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Shallow Light Box

563 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Tedd, Oct 19, 2004

carmbruster

Discussion Starter · Oct 16, 2004

I have been thinking about building a box to back-light film mylars. Unfortunately, there really isn't a good place to put it, unless I mount it on the inside of the basement door. So, when I'm having guests, I would just open the basement door (it's also the door to the theater) into the family room and you'd see the signage as you approach the entrance to the theater. During the film, the door would be closed and the light would be off.

Since I would be mounting this to the door, I would want something very low profile. How shallow can I make something like this?

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chaz_m

· #2 · Oct 17, 2004

Hello,

Not sure if you have seen these before:

http://www.cinematainment.com./e-com...0.html1.0.html

They all seem to be 4" deep and can be flush mounted on any surface and plugged in to a standard outlet.

Here's a guy that built one from scratch with very detailed instructions but his is 5" deep:

http://www.weilandworks.com/summerla..._overview.html

hope this is helpful.

-Charlie

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carmbruster

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 17, 2004

Thanks. I've seen some of these. I was wondering if anyone has made something shallower.

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D_B_0673

· #4 · Oct 18, 2004

I guess the depth is constrained by the fluorescent light fixture. Perhaps you could use something like this
http://www.lighttape.com/gallery/gal...sidential.html

or rope lights might also work with frosted glass behind the poster.

with rope lights, you might need a wider frame to keep the lights from being visible directly behind the poster. Might give a more uniform lighting. Need to try a mock up. also consider mirror on back to reflect, just some rambling thoughts....

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carmbruster

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 18, 2004

Quote:

Originally posted by D_B_0673
I guess the depth is constrained by the fluorescent light fixture. Perhaps you could use something like this
http://www.lighttape.com/gallery/gal...sidential.html

or rope lights might also work with frosted glass behind the poster.

with rope lights, you might need a wider frame to keep the lights from being visible directly behind the poster. Might give a more uniform lighting. Need to try a mock up. also consider mirror on back to reflect, just some rambling thoughts....

I was thinking that using a lower profile lighting source (like rope lights) might do the trick (don't know how hot they get). Has anyone out there built a light box w/ something other than fluorescent lights?

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Tedd

· #6 · Oct 19, 2004

Rope lighting doesn't get very hot. Most can be held in one's hand comfortably.

Is that a hollow core door? Why not use some of it's depth for lighting? After cutting out the area for the signage, you'd need to glue in a boxed frame to support the door's skins. I've cut down hollow core doors in this manner and they are fine still after fifteen years of use. My biggest concern would be how to safely supply power to the light boxes. Perhaps battery powered might be easier to do. 6 or 9 volt bulbs and everythign could be self contained.

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