Hiding an un-lit litho..?

[DanielBEE]

I was wondering, I don't personally like how a lithophane looks when it's not illuminated, so if I wanted to put it somewhere, and not have it permanently illuminated, could you cover it with a semi-see through material, that hides the look of it and makes it look blank and smooth when not lit, and when you light it, would the image show through it?

Just wondering.. I haven't made any but this is something I'd want to think about before making one.

Thanks.

[fretsman68]

How about finding a source for a 2 way mirror? That way when it's not lit, it's just a mirror?

Dave

[DanielBEE]

So does illuminating a two-way mirror make it see-through?

Edit:

I just looked up the wiki on a one-way mirror, and that sounds like it would work. In the example of an interrogation room, when one side of the glass is dark you can't see it, so the lithophane would be in the "dark interrogation" room, and when you flip the switch to light it up, it would become regular see through glass.

Great idea, thanks!

[fretsman68]

Glad to help.

You "might" be able to go cheaper by using something like a medium dark transparent acrylic to cover it, but you'd have to experiment with the light brightness to compensate for the dark covering.

Dave

[DanielBEE]

Well, pondering on the mirror idea... I've got a buddy I work with, we're contemplating buying or building a router, and lithos are something I've always wanted to do... You've now got me thinking, full sized bathroom mirrors that illuminate a hidden litho when the bathroom light is off, and when you flip on the bathroom light, the litho turns off and you have a regular bathroom mirror...

That would be pretty sweet I think.

[fretsman68]

Agreed, there would be a lot of uses for it. I've seen where they hide televisions behind 2 way mirrors in bathrooms as well

Dave

EDIT: This might be of some interesting testing materials for you- I have no affiliation with these people.

http://www.reflectionproducts.com/trans ... mirror.htm

[DanielBEE]

Good find, thanks.

I think they "Infinity Light" example shows it should work.