Internal Light Help

I have been struggling to find the right way and the correct light to use for the inside of my laser. My shop has bright over head lights but they don't seem to get down into the laser very well and I don't like shinning a light through the glass b/c of the glare. Last night I added an 8' strip of led self adhesive lights under the lid but it cast shadows. Do any of your laser wizards have any suggestions on how to light the interior of a ULS vls6.60?

Pictures are worth a 1000 words.

Thank you,
Trey

I've been debating this too for our (old-ish) Epilog. Our Chinese laser has led lights under the gantry arm and it's great. Your pieces are always well lit and the light is bright.

The issue is the cord for the light strip needs a way to coil and uncoil as the gantry moves. I'm thinking I might be able to run it along the air assist tube, but haven't gotten to try it yet.

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Originally Posted by Keith Downing

I've been debating this too for our (old-ish) Epilog. Our Chinese laser has led lights under the gantry arm and it's great. Your pieces are always well lit and the light is bright.

The issue is the cord for the light strip needs a way to coil and uncoil as the gantry moves. I'm thinking I might be able to run it along the air assist tube, but haven't gotten to try it yet.

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I looked at doing the same but the LED's I tried weren't bright enough, IMO, for that short amount. I am in the process of getting a brighter strip and hopefully I can make it work like that.

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Originally Posted by Trey Tull

I looked at doing the same but the LED's I tried weren't bright enough, IMO, for that short amount. I am in the process of getting a brighter strip and hopefully I can make it work like that.

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Interesting. The little light strips I have are pretty bright when they shine directly on the project.

Now the light doesn't spread more than a foot or so from the strip, but when they're mounted on the gantry that doesn't matter because it's always near the work-piece.

You want to talk about GETTO!!!!!! But they work great for videos.
They come with magnets already on them and cost $3 each.
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There is a company here in St. Louis that has a remarkable assortment of LED lighting options. https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/...-strip-lights/

The LED strip under the gantry is a simple and effective way to illuminate the bed and you can use the drag chain to manage the wire.

If you want to add lights to the lid or bed, be sure to counter shadows with additional lighting in dark areas. A strip around the perimeter of the bed works and the higher the Lumens, the brighter the LEDs.

The GCC Explorer I bought from Gary could double as a tanning booth! :D
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-very bright LED strip lights line the entire perimeter of the machine, it's the best lit anything I've ever owned :)

I forget where I bought them but they definitely were an improvement over the *very* weak fluorescent tubes that were in it originally. Best of all, I was able to use the original power source for the LEDs

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Originally Posted by Kev Williams

The GCC Explorer I bought from Gary could double as a tanning booth! :D
Attachment 384259
-very bright LED strip lights line the entire perimeter of the machine, it's the best lit anything I've ever owned :)

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one of our autoparts stores carries some really bright led's but I'm not sure if they have white. In my last laser I put lights that are made for a safe under the upper cover. That was nice b/c that part of the machine didn't lift with the lid. On my universal, the entire top lifts so if you stack lights under the top, you get blinded when you open the top.

I will experiment with lights under the gantry this weekend.

Thanks for the replies.

I had a roll of about 20 feet of led lights that were 5v, I ran around inside of my lid, and while they do help they aren't nearly enough if room is dark. I have a couple of the LED switches Jeff posted and they ARE very bright. (Gun cabinet has a couple in it) They are 5v also (4 batteries). I'm tempted to wire into my current power source for the led strip and see what happens.

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Originally Posted by John Lifer

I had a roll of about 20 feet of led lights that were 5v, I ran around inside of my lid, and while they do help they aren't nearly enough if room is dark. I have a couple of the LED switches Jeff posted and they ARE very bright. (Gun cabinet has a couple in it) They are 5v also (4 batteries). I'm tempted to wire into my current power source for the led strip and see what happens.

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Oh that's a good idea. Then I wouldn't need to worry about batteries.

Bringing this up from a while back, but I finally got around to adding some lighting in my ULS laser. I used some 5050 LED strips and a power supply. Right now it comes on with the laser, but I might set up a switched outlet that can be turned on and off as seeing the red pointer might be kind of tough with the lights on. Any way, if a pictures is worth a thousand words, here's three thousand...

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That looks great Brian. I haven't gotten back around to this project but I like your outcome.

I still have a bunch of the LED strip, so if I feel like I want it brighter, I can always add more. Just haven't decided if more is better or what I have is good enough.