ULTIMATE ANGLING - the Ultimate SA Fishing website
FRESHWATER ANGLING => Fly fishing => Fly tying => Topic started by: Ziggy on May 21, 2016, 10:12:25 AM
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IF YOU INTEND MAKING THIS LAMP READ THE REVISED TUT, SCROLL DOWN
I was not prepared to pay R800 - R1000 for a decent LED flytying lamp. So I made my own for about R320
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Very nice !!
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Awesome Ziggy. :Like:
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(clap) nice Ziggy , thinking out the box DIY .
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My kind of DIY project... well done (clap)
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Nice Ziggy!! Can you shed some info on the lights themselves?
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Awesome stuff bru!
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Lekka, now show some more pics of how its made :-)
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If anyone is interested - here is a tutorial that I wrote for our flytying club
For months I have been looking for a decent LED fly tying lamp. I saw a few at horrendous prices, between R800 and R1200. Way too expensive and not always appropriate to my needs. In addition, once the LED gives up the ghost on those things, it is not possible to repair because they are all custom made and sealed into units. So, after many nights of “designing a lamp” instead of “counting sheep”, I came up with the idea of making my own lamp that suited my needs and pocket.
When I set about to make the lamp, I wanted to make it, as cheap as possible, as bright as I needed, reasonably “handsome” – and also not to run all around town looking for components
So, I went down to the local Mica hardware shop and spent about an hour looking through the electrical department and bought the following:
- 2 meters of white PVC conduit
- 1 PVC 90 degree sharp elbow
- 1 PVC coupling
- 1 electrical dome lid
- 1 socket box (the kind you put into the wall)
- 1 blank cover for the socket box
- PVC glue
- A press button table lamp switch
- 2 meters of electrical cord
- A 12 volt transformer (which I need not have bought – see later in the write up below)
- 2 of 300mm LED strip lights (18 LEDs each). I decided that one would not give sufficient light
- Bolts nuts and washers
- At home I had a strip of flat aluminium 40mm wide and 2mm thick (a left over from another project), some large lead sinkers that I will never use and a tube of silicon sealer
This is how I built it
I started by cutting the conduit to size, one for the vertical piece and another for the horizontal piece that would hold the LEDs. The height of the lamp I measured by eye – and what was comfortable for me at my desk making sure that there was enough space when using a bobbin.
I took the cone shaped dome lid and glued the PVC sleeve onto its tapered end. The problem here was that there was not enough of the head on the cone to hold the sleeve securely. So I took some thin galvanised wire and made four pins that I heated up and burnt through the sleeve and through the end of the cone (see picture) and glued it together. The cone is a different kind of plastic to the PVC and the PVC glue does not work. However, with the pins through both, a sufficient join was made. I then glued the vertical conduit into the sleeve.(there may be a better way of doing this - but I was just wanting to finish the lamp)[smg id=2933]
I then drilled holes in the socket box cover and bolted the cone shaped fitting on it. I also drilled a hole for the push button switch as well as a two holes for the electrical cable to the transformer – one on the cover below the cone so that the wire could be fed up the vertical conduit, and another on the side of the socket box leading to the transformer. I then installed the switch on the cover.
I cut the aluminium strip to just over the length of the LED fittings, leaving enough space on either side so that it could be bolted onto the horizontal piece of PVC. I bolted the LED fittings side by side onto the aluminium strip and then bolted the conduit onto that.
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(Bottom view)[smg id=2935]
(Side view)
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(Assembled)
I drilled a hole into the inside middle of the PVC elbow to fit the wires coming from the LED fittings. I then glued the elbow onto the horizontal conduit (which now had the aluminium strip and the LED fittings bolted on to it). I made sure that everything was square and level before gluing. I then fed the wires through the elbow – but first using a short strip of heat shrink to keep the wires together and neat between the elbow and the LED fittings.[smg id=2936]
I fed the electrical cable through the hole in the switch box Making an overhand knot inside to prevent it from being pulled out) and up the vertical conduit and connected that to the LED fitting wires and fed all slack into the vertical conduit. In the socket box I made sure that there was enough slack in the wire so as to connect the positive through the switch on the socket box. I then glued the elbow on the top of the vertical conduit – again making sure that everything was square and level.[smg id=2937]
I squeezed silicon sealer onto the inside bottom of the switch box and placed the sinkers into the silicon. This gave sufficient weight to the box so that the lamp would not topple over.[smg id=2940]
I then screwed the cover onto the socket box (at this stage, the cover was attached to the cone and the vertical conduit – and attached to that was the horizontal conduit holding the LED fittings.) I then connected the cable to the transformer.
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SUBSEQUENT MODIFICATION
After a day of use, the LEDs began to flicker - and the transformer smelt like electrical burn. After a few trsts with the voltmeter, I found that the transformer was not producing exactly 12v (cheap Chinese transformer!!!. So I found an old transformer in my "I will find this useful later" stash. and it worked fine. It also fitted perfectly into the socket box - all I had to do was rearrange the sinkers and make a larger hole so that the connector for the lead from the transformer to the mains could be plugged in. Taking this int account, then the lamp only cost me about R200 - if I can recover from Mica the amount spent on the crappy Chinese transformer.
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And here is the finished product - and I am a happy man!
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happy now Dugongboy?
Super Daav - the till slip says "Goldstone LED striplite 300mm": the only markings on the strips can be seen in one of the pics above
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Awesome Ziggy, well done! :+ cred:
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Thank you for the tutorial!! :+ cred:
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:rck" :rck" :rck" :+ cred:
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Awesome Ziggy and lekker SBS!! :+ cred:
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I have made 4 lamps now. Each one better than the one before. This latest version. Is made with three led strips. And an internal transformer. I ah e manged to sort out some niggling things like the join with the base and the upright section. The original led units are no longer available and that is why I used strips.... Also allows for more light. Better quality transformer and better strips makes it more expensive though
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(clap) very nice. Well done!
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So when are you going into manufacturing these....? I want!
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So when are you going into manufacturing these....? I want!
Reef. As the most multi-skilled member of UA you could knock one up in an evening if you have all the components at hand...... About the same amount if time that it would take to service a reel in your meticulous manner. The most time consuming thing for me was sourcing components..... Durban does not have the kind of suppliers that Jhb has
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You can also buy those LED strips at your local flea market / china mall for next to nothing, I think its around R30.00 a meter. The colour temperature is not always ideal, sometimes tending towards the blue spectrum but for something like reel servicing that wouldn't matter
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Cool beans... just taking a chance... :hehe:
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You can also buy those LED strips at your local flea market / china mall for next to nothing, I think its around R30.00 a meter. The colour temperature is not always ideal, sometimes tending towards the blue spectrum but for something like reel servicing that wouldn't matter
Better to get from a reputable dealer. I found some of the Chinese cheapie dodgy.
I got the not natural light one. Much brighter for tying flies
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Yip definitely better to get good quality LEDs but for those of us eyeing this to use on reel servicing etc that is not quite as intricate as tying flies you can probably get by with the knock offs. Especially for a trial run for those of us who are less technically inclined :blush:
Incidentally we have had the knock offs installed in our kitchen for about 2 years with no issues.
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Yip definitely better to get good quality LEDs but for those of us eyeing this to use on reel servicing etc that is not quite as intricate as tying flies you can probably get by with the knock offs. Especially for a trial run for those of us who are less technically inclined :blush:
Incidentally we have had the knock offs installed in our kitchen for about 2 years with no issues.
If you are going to make one, let me know so that I can give you an update since the tut above. Some helpful hints
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Ziggy please give us an update, I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking of one for my fishing desk
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Ok will do in a couple of days. Will have to open my lamp to take pics
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Here you are Half-pint. Fortunately for you today is a very kaka day for fishing….so there was time to write this up. This is the fourth lamp I have made – learning new things each time.
COMPONENTS
- 1 meter of white 25mm PVC conduit
- 1 25mm PVC right angled elbow
- 1 PVC coupling (that fits over the conduit)
- 1 cone shaped dome lid PVC fitting
- 1 Dome lid gland
- 1 PVC box (you can use a socket box and a blank cover). The best is one that you can get from electronic component store – used to house electronic circuits
- PVC glue
- A press button switch of your choice
- 2 meters of electrical cord
- A 12 volt transformer – preferably one that fits into the PVC box
- Connector from transformer cable to the LEDs – see pics below
- 3 LED strips (30cm long with 18 LEDs each, they come in sections so 30 cm is the best)
- LED strip connectors
- Electrical terminal connector
- Double sided tape
- Some heat shrink
- Bolts nuts and washers
- Flat aluminium 40mm wide and 2mm thick
- Some large lead sinkers or other suitable weights
- Silicon sealer
- Fine grit sandpaper and Brasso
NOTES: Make sure that all components to be glued are PVC and not plastic. Plastic and PVC don’t bond with PVC glue. This is particularly important when you make the join between the vertical conduit and the stand box. So watch out when you buy components – not everything is PVC. Bear in mind that there is no adhesive that sticks PVC to aluminium! The stand box is important. The original lamp was made with a socket box. I found that its footprint was a little too small – and also was difficult to fit a transformer into it. When you have cut each piece of conduit, use fine sandpaper or steel wool and rub them down to take off all the manufacturers’ text. He rub down with Brasso to get a nice finish….if finish is a concern!
STEP ONE- MAKING THE VERTICAL COMPONENT
First smear the inside thread of the dome lid with PVC glue and screw in the gland. Don’t put glue on the thread of the gland because then the glue will squeeze out when you screw it in – making a mess. Leave to cure.[smg id=2944]
Look inside the coupling and you will see a little stopper ridge in the middle inside that prevents the coupling from going all the way down on the gland. File out that ridge to ensure that the coupling covers the whole gland and the protruding section of the dome lid and is flush.
Apply adhesive to the inside of the coupling and push it over the gland. Only apply the glue inside the coupling. If you apply glue to the screw on gland, excess glue will squeeze out the bottom and make a mess – I know from experience!
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Glue the vertical conduit (cut to your desired height) into the coupling on the dome lid – again, only glue the inside of the coupling and not the conduit so that the glue is squeezed into the dome section for less visible mess.
Drill a hole in inside of the elbow so that you can later pass your electrical cord through it. On the top end of the conduit, glue the elbow on making sure the elbow lines up exactly with the holes on the dome lid otherwise your lamp will stand skew.
You will now have the vertical section prepared
STEP TWO – PREPARING THE STAND BOX
Drill holes on the stand box lid corresponding with the dome lid. Make sure that the holes are drilled across the length and not breadth of the lid. In the centre of the holes, drill a hole in the box lid large enough to provide free movement of the electrical cord that is later to be fed from the transformer up the vertical conduit and through the elbow hole to the LED strips.
It is best to offset the dome on the lid so that it is closer to one side of the box – this will increase the work space under the light. Bear in mind that later you will have to ensure that there is sufficient weight on the other end of the box to counterbalance the lamp so it does not topple.
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When you fit the dome lid to the box lid, also only use glue sparingly on the base of the dome lid, keeping it away from the edge– again, no glue squeezed out making a mess. When gluing, use the bolts and nuts as your clamp. I found that the box lid was a little too flexible, so I added an aluminium strip underneath the lid on the inside to give it more rigidity. This is why the holes for the dome lid should be drilled along the length, so that the supporting stripped can be bolted on with the dome lid. No glue will stick the strip to the base, so I relied only on the bolts used to attach the cone to the lid – works fine. I tried everything to glue PVC to aluminium – not possible!
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Drill a hole to fit the on/off press button – on the side where the electrical cord enters the box. Of course you will drill a hole where the cord will enter the box. Then install the switch. Before installing the switch, solder a single strand of cord on each pole for later connection – cover the pole and connection with heat shrink to ensure that there will be no short circuiting later. I also covered the connections with some silicon sealer for double security. Bear in mind that this switch will be live with 220v.
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Your box is now ready.
STEP THREE – HORIZONTAL SECTION
Cut one length of aluminium strip 330mm long which will become the heatsink on which you will stick the LED strips. Also cut two pieces 35mm long which will become the base plates for attaching the heatsink later. Place the shorter pieces square with the end of the long piece in the vice and drill three holes as per the pic below. I used a 3mm drill to fit the bolts and nuts to be used. Use a centre punch to make sure that your drill does its work in the right spot. Bolt the pieces together and file the corners round for sake of appearance and also to ensure that nothing will snag on the corners in the final product – you can sand the edges to make them smooth. Repeat the process on the other end. Now disassemble but first mark each end so you know which one goes where when you put it all back together.
Cut a piece of conduit that will be as long as the long strip (heat sink) plus the section that will be glued into the elbow – ass a little more just in case. When you do the final assembly, you can then saw off the excess, if any.
Put the end of the conduit into the elbow and place the long strip onto that so that it lies snugly against the lip of the elbow. Through the centre holes drilled in the strip, mark the position of where you will drill the holes in the conduit. Drill the holes and then bolt the short pieces on to the conduit. Make sure that the holes are drilled in the same place so that when you bolt the short pieces on, they lie flat and square on a level surface. It is advisable to put some glue on the thread of the bolts so that they never come loose once the light is assembled. Once assembled, you will not have access to these nuts again. How to bolt it…
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Take the long piece and drill the centre hole larger so that the bolt head that attaches the base plate to the conduit fits snugly. This will allow the base plate and heat sink to be bolted together closely. This is how the final assembly will look – note how the bolts placement should look
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Next, take the conduit with the base plates bolted on and fit it into the elbow – make sure that it is level, mark the position of the elbow and conduit with a pencil. Remove and smear glue inside the elbow and insert the conduit making sure that you line up your level marks. Leave to cure.
Now the horizontal assembly is done - in the finished product it will look like this
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STEP FOUR – LAYING DOWN THE LED STRIPS
This part gets a bit finicky!
Make sure that you buy good quality LED strips that are replaceable – the original ones I used are no longer available. However, the strips do not come with a cover or heat sink. Apparently you can get covers, heatsinks and end pieces and make your own – but I did not bother because they would have to be ordered from Johannesburg. I also thought that, by adding an extra LED strip for more light, the bulk and weight of the horizontal part of the lamp would be increased if I used the heatsink and covers. Also, three of the strips with heat sinks and covers would make the lamp section wider.
First sand the aluminium heat sink/LED holder so that the surface is slightly etched to assist with the sticking on of the LED strips and the LED clip connectors. Clean all residues on the aluminium with acetone or other degreaser. Aluminium apparently oxidises fast and this is what causes adhesives not to stick – I read that acetone is the best to ensure that you remove the oxidised layer.
Cut the wires from the strip connectors to the length needed from the strip connectors to the electrical terminal connector …..Like this picture below of the final product. Solder the three positives together and the same with the negatives. Position the strip connectors on the heatsink and mark. Then take double sided tape and stick them on like this.
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I could find no adhesive that sticks to aluminium. I tried contact glue, epoxy, glue gun, etc. The strips come with their own adhesive which does stick to aluminium. However, I could not stick the LED clip connectors on the aluminium until I used this expensive stuff. Worked perfectly…and it’s thin. I am sure I will find a use for the rest of it over time.
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Once the clip connectors are placed and stuck down, clip in the LED strips (the clips are very easy to use) and, starting from the loose end, remove the backing. When you have peeled off the backing, stick the strips down on the aluminium heatsink starting from the clip connectors. Remember, you only have one chance here! Once the strip is stuck down, it is not easy to take them off to correct any mistakes you may have made. So make sure you do it right first time
You will now have the heatsink with clips and LED strips attached and wires soldered and ready for the next step
STEP FIVE – WIRING UP
Take your transformer and fit it into the stand box. This may take a bit of effort, I had to cut some of the excess rubber protection sections off where the wires go into it. However, you may find a transformer that fits exactly. Not all transformers are the same. I got the latest one from A1 Radio in Durban. The transformer has to deliver a consistent 12v at all time – speak to your electronics shop about this. DON’T BUY THE CHEAP CHINESE ONES FROM MICA - ABSOLUTE RUBBISH – I have tried two so far and both have failed. You can use an external transformer, but then you lose the ability to just leave the lamp plugged in. With an internal transformer you can switch the 220v off on the lamp.
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The wiring diagram is as follows:
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From the cord that will lead to the 220 power point, take the live and connect it to one strand of cord that you soldered on to the switch earlier on (see above) and then connect this to the live wire going into the transformer. The transformer live wire should be red. Take the neutral wire from the cord directly from the plug point and connect it directly to the neural wire that goes into the transformer. For these connections I soldered them and covered them with heat shrink to ensure that they were insulated.
Thread a piece of electrical cord up the vertical through the dome lid and then through the elbow. On the bottom end below the dome lid, strip the cord sand solder on the transformer connector. Strip and solder the upper ends at the elbow and connect to the terminal connector. It is important to keep track of the positive and negative otherwise you could damage the LEDs. This means you should know which the positive and negative coming from the transformer is – use a volt meter to make sure.
To further explain the above, it is best to make use of connectors rather than solder the wires in two places – this facilitates any repairs that you may have to make in future. On the horizontal so that each LED strip can be removed individually, I used a plain old terminal connector. I used double sided tape to keep it in place – I did not have a self-tapping screw handy that had a head small enough – it would have been a better option.
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Between the transformer and the terminal connector I used this one below. Using this connector, I also did not have to fiddle with the transformer lead that delivers the 12v to the strips.
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Now bolt the LED strip and heat sink assembly onto the base plates with the 4 bolts one on each corner, then connect the positives and negatives in correct polarity on the terminal connector at the elbow.
Check your circuits and when you are sure everything is right, switch on the see if it works.
The electrics are now done!
FINAL STEPS -
In the remaining space in the box stand, place lead sinkers (or any other suitable weights) using silicon sealer to keep them in place. Make sure that you put in enough so that the lamp will stand in a stable manner. Bear in mind that, because of the offset of the dome lid and the cantilever effect of the horizontal section, you must ensure that you place sufficient weight on the switch side.
Then make sure all connections are done – and close up the box. Under the box stick four nonslip silicone buttons that you can find in any hardware shop. Not sure what they are called exactly
To close off the end piece of the horizontal conduit that holds the strips, I added a piece of cork and coated it with clear nail varnish……now I feel that the lamp is more environmentally friendly – using a recycled wine cork (just a quirky thing on my part!). Also looks prettier
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Half-Pint....now I want to see you make the lamp......and post it here!
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Nice one Ziggy,
I bought 5m strips about four weeks ago in White (bright white not the yellowish one), Red, Green and Blue. Never thought of that as I have a "Moerse" big magnifying glass with light on a flex stand. I need it cause I can like to be seeing what I ies doeing.
Used some of the strips to make some hatch lights (White) with switches that will automatically switch the led's on once the hatch is opened, some deck lights (blue) and some nav lights (red and green). The latter three I placed in some alu extrusion and filled that with clear resin to make them water proof, they run on 12v as you know and I have tested them for heat accumulation and I can safely say that they'll run for more that two hours before I even thought of it becoming a problem.
One thing is sure, these little buggers can give you brights spots in the eyes if you look at them when switched on :rotfl
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they are bright - I am thinking of a small hood on the edge something like I did on my boat where I installed two strips - I used plastic tile edge trimming - like in the pic. I glued the strips as close into the "hood" of the tile trimming as possible - and then glued the lot onto my boat. This deflects the light downward and prevents the little lights from shining directly inot your eyes and blinding you - unless you bend down low. Works fine - see the bad pic, enlargement from a small part of a cell phone picture - the only pic I have unless I go out into the Durban cold and take the cover off my boat to take a pic!
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Ziggy, I get the idea 100% no need to go outside, work that hard and freeze your noenoes off just for a pic :hyst: , anyhow, I bought some nice aluminium extrusions that was ridiculously cheap, like R50 odd rand for 1m in various forms and angles, I however bought the flat one with the milky cover that clips into the extrusion and didn't use that cause I wanted the full extent of the illumination. However I then sealed then by filling these with clear expoxy resin. I am planning to rout out some recesses in the gunwales so the deck and nav light units will be flush and not get stuff, clothing, lines etc etc snagged onto them.
To see what I used (alu extrusions) check the thread on the boat I'm building in the DIY section, can't post the link cause the iPad doesn't show the link in the top, just the site name.
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PS. Bought the alu extrusions from Communica in Midrand, check out their navigational handicapped site for the profiles they have. Think they are named LED strip accessories or something like that.
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Alright the gauntlet has been laid down. I'll have to have a go at this possibly next weekend
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After LGF's comment about how bright the little LEDs are and how they catch your eye....I made a modification by adding 15mm Aluminium angle on the edges
see the pics below
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All I did was cut them to size and fitted them between the base plate and the heatsink - the end peice was a bit finicky - but I managed by trimming the one end of the angle to create a lip that fitted into the space in the middle.
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Brilliant Ziggy! (clap)
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Lovely mod there Ziggy. Sorry that I gave you extra work, but now it isn't just functional and doesn't just look cool, it's also protecting the most valuable of the senses, eyesight, which at our age (mine at least) really makes things take a whole lot longer, CAUSE I CAN'T SEE!!!!
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Alright the gauntlet has been laid down. I'll have to have a go at this possibly next weekend
HP I will be waiting in anticipation to see your lamp on Monday morning.....
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Alright the gauntlet has been laid down. I'll have to have a go at this possibly next weekend
HP I will be waiting in anticipation to see your lamp on Monday morning.....
HP's nuts in a bench vice, without any pressure I suppose, till Monday! :rotfl
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Alright the gauntlet has been laid down. I'll have to have a go at this possibly next weekend
HP I will be waiting in anticipation to see your lamp on Monday morning.....
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HP's nuts in a bench vice, without any pressure I suppose, till Monday! :rotfl
In the absence of any light, HP's nuts are not visible. He remains in the dark
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So HP's work light is "Not Illuminated" then? Might be interesting to see what he ties in the dark :rotfl Post pics of your first tied thingy, Please?
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Understandable cuz lawyers live and work on the dark side
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:corrct: :hehe: :hehe: :toppie:
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Apologies guys just dealing with a few family health issues at the moment which has taken my focus away from UA
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Eish HP!
I have just completed another one (number 6 now) ....for our fly tying club to be used at our meetings for the monthly guest tyer
Still waiting to see yours......