I've cast blue LEDs into glow in the dark resin in the past, buit after a recent video about using photoluminescent pigment in resin, some Patreon channel supporters asked about a video showing the full process.
So here it is. A flickering candle style blue LED embedded into a resin obelisk with less glow pigment than normal to try and get the blue light to penetrate further through the obelisk.
The pigment I used was strontium aluminate green glow in the dark pigment and the resin was standard pound-shop / dollar-store two part resin.
Subsequent testing showed that a very good effect is achieved with extremely low LED current. Literally a 10K resistor in series limiting current to much less than 1mA. Perfect for a wearable ornament in a dark environment.
Here are some links to the music I listened to while I was waiting for the resin to set.
Sam Sparro - Black and Gold:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHuebHTD-lY
Pnau - Go Bang:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLzQX8OIWhg
And the complete acid-trip that was Disney's Spectromagic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrV5wP8DfTc
This parade was a bit ahead of its time, so the control system was complex with a huge amount of wiring, electroluminescent panels and fibre optics. Many of the floats and costumes had two complete sets of lights so that it could morph back and forth from being a bright white parade into a very colourful one.
The scale and complexity meant that it was very maintenance intensive. It got retired in 2010 before fading into history. I'm glad to have been a part of that history.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
So here it is. A flickering candle style blue LED embedded into a resin obelisk with less glow pigment than normal to try and get the blue light to penetrate further through the obelisk.
The pigment I used was strontium aluminate green glow in the dark pigment and the resin was standard pound-shop / dollar-store two part resin.
Subsequent testing showed that a very good effect is achieved with extremely low LED current. Literally a 10K resistor in series limiting current to much less than 1mA. Perfect for a wearable ornament in a dark environment.
Here are some links to the music I listened to while I was waiting for the resin to set.
Sam Sparro - Black and Gold:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHuebHTD-lY
Pnau - Go Bang:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLzQX8OIWhg
And the complete acid-trip that was Disney's Spectromagic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrV5wP8DfTc
This parade was a bit ahead of its time, so the control system was complex with a huge amount of wiring, electroluminescent panels and fibre optics. Many of the floats and costumes had two complete sets of lights so that it could morph back and forth from being a bright white parade into a very colourful one.
The scale and complexity meant that it was very maintenance intensive. It got retired in 2010 before fading into history. I'm glad to have been a part of that history.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
http://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's advertising algorithms allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty.
Blue resin woulda looked quite smart with that blue LED.
Thanks for the link to Pnau, Clive. A group I'd not heard of. As you say, a lot of work into making the video. One track I had to mention, ''In My Head'', there are elements of those old 3D pictures incorporated in the video. Have a look when you get time, and see if you can see the ''holographic'' effect. All the Best
In the past I glued a blue led into an orange highlighter cap that was also made by fluorescent material and it converted the blue light into orange light. Like a LED phosphorus! You can also make this effect by covering a piece of paper with any highlighter and then place in all over the diode. It glows green, orange or whatever the color of the highlighter is. Be careful though, certain highlighters are not actually made of fluorescent dyes, so check it before 😉
I wonder if a thin coating of silicone oil/vaseline would make demoulding the resin easier… Also, since the LED is so bright, I'm curious what the other phosphors would look like in comparison the green.
Thank you again BC. I'm never really sure what I like more – what I'm learning or the running commentary (sometimes about things general). No matter, should you ever visit Dublin, I'll buy you a pint (ok, several!).
Poke a hole in the bottom so you arent fighting a vuccum
I've been watching so many Big Clive videos I've learned to automatically shut my eyes at the appropriate moments and open them again after the lights go back on. Makes for a bit of audience participation rather than just passive viewing.
If you use the radioactive glow powder then you wouldnt need the LED
put some small strands of fishing line upto the led to help carry the light down the end
i think you shoud spray some silicone oil inside to make it easy to remove
If the pump LED is happy flickering along on 0.3mA, I can't help wondering how long we could run one off a lithium thionyl chloride – or other high energy density chemistry cell (or a stack of coin cells?) all permanently molded into resin as a mystery item. With a 12A/hr ER26720 format cell, we should get 40,000 hours of continuous run time or 4.5 years…
crc would lubricate the mold, even if applied after resin cure.
take a UV LED instead
I kinda had the same idea 🙂
You can charge it with UV light way faster and stronger