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Wood/Resin Bowl RGB Lighting Question from a Novice

theWoodWhisperer

Oct 20, 2022
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Hey there! I am an avid Wood Carver/Sculpture, but a mostly a novice when it comes to LED lighting tech. I'm hoping to get some advice on how to simply add LED's with a color changing remote, but hopefully without a bulky control unit to try and hide (hopefully at an inexpensive price as well).

I had an idea to start making bowls out of old and partially decayed pieces of logs and filling the voids with resin. I decided I wanted to kick them up a notch and add some internal led up-lighting that would be built into the base. I found some cheap chip LED's that change the brightness with the built-in controller, but they only change between warm and cool white light. So to get a color, I have to either color the resin or use a transparent paint like I did on my prototypes.

Not even knowing how many watts I'd need, I used a 10 watt I found on Aliexpress.com and I used a 3" diameter aluminum disc to both mount it, as well as act as a heat-sink. At full brightness, with both the cool and warm LED's on, it reaches about 150 degrees F. up inside the space. The effect is pretty cool, but I'd really like to be able to change the color to whatever I'm in the mood for. Your advice would be GREATLY appreciated!

Here's a link to what I used: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...tewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt&_randl_shipto=US
 

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Harald Kapp

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The link doesn't work :(
Look up LED strip (example from Amazon). These are easy to use strips of LEDs with a (remote) controller that typically offers fixed colors of all sorts as well as light effects. There are many examples on how to uses these in woodworking (search for "led strip woodworking").
 
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theWoodWhisperer

Oct 20, 2022
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The link doesn't work :(
Look up LED strip (example from Amazon). These are easy to use strips of LEDs with a (remote) controller that typically offers fixed colors of all sorts as well as light effects. There are many examples on how to uses these in woodworking (search for "led strip woodworking").
Oddly, your link isn't working for me! I've tried searching for "led chip woodworking" and "led lighting resin bowl", but I actually get too many responses and haven't found the right answer slogging through them all.

I don't want to use led strips, I really need the round type for easy install into the bowl. Hopefully I can find something similar, without a bulky controller I need to hide. Maybe something that is part of a plug-in? The ones I used are usb and just needed a regular USB plug adapter to plug into 110v outlet.

I honestly don't even know if I'm going overkill on using a 10 watt chip?

Not sure why my link doesn't work? It does for me, even if signed out of my aliexpress account. Here it is again:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...tewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt&_randl_shipto=US
 

kellys_eye

Jun 25, 2010
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The pcb looks awfully like the inside of a simple LED lamp you'd use at home. As well as 'white', they can be had in all sorts of colours including an RGB fully-adjustable version (with remote control too!). Various wattages are also available.

It wouldn't be beyond complexity to purchase a few lamps and pull them apart to compare like-for-like and try'n'fit.
 

theWoodWhisperer

Oct 20, 2022
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The pcb looks awfully like the inside of a simple LED lamp you'd use at home. As well as 'white', they can be had in all sorts of colours including an RGB fully-adjustable version (with remote control too!). Various wattages are also available.

It wouldn't be beyond complexity to purchase a few lamps and pull them apart to compare like-for-like and try'n'fit.
Are the PCB's self contained, or do they usually need a separate controller? So far, the rgb led discs that I've found online all require a separate controller. But I don't have room to insert one, unless I could find one that is part of the chord, or built into the plug?
 

kellys_eye

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The boards inside domestic LED lamps will connect to the local mains voltage (potentially a downside if you're not confident of the safety issues involved) but at least won't require any controlled.
 

theWoodWhisperer

Oct 20, 2022
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I corrected the link in post #2, please excuse my error.
3"
You can easily bend the LED strip...

See this specific example.
Hah! I've actually seen that video! But the bowls I'm making are at most 12" around and I need to keep the light source hidden behind the wood areas, so it can't be seen from above. The one's I used in my prototype is only 2" in diameter. Plus, I like the simplicity of simply boring a recessed hole to install the lights (with the 3" diameter aluminum disc as both a heat-sink and a way to enclose the light's opening). I'm really hoping to sell these, once I've got all the bugs worked out.
 

kellys_eye

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To sell them you would (strictly speaking) have to seek and obtain CE certification which wouldn't necessarily matter if the light source itself already had it. Rules and regs surrounding safety are, as you'd expect, very strict.
 

theWoodWhisperer

Oct 20, 2022
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To sell them you would (strictly speaking) have to seek and obtain CE certification which wouldn't necessarily matter if the light source itself already had it. Rules and regs surrounding safety are, as you'd expect, very strict.
Hmmm.... Hadn't thought about that!
 

Keonte45

Aug 29, 2022
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Why don't you check out clips from creators on YouTube that works on projects that combine LED strips, wood and resin.
 

theWoodWhisperer

Oct 20, 2022
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Thanks for the suggestion. I have, but I’m trying to find details about a simple color changing disc shaped LED, that hopefully doesn’t need a big bulky controller. Or at least one that is built into the cord or plug for example.

A disk LED will work much better than a strip will for the application I’m trying to do. I don’t want the LED to be able to shine directly through a clear resin area. But be hidden behind the remaining wood. Too difficult to try and do with a strip I think.
 

kellys_eye

Jun 25, 2010
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You can purchase individual LEDs that have a colour change function built right into them. Just apply power and off you go.


Larger versions (10mm diameter) are also available and just ONE might have enough light for your purposes.

Of course, colour change LED 'tape' can be used and it's possible to snip this into individual LED segments (with some judicious soldering) to pack a lot into a small area.
 

theWoodWhisperer

Oct 20, 2022
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Thanks. I’ll look into those, I’ve never seen them before.

But this is definitely not my area of expertise. So I don’t want to have to figure out which items go with what. Instead, I’d like to find a simple basic and relatively inexpensive kit.

So at the most, I’d like to be able to just have to solder a couple wires together and it can be plugged in and maybe have a remote.
 

kellys_eye

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If you want 'remote' then you have little choice but to use those 'tapes' as they come with them.

Individual LEDs (like in the link) can be powered from a small battery pack or wall wart (power pack) which provides the safety you require and mitigates any CE regulations.
 

Keonte45

Aug 29, 2022
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Thanks for the suggestion. I have, but I’m trying to find details about a simple color changing disc shaped LED, that hopefully doesn’t need a big bulky controller. Or at least one that is built into the cord or plug for example.

A disk LED will work much better than a strip will for the application I’m trying to do. I don’t want the LED to be able to shine directly through a clear resin area. But be hidden behind the remaining wood. Too difficult to try and do with a strip I think.
You could get a disc led from AliExpress.
 

theWoodWhisperer

Oct 20, 2022
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Hah! That’s where I got the one I used! Just having trouble finding something similar that is color changing.
 
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