DIY LED build machined from billet alluminum

[Gary]

Lucky! I wish I had a garage big enough for a mill! I don't blame you about sticking with what you have and know. If I wasn't pressured to get out of the machinist's office I would still be using Mastercam.

 

[phasezero]

That's awesome. I hope someday to have a mill in my garage or one for my free use. I'm taking Numerical control ops right now and it's definitely my favorite class that I've taken so far. I'm using Catia as my CAD program.

 

[Gary]

I got distracted on some other projects for a while. Tonight I got the light body finished. It turned out nice!
I got some more details from my buddy about the light. There are going to be 74 LEDs. A bunch of white and blues. 2 reds and 2 moon lights. He's using the Dim4 Controller. That is one impressive controller for the money! Instead of the original angle bracket mount I am going to make a mount/controller housing. We'll wait until all the parts are done before sending them out for anodize so we have a batter chance of getting the same color on all the parts. Hard clear anodize color can vary from run to run...

 

[Peppie]

Thanks for the update Gary,
Its coming together very nicely.
Keep us posted

 

[Gary]

Thank peppie. My buddy is going to design the electronics box next. Hopefully this gets wrapped up in the next month or 2.

 

[JPG@CFI]

I want one! That, my friend is some nice CNC work!

 

[Peppie]

I want one! That, my friend is some nice CNC work!

ONE!!!!
I was thinking more like 6-10

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

Wow that thing is just pure gorgeous! nice work so far!

 

[Gary]

Thanks guys! My buddy finished the design for the control box/wall mount. Unfortunately, I won't be back on this before the end of February. Come March, this is my priority. He's got this light bar sitting on his desk and wants the rest!

I'm not sure that this would be a very marketable product. I wrote the programs as a one-off (very conservative speeds) so in the end there will be 15+ hours of machining. Anodizing will be a couple hundred. Without the LEDs, it's probably $2000 worth of parts! If I remember correctly, the chunk of aluminum that this light came out of was about $150.

If I make one for myself, I will try and get the machine time down some. I have some real machinists that I can consult (I'm a hobby machinist) about feeds and speeds. I'll keep you posted!

 

[Gary]

I got the light back from anodize this week. It looks pretty good! I handed it off to my buddy for the light installation.

I'm not sure what this looks like in person. He said that it looks whiter in person than in the picture.

 

[Peppie]

Gary!
You sent it to the wrong address!!

It was suppose to go to

Peppie
11409 398th Dr. NW
Ineed One,
Wa 98074

Looking better every time you post.
Great job