Please help

[fordnut]

hi guys, i'am trying to find out how to make or what to use to make a simulated neon sign for my own use in my garage, a simulated neon sign its a sign that illuminates as bright as a neon sign but its not neon tube,it looks flat faced and is very bright i tried it a piece of plexiglass sprayed black and i cut out a stencil with letters and sprayed those with fluorescent spray paint plut a black light behind it and regular light ,but that didn't work , so thats wrong, so does anyone out there know what is used to do that, please help

[myxpykalix]

Bill Palumbo knows what it is, he showed us a piece of it at this years shopbot camp in Troy, va. I've seen it before, he had a piece of orange or limegreen plexiglass and when you carved into it then shined a light thru the thin edge it illuminated the letters like they were lit up. Bill?

[fordnut]

hi jack ,but this stuff isn't carved , i'll have to find a picture to put on here so you can see it, thanks

[myxpykalix]

well you know the old saying "a picture tells a thousand words", that would be more descriptive than trying to describe it. I'm interestd to find out exactly what it is myself.

[fordnut]

here i'll try this pic
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[fordnut]

it says its made with uv treated neon inks, where would you buy that

[wcsg]

oh that. That's a heat formed face. These are traditionally mass produced Joe. It's simulated neon. It's backlit by fluorescent or incandescent. These are no way near or even in the ballpark as bright as neon.

How much are you looking at to get a custom neon sign sign built. You can try this guy, David, he's a one of the sponsors to my site.

http://www.davidshieldsneon.com/

[fordnut]

you know now that i'am looking at this sign that i put on here ,its not the same as the one i see at the pizza shop here, what i'am going to do in the next couple of days is take some pictures of the one here when the sign is off in the morning and when its lit up at night , but thanks Erik for the feed back i appreicated that , thanks to jack also, i'll be back with some pics

[fordnut]

hi guys i got a couple of pics for ya

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hope this helps, these are very bright

[fordnut]

now guys this is the same sign that is in the pizza shop where i live, it identical, see how skinny the whole sign, it says led illuminated open sign, its made by lumibright, its all open around the letters so what would be used for paint to make that glow so bright if there are leds behind it
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[shopbot_steve]

I found this picture of the sign. it looks to me like it is just white acrylic with color LED behind it. the black might be painted or vinyl. the return looks like formed plastic. Any of the other signs I find like this they say something like "our own formulation" or "patent pending neon inks" so it seams very mysterious.

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[jhicks]

You might be interested in a technology called Electro luminescent lighting. Several sources on the web when you look up EL lighting or derivitives of it. Some come in flat paper thin strips which is probably the most common but some come in strings or tubes about pencil diameter or smaller. Use an inverter to power and its a glowing colored light. Nice but not quite as bright as neon.

[kerrazy]

Ok heres the deal.
THere are specialized thermal printers that apply UV cured inks, similar to a silkscreening method, yet it is a printer that prints on solid surface(acrylic) material.DirectJet printers from Direct Color http://www.directcolorsystems.com/
you could also apply translucent vinyl that will allow the light to filter through.
Dale

[fordnut]

well i guess there is more to it than meets the eye, i didn't think it was going to be that simple, i figured it had something to do with manufacturing but thought there would be an easier way to do it by hand, well guys i really appreicate your time to get back to me and give me your thoughts and knowledge , i'll try something, we'll keep in touch, this is a great sight keep up the great work