Thinking about filling a litho with clear epoxy

This section is for useful tips and tricks for Aspire
thefixerdude
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2014 4:57 am
Model of CNC Machine: CRP 4896 Pro
Location: Parowan, UT

Re: Thinking about filling a litho with clear epoxy

Post by thefixerdude »

Other than a thin lithophane being fragile, I like the texture on the front.

I wonder if you could poor about 1/4" on the back and sand the back and then edge light it to provide the illumination? The frames I currently use are almost 3" deep. Pouring the clear and edge lighting that would save me over 2 inches off the depth.

User avatar
Xxray
Vectric Wizard
Posts: 2300
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:47 am
Model of CNC Machine: CAMaster Stinger 1
Location: MI USA

Re: Thinking about filling a litho with clear epoxy

Post by Xxray »

I don't mind the texture, just trying something new for the heck of it.
I have confirmed that it works, but don't think there is a good case for routinely going through the extra time and expense to do it.

As far as the back thing, can't visualize what you are thinking about, how would you pour 1/4" on the back ?
Doug

User avatar
martin54
Vectric Archimage
Posts: 7339
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 2:12 pm
Model of CNC Machine: Gerber 48, Triac PC, Isel fixed gantry
Location: Kirkcaldy, Scotland

Re: Thinking about filling a litho with clear epoxy

Post by martin54 »

I wonder if you could poor about 1/4" on the back and sand the back and then edge light it to provide the illumination? The frames I currently use are almost 3" deep. Pouring the clear and edge lighting that would save me over 2 inches off the depth.

if you want to try something like that why use an epoxy ? Easy enough to mount a piece of clear acrylic to the back of the corian but I don't think it would work very well, the lighting will be completely different & you probably aren't going to get very even light distribution, depending on the size the edges would be bright but the middle could be quite dark in relation :lol: :lol:

Wasn't sure it was going to be alright once it had cured Doug, I had problems on a different type of project with Polyester casting resin shrinking, when I spoke with my supplier about it I was told that pouring thin layers of polyester resin over a largish surface area could result in a lot of shrinkage because of the heat generated as it cured. For my project I was told that polyurethane resin was a better option, unfortunately it's about 5 times the price :lol: :lol:

User avatar
Xxray
Vectric Wizard
Posts: 2300
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:47 am
Model of CNC Machine: CAMaster Stinger 1
Location: MI USA

Re: Thinking about filling a litho with clear epoxy

Post by Xxray »

polyurethane is some good stuff, used to use it by the drum full as a clear topcoat for epoxy floors - If you don't have proper ventilation it will send you to hallucinating in no time flat.
Some guys I worked with liked to trip out on it, they would see walls breathe, see gophers morphing out of floors and other fun stuff, they would laugh uncontrollably and then I would kick them out to get some fresh air and come back to their senses.

I see the girl I gave this to pretty often, if any problems develop she'll probably fill me in.

I use 2.5" depth for my light boxes, you actually don't want to go too thin [at least with LED's as a light source], as this will hamper light distribution and intensify hot spots.
Doug

User avatar
martin54
Vectric Archimage
Posts: 7339
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 2:12 pm
Model of CNC Machine: Gerber 48, Triac PC, Isel fixed gantry
Location: Kirkcaldy, Scotland

Re: Thinking about filling a litho with clear epoxy

Post by martin54 »

I use 2.5" depth for my light boxes, you actually don't want to go too thin [at least with LED's as a light source], as this will hamper light distribution and intensify hot spots

Not just LED's Doug, same thing applies to florescent tubes, when I was working as a signmaker I use to manufacture some of the lightboxes my customers wanted. I had a set of guidelines for tube spacing & minimum box depths to ensure good even light distribution :lol:
The post about reducing the box thickness by about 2" was asking if anyone had tried using edge lighting rather than back lighting so you wouldn't need such a deep frame :lol: :lol:

Post Reply