop to drill a whole for your grommet but I did that myself. Also make sure you have little lips on the inside of the front to hold your sign backer and sign.” When the box was finished, he painted the outside of it black.
He then mounted the light bar inside the box using Super Glue, which he also used to secure the bar to the mounting clips. (Keep in mind that the Brighter LED Light Bar needs to be slid into its mounting clips from the side, not the front, so make sure the bar is in the clips before gluing them to the box.)
Next, Michael inserted the grommet into the drilled-out hole, then tested that the DC plug of the LED Light Bar DC Plug Connector was secure in the hole. He adds, “This is why I recommend drilling the hole yourself, so that you can slowly make it bigger as need by using the drill on the outsides of the drill hole. You can do this by applying pressure to the sides of the hole while moving the drill up and down. Drill a little at a time, you don’t want to make it too big. Once you have confirmed that the DC plug fits nice and snug, take the LED Light Bar DC Plug Connector back out and put super glue around its outer surface so it will stick to the grommet. After it dries apply more super glue and some additional hot glue so this piece never comes loose.” Finally, use the LED Light Bar Extension Cable to connect the LED Light Bar DC Plug Connector to the bar.
He then added Plexiglas backing for the sign, using a white acrylic piece, and making sure that it fit well. After checking the fitting, he removed the acrylic and added super glue to the lips on the box that hold the sign and re-applied the acrylic.
Michael used a plug-in 12V Adapter to power the light box, and an 12V On/Off Switch, though he adds that, “later I may get the Reign 12V Dimmer Switch so I can hard-wire my box and put it above the entrance to the theater room. Then it will have an easy and sleek switch. Hope everyone likes the box and finds this useful to put your own light box together!!”
