Little lights

T

Tapper

Guest
I am trying to make lighted Christmas decorations for a dollhouse (1/12th
scale). The smallest LEDs I have are too big, and the "microlamps" from
Radio Shack (cute little LED-sized filament bulb) are OK, but they're
expensive (over $1 ea) and I think the heat would be a hazard. I want
strings of lights to go around the edges of the roofs, around Santa and
Reindeer stand-ups, etc, just like on a real house.

Power reqs aren't important: I can run on batteries, use the DC juice in the
house now, or go AC.

My DREAM is to make "icicle" lights, just like the ones that are so popular
now on real houses. I'm fiddling with fiber optic and clear heatshrink
tubing but the fibers are too stiff when they're short: they won't dangle
from eaves properly, although horizontal runs are OK.

Any ideas for sources of strings of bitty little lights? Or fringes of fiber
optic? I want authentic-looking decorations, so I'm trying to create
hundreds of points of light. I get a nice effect from staggered fiber in
clear tubing but it's pretty time-consuming since I'm a beginner.

Thanks
--Pat
 
Tapper wrote:
I am trying to make lighted Christmas decorations for a dollhouse (1/12th
scale). The smallest LEDs I have are too big, and the "microlamps" from
Radio Shack (cute little LED-sized filament bulb) are OK, but they're
expensive (over $1 ea) and I think the heat would be a hazard. I want
strings of lights to go around the edges of the roofs, around Santa and
Reindeer stand-ups, etc, just like on a real house.

Power reqs aren't important: I can run on batteries, use the DC juice in the
house now, or go AC.

My DREAM is to make "icicle" lights, just like the ones that are so popular
now on real houses. I'm fiddling with fiber optic and clear heatshrink
tubing but the fibers are too stiff when they're short: they won't dangle
from eaves properly, although horizontal runs are OK.

Any ideas for sources of strings of bitty little lights? Or fringes of fiber
optic? I want authentic-looking decorations, so I'm trying to create
hundreds of points of light. I get a nice effect from staggered fiber in
clear tubing but it's pretty time-consuming since I'm a beginner.
A guy at work sells Avon products. Last wk he brought in a Christmas
village decoration with fiber optic strands all around the eaves of the
houses and all over the place. It's pretty impressive, and looks like
there is a color wheel inside that changes the light coming from the
strands. To find it, go to www.avon.com, and in the What Product box at
the bottom type in christmas fiber optic and hit go.

Local stores are selling something similar, but not a complete village,
just a single house or whatever. Costs something like $13 or so.

BTW, do not post to sci.electronics, it is not a valid newsgroup.

Thanks
--Pat


--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
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My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
F
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Thanks, that's cute. But that is table-top. Dollhouse scale is 1 inch = 1
foot; my house is 3 feet tall. I'm not looking for a Christmas Village; I
built a house and want to decorate it. Thnaks for the info anyway (it's
something to shoot for!), and the NG tip.

"Watson A.Name "Watt Sun - the Dark Remover"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote
in message news:boqvvq$4qiqo$1@hades.csu.net...
Tapper wrote:
I am trying to make lighted Christmas decorations for a dollhouse
(1/12th
scale). The smallest LEDs I have are too big, and the "microlamps" from
Radio Shack (cute little LED-sized filament bulb) are OK, but they're
expensive (over $1 ea) and I think the heat would be a hazard. I want
strings of lights to go around the edges of the roofs, around Santa and
Reindeer stand-ups, etc, just like on a real house.

Power reqs aren't important: I can run on batteries, use the DC juice in
the
house now, or go AC.

My DREAM is to make "icicle" lights, just like the ones that are so
popular
now on real houses. I'm fiddling with fiber optic and clear heatshrink
tubing but the fibers are too stiff when they're short: they won't
dangle
from eaves properly, although horizontal runs are OK.

Any ideas for sources of strings of bitty little lights? Or fringes of
fiber
optic? I want authentic-looking decorations, so I'm trying to create
hundreds of points of light. I get a nice effect from staggered fiber in
clear tubing but it's pretty time-consuming since I'm a beginner.

A guy at work sells Avon products. Last wk he brought in a Christmas
village decoration with fiber optic strands all around the eaves of the
houses and all over the place. It's pretty impressive, and looks like
there is a color wheel inside that changes the light coming from the
strands. To find it, go to www.avon.com, and in the What Product box at
the bottom type in christmas fiber optic and hit go.

Local stores are selling something similar, but not a complete village,
just a single house or whatever. Costs something like $13 or so.

BTW, do not post to sci.electronics, it is not a valid newsgroup.

Thanks
--Pat



--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
F
o
d
d
e
r

f
o
r

s
t
u
p
i
d

n
o
t

e
n
o
u
g
h

i
n
c
l
u
d
e
d

t
e
x
t

m
s
g
 
"Tapper" <oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Xo2dnbVJWpmrZC2iRVn-tA@iwc.net...
I am trying to make lighted Christmas decorations for a dollhouse (1/12th
scale). The smallest LEDs I have are too big, and the "microlamps" from
Radio Shack (cute little LED-sized filament bulb) are OK, but they're
expensive (over $1 ea) and I think the heat would be a hazard. I want
strings of lights to go around the edges of the roofs, around Santa and
Reindeer stand-ups, etc, just like on a real house.

Power reqs aren't important: I can run on batteries, use the DC juice in
the
house now, or go AC.

My DREAM is to make "icicle" lights, just like the ones that are so
popular
now on real houses. I'm fiddling with fiber optic and clear heatshrink
tubing but the fibers are too stiff when they're short: they won't dangle
from eaves properly, although horizontal runs are OK.

Any ideas for sources of strings of bitty little lights? Or fringes of
fiber
optic? I want authentic-looking decorations, so I'm trying to create
hundreds of points of light. I get a nice effect from staggered fiber in
clear tubing but it's pretty time-consuming since I'm a beginner.

Thanks
--Pat
Try a hobby shop. I used to buy the "Grain of wheat" lights, very small.
 
On Tue, 11 Nov 2003, Tapper wrote:

I am trying to make lighted Christmas decorations for a dollhouse
(1/12th scale). The smallest LEDs I have are too big, and the
"microlamps" from Radio Shack (cute little LED-sized filament bulb) are
OK, but they're expensive (over $1 ea)
6V, 12V or 24V 1.2W all-glass bulb, 4mm max diameter, 15mm max length,
$7/10pk from www.candlepowerinc.com . Type W1.2W. Would that work?

DS
 
"Tapper" <oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Xo2dnbVJWpmrZC2iRVn-tA@iwc.net...
I am trying to make lighted Christmas decorations for a dollhouse (1/12th
scale). The smallest LEDs I have are too big, and the "microlamps" from
Radio Shack (cute little LED-sized filament bulb) are OK, but they're
expensive (over $1 ea) and I think the heat would be a hazard. I want
strings of lights to go around the edges of the roofs, around Santa and
Reindeer stand-ups, etc, just like on a real house.

Power reqs aren't important: I can run on batteries, use the DC juice in
the
house now, or go AC.

My DREAM is to make "icicle" lights, just like the ones that are so
popular
now on real houses. I'm fiddling with fiber optic and clear heatshrink
tubing but the fibers are too stiff when they're short: they won't dangle
from eaves properly, although horizontal runs are OK.

Any ideas for sources of strings of bitty little lights? Or fringes of
fiber
optic? I want authentic-looking decorations, so I'm trying to create
hundreds of points of light. I get a nice effect from staggered fiber in
clear tubing but it's pretty time-consuming since I'm a beginner.

Thanks
--Pat



The SMD leds are pretty small :)

--
Regards ............... Rheilly Phoull
 
In article <a5KdnQt_2O4zsCyiRVn-jw@iwc.net>, oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com
mentioned...
Thanks, that's cute. But that is table-top. Dollhouse scale is 1 inch = 1
foot; my house is 3 feet tall. I'm not looking for a Christmas Village; I
built a house and want to decorate it. Thnaks for the info anyway (it's
something to shoot for!), and the NG tip.
I went by the hardware stoe last night to get a key made and they had
a layout of more than a dozen xmas/winter houses, train station,s
ferris wheels, etc, most with the fiber optics and multicolored lights
in them. I think they use nylon monofilament fishing line for the
fiber optics, and run them to a central point where the light is. I
haven't seen inside one of these yet, I guess I'll have to investigate
further. They even had a snow making machine that sits in front of
the model, dropping flakes on the ground. It operated off a wall
wart. Cute. But the neatest one was a working model of a roller
coaster ride, and on the front was the word
---------
( TORNADO )
---------

with the letters made up of pinpoint sized red LEDs. Just about the
size you were looking for. There was no doubt they were LEDs.


"Watson A.Name "Watt Sun - the Dark Remover"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote
in message news:boqvvq$4qiqo$1@hades.csu.net...
Tapper wrote:
I am trying to make lighted Christmas decorations for a dollhouse
(1/12th
scale). The smallest LEDs I have are too big, and the "microlamps" from
Radio Shack (cute little LED-sized filament bulb) are OK, but they're
expensive (over $1 ea) and I think the heat would be a hazard. I want
strings of lights to go around the edges of the roofs, around Santa and
Reindeer stand-ups, etc, just like on a real house.

Power reqs aren't important: I can run on batteries, use the DC juice in
the
house now, or go AC.

My DREAM is to make "icicle" lights, just like the ones that are so
popular
now on real houses. I'm fiddling with fiber optic and clear heatshrink
tubing but the fibers are too stiff when they're short: they won't
dangle
from eaves properly, although horizontal runs are OK.

Any ideas for sources of strings of bitty little lights? Or fringes of
fiber
optic? I want authentic-looking decorations, so I'm trying to create
hundreds of points of light. I get a nice effect from staggered fiber in
clear tubing but it's pretty time-consuming since I'm a beginner.

A guy at work sells Avon products. Last wk he brought in a Christmas
village decoration with fiber optic strands all around the eaves of the
houses and all over the place. It's pretty impressive, and looks like
there is a color wheel inside that changes the light coming from the
strands. To find it, go to www.avon.com, and in the What Product box at
the bottom type in christmas fiber optic and hit go.

Local stores are selling something similar, but not a complete village,
just a single house or whatever. Costs something like $13 or so.

BTW, do not post to sci.electronics, it is not a valid newsgroup.

Thanks
--Pat

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 07:41:57 -0800 "Watson A.Name \"Watt Sun - the Dark
Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote in Message id:
<boqvvq$4qiqo$1@hades.csu.net>:

BTW, do not post to sci.electronics, it is not a valid newsgroup.
It is on some servers. Depends on your NSP.
 
"Watson A.Name - Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote in
message news:MPG.1a1bdb93a15919ec98990b@news.dslextreme.com...
In article <a5KdnQt_2O4zsCyiRVn-jw@iwc.net>, oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com
mentioned...
Thanks, that's cute. But that is table-top. Dollhouse scale is 1 inch
= 1
foot; my house is 3 feet tall. I'm not looking for a Christmas Village;
I
built a house and want to decorate it. Thnaks for the info anyway (it's
something to shoot for!), and the NG tip.
1" to 1` dosent sound impossible, any one tell us lenght of C7 christmas
lamp?

I went by the hardware stoe last night to get a key made and they had
a layout of more than a dozen xmas/winter houses, train station,s
ferris wheels, etc, most with the fiber optics and multicolored lights
in them. I think they use nylon monofilament fishing line for the
fiber optics,
Not nylon, wrong characteristics, Plastic Optical Fibre, POF, is made fom
Poly Methyl Meth Acrylate,PMMA for short similar to perspex plastic sheet.
Fiber in US, fibre is UK spelling, brings up a whole set of different search
results.;-)
Theres a couple of people sell small quantaties of this in various single
fibre diameters up to about 3mm, try some of the phrases above in Google.
With wide diameter fibres, scraping the surface at intervals wil give a
`sideglow` effect.

and run them to a central point where the light is. I
haven't seen inside one of these yet, I guess I'll have to investigate
further.
Usually an 10W MR11 12/6V lamp and gear motor driving quadrant colour wheel,
wall wart for supply.This will light a lot of fibre.May well be cheapest way
of buying fibre and light source is fibre xmas tree or decorative lamp and
breaking it up for parts.
Other possibility is using LEDs to light the fibre, couple the two using
dark heatshrink and even some clear epoxy.
Fibres can be bound together with epoxy and forced to hold a shape, seen
angel wings in just fibre done this way.

To get maximum brightness through your fibre polish the lit end on wet 1200
grade wet and dry paper, significant increase in brightness no matter the
light source.

They even had a snow making machine that sits in front of
the model, dropping flakes on the ground. It operated off a wall
wart. Cute.
Now that sounds really cute, was it the foam type `snow`?

But the neatest one was a working model of a roller
coaster ride, and on the front was the word
---------
( TORNADO )
---------
Your shops are obviously more sophisticated than our Scottish ones.

with the letters made up of pinpoint sized red LEDs. Just about the
size you were looking for. There was no doubt they were LEDs.
Logic indicator LEDs are smallest leaded compnents can think of, usually
only in red though. Surface mount LEDs are smaller but tricky to solder on
to leads....
Standard 3mm LED is also known as T 1 meaning 1/8 of an inch, 5mm is T 1
3/4. To scale 3mm should be close , sand the LED body with rough grade
sandpaper to diffuse the light, white LEDs look very cold , blue might be
cuter, again a search will bring up a pile of vendors.

http://www.digikey.com

http://www.newark.com

http://www.svision.com

http://www.fiberopticproducts.com

http://www.ledshed.co.uk

http://www.lsdiodes.com

Few at random to start with.

Adam

"Watson A.Name "Watt Sun - the Dark Remover"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com
wrote
in message news:boqvvq$4qiqo$1@hades.csu.net...
Tapper wrote:
I am trying to make lighted Christmas decorations for a dollhouse
(1/12th
scale). The smallest LEDs I have are too big, and the "microlamps"
from
Radio Shack (cute little LED-sized filament bulb) are OK, but
they're
expensive (over $1 ea) and I think the heat would be a hazard. I
want
strings of lights to go around the edges of the roofs, around Santa
and
Reindeer stand-ups, etc, just like on a real house.

Power reqs aren't important: I can run on batteries, use the DC
juice in
the
house now, or go AC.

My DREAM is to make "icicle" lights, just like the ones that are so
popular
now on real houses. I'm fiddling with fiber optic and clear
heatshrink
tubing but the fibers are too stiff when they're short: they won't
dangle
from eaves properly, although horizontal runs are OK.

Any ideas for sources of strings of bitty little lights? Or fringes
of
fiber
optic? I want authentic-looking decorations, so I'm trying to
create
hundreds of points of light. I get a nice effect from staggered
fiber in
clear tubing but it's pretty time-consuming since I'm a beginner.

A guy at work sells Avon products. Last wk he brought in a Christmas
village decoration with fiber optic strands all around the eaves of
the
houses and all over the place. It's pretty impressive, and looks like
there is a color wheel inside that changes the light coming from the
strands. To find it, go to www.avon.com, and in the What Product box
at
the bottom type in christmas fiber optic and hit go.

Local stores are selling something similar, but not a complete
village,
just a single house or whatever. Costs something like $13 or so.

BTW, do not post to sci.electronics, it is not a valid newsgroup.

Thanks
--Pat


--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
Fishing line!!! Amazing. Thanks: I'll try it out.

"Watson A.Name - Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote in
message news:MPG.1a1bdb93a15919ec98990b@news.dslextreme.com...
In article <a5KdnQt_2O4zsCyiRVn-jw@iwc.net>, oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com
mentioned...
Thanks, that's cute. But that is table-top. Dollhouse scale is 1 inch
= 1
foot; my house is 3 feet tall. I'm not looking for a Christmas Village;
I
built a house and want to decorate it. Thnaks for the info anyway (it's
something to shoot for!), and the NG tip.

I went by the hardware stoe last night to get a key made and they had
a layout of more than a dozen xmas/winter houses, train station,s
ferris wheels, etc, most with the fiber optics and multicolored lights
in them. I think they use nylon monofilament fishing line for the
fiber optics, and run them to a central point where the light is. I
haven't seen inside one of these yet, I guess I'll have to investigate
further. They even had a snow making machine that sits in front of
the model, dropping flakes on the ground. It operated off a wall
wart. Cute. But the neatest one was a working model of a roller
coaster ride, and on the front was the word
---------
( TORNADO )
---------

with the letters made up of pinpoint sized red LEDs. Just about the
size you were looking for. There was no doubt they were LEDs.


"Watson A.Name "Watt Sun - the Dark Remover"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com
wrote
in message news:boqvvq$4qiqo$1@hades.csu.net...
Tapper wrote:
I am trying to make lighted Christmas decorations for a dollhouse
(1/12th
scale). The smallest LEDs I have are too big, and the "microlamps"
from
Radio Shack (cute little LED-sized filament bulb) are OK, but
they're
expensive (over $1 ea) and I think the heat would be a hazard. I
want
strings of lights to go around the edges of the roofs, around Santa
and
Reindeer stand-ups, etc, just like on a real house.

Power reqs aren't important: I can run on batteries, use the DC
juice in
the
house now, or go AC.

My DREAM is to make "icicle" lights, just like the ones that are so
popular
now on real houses. I'm fiddling with fiber optic and clear
heatshrink
tubing but the fibers are too stiff when they're short: they won't
dangle
from eaves properly, although horizontal runs are OK.

Any ideas for sources of strings of bitty little lights? Or fringes
of
fiber
optic? I want authentic-looking decorations, so I'm trying to
create
hundreds of points of light. I get a nice effect from staggered
fiber in
clear tubing but it's pretty time-consuming since I'm a beginner.

A guy at work sells Avon products. Last wk he brought in a Christmas
village decoration with fiber optic strands all around the eaves of
the
houses and all over the place. It's pretty impressive, and looks like
there is a color wheel inside that changes the light coming from the
strands. To find it, go to www.avon.com, and in the What Product box
at
the bottom type in christmas fiber optic and hit go.

Local stores are selling something similar, but not a complete
village,
just a single house or whatever. Costs something like $13 or so.

BTW, do not post to sci.electronics, it is not a valid newsgroup.

Thanks
--Pat


--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
Pretty strange, but a few years back, I noticed that a new toothbrush I had
purchased had an odd look in the light- it turns out the bristles were made of
plastic light fibers! Perhaps this is what happens with below-spec fiber optic
cable; fishing line and toothbrush bristles would be about right.

Cheers!

Chip Shults
My robotics, space and CGI web page - http://home.cfl.rr.com/aichip
 
How about trying the electroluminescent wire that Maplin sells. You should
be able to bend it into any shape or just paint out areas to get the effect
you need.

Have not tried it myself though

regards


logan

"Rheilly Phoull" <Rheilly@bigpond.com.au> wrote in message
news:bos7s1$1hf77d$1@ID-151145.news.uni-berlin.de...
"Tapper" <oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Xo2dnbVJWpmrZC2iRVn-tA@iwc.net...
I am trying to make lighted Christmas decorations for a dollhouse
(1/12th
scale). The smallest LEDs I have are too big, and the "microlamps" from
Radio Shack (cute little LED-sized filament bulb) are OK, but they're
expensive (over $1 ea) and I think the heat would be a hazard. I want
strings of lights to go around the edges of the roofs, around Santa and
Reindeer stand-ups, etc, just like on a real house.

Power reqs aren't important: I can run on batteries, use the DC juice in
the
house now, or go AC.

My DREAM is to make "icicle" lights, just like the ones that are so
popular
now on real houses. I'm fiddling with fiber optic and clear heatshrink
tubing but the fibers are too stiff when they're short: they won't
dangle
from eaves properly, although horizontal runs are OK.

Any ideas for sources of strings of bitty little lights? Or fringes of
fiber
optic? I want authentic-looking decorations, so I'm trying to create
hundreds of points of light. I get a nice effect from staggered fiber in
clear tubing but it's pretty time-consuming since I'm a beginner.

Thanks
--Pat



The SMD leds are pretty small :)

--
Regards ............... Rheilly Phoull
 
In article <pkusb.1858$pA3.12430428@news-text.cableinet.net>,
nws@capersville.co.uk mentioned...
"Watson A.Name - Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote in
message news:MPG.1a1bdb93a15919ec98990b@news.dslextreme.com...
In article <a5KdnQt_2O4zsCyiRVn-jw@iwc.net>, oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com
mentioned...
Thanks, that's cute. But that is table-top. Dollhouse scale is 1 inch
= 1
foot; my house is 3 feet tall. I'm not looking for a Christmas Village;
I
built a house and want to decorate it. Thnaks for the info anyway (it's
something to shoot for!), and the NG tip.

1" to 1` dosent sound impossible, any one tell us lenght of C7 christmas
lamp?

I went by the hardware stoe last night to get a key made and they had
a layout of more than a dozen xmas/winter houses, train station,s
ferris wheels, etc, most with the fiber optics and multicolored lights
in them. I think they use nylon monofilament fishing line for the
fiber optics,

Not nylon, wrong characteristics, Plastic Optical Fibre, POF, is made fom
Poly Methyl Meth Acrylate,PMMA for short similar to perspex plastic sheet.
Fiber in US, fibre is UK spelling, brings up a whole set of different search
results.;-)
It started raining cats and dogs, hope the power doesn't go out before
I send this. :->

PMMA sounds cool, but my guess was nylon because there is no concern
for efficiency in the case of this decoration, there's plenty of light
that can be wasted. And PMMA is probably something that's a lot more
expensive than nylon fishing line. So for economic reasons, nylon
would be chosen, as long as it works even as little as a tenth as good
as PMMA.

Theres a couple of people sell small quantaties of this in various single
fibre diameters up to about 3mm, try some of the phrases above in Google.
With wide diameter fibres, scraping the surface at intervals wil give a
`sideglow` effect.

and run them to a central point where the light is. I
haven't seen inside one of these yet, I guess I'll have to investigate
further.

Usually an 10W MR11 12/6V lamp and gear motor driving quadrant colour wheel,
wall wart for supply.This will light a lot of fibre.May well be cheapest way
of buying fibre and light source is fibre xmas tree or decorative lamp and
breaking it up for parts.
Other possibility is using LEDs to light the fibre, couple the two using
dark heatshrink and even some clear epoxy.
Fibres can be bound together with epoxy and forced to hold a shape, seen
angel wings in just fibre done this way.

To get maximum brightness through your fibre polish the lit end on wet 1200
grade wet and dry paper, significant increase in brightness no matter the
light source.
Wonder it that fine a sandpaper is easily obtainable. I have some
lens polishing rouge that can do a very fine job of polishing. Also
I've found that toothpaste will, too.

They even had a snow making machine that sits in front of
the model, dropping flakes on the ground. It operated off a wall
wart. Cute.

Now that sounds really cute, was it the foam type `snow`?
Looked like ivory soap flakes to me.

But the neatest one was a working model of a roller
coaster ride, and on the front was the word
---------
( TORNADO )
---------


Your shops are obviously more sophisticated than our Scottish ones.
Everything seems to be made in China. Since So. Calif is closer
shipping-wise, to their factories, often these new gewgaws show up
first here, then make their way across the rest of the U.S. and
Europe, I guess. Or maybe it's because the U.S. is a sucker market
for that kind of thing. You ought to take a look at a Big Lots! store
(used to be called Pic'n'Save).
http://www.biglots.com/aboutus/default.asp

with the letters made up of pinpoint sized red LEDs. Just about the
size you were looking for. There was no doubt they were LEDs.

Logic indicator LEDs are smallest leaded compnents can think of, usually
only in red though. Surface mount LEDs are smaller but tricky to solder on
to leads....
Standard 3mm LED is also known as T 1 meaning 1/8 of an inch, 5mm is T 1
3/4. To scale 3mm should be close , sand the LED body with rough grade
sandpaper to diffuse the light, white LEDs look very cold , blue might be
cuter, again a search will bring up a pile of vendors.
Did you know you can buy LED condoms? They're little latex(?) covers
that slip over the LED, to diffuse the light. :)

Thanks for the URLs. I would guess that a hobby shop would be able to
tell you more about where to get small lights for such things as
model railroads and scale models. Choo-choo trains with white LEDs
for the headlights seem to be the rage.

http://www.digikey.com

http://www.newark.com

http://www.svision.com

http://www.fiberopticproducts.com

http://www.ledshed.co.uk

http://www.lsdiodes.com

Few at random to start with.

Adam


"Watson A.Name "Watt Sun - the Dark Remover"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com
wrote
in message news:boqvvq$4qiqo$1@hades.csu.net...
Tapper wrote:
I am trying to make lighted Christmas decorations for a dollhouse
(1/12th
scale). The smallest LEDs I have are too big, and the "microlamps"
from
Radio Shack (cute little LED-sized filament bulb) are OK, but
they're
expensive (over $1 ea) and I think the heat would be a hazard. I
want
strings of lights to go around the edges of the roofs, around Santa
and
Reindeer stand-ups, etc, just like on a real house.

Power reqs aren't important: I can run on batteries, use the DC
juice in
the
house now, or go AC.

My DREAM is to make "icicle" lights, just like the ones that are so
popular
now on real houses. I'm fiddling with fiber optic and clear
heatshrink
tubing but the fibers are too stiff when they're short: they won't
dangle
from eaves properly, although horizontal runs are OK.

Any ideas for sources of strings of bitty little lights? Or fringes
of
fiber
optic? I want authentic-looking decorations, so I'm trying to
create
hundreds of points of light. I get a nice effect from staggered
fiber in
clear tubing but it's pretty time-consuming since I'm a beginner.

A guy at work sells Avon products. Last wk he brought in a Christmas
village decoration with fiber optic strands all around the eaves of
the
houses and all over the place. It's pretty impressive, and looks like
there is a color wheel inside that changes the light coming from the
strands. To find it, go to www.avon.com, and in the What Product box
at
the bottom type in christmas fiber optic and hit go.

Local stores are selling something similar, but not a complete
village,
just a single house or whatever. Costs something like $13 or so.

BTW, do not post to sci.electronics, it is not a valid newsgroup.

Thanks
--Pat

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
"Watson A.Name - Watt Sun, Dark Remover" wrote:
Everything seems to be made in China. Since So. Calif is closer
shipping-wise, to their factories, often these new gewgaws show up
first here, then make their way across the rest of the U.S. and
Europe, I guess. Or maybe it's because the U.S. is a sucker market
for that kind of thing. You ought to take a look at a Big Lots! store
(used to be called Pic'n'Save).
http://www.biglots.com/aboutus/default.asp
I liked "Big Lots" better when they were called "Odd Lots", back in
the late '80s. They opened a lot of their early stores in Ohio when a
chain called "Rink's Bargain Barn" went bankrupt and they bought up the
old store leases, cheap.

They were more like surplus stores, and you never knew what you would
find. Anything from hardware, to new Dayton motors, and quality American
made tools. They also had more brands and types of candy than any other
store in the area. I bought a lot of stuff there before I left
Middletown, Ohio in 1987.
--


Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
 
In article <8tr4rvg6qu6o056rp9tfodj12fa91r9h14@4ax.com>, none@dev.nul
mentioned...
On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 07:41:57 -0800 "Watson A.Name \"Watt Sun - the Dark
Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote in Message id:
boqvvq$4qiqo$1@hades.csu.net>:

BTW, do not post to sci.electronics, it is not a valid newsgroup.

It is on some servers. Depends on your NSP.
Well, that's the whole point. If you want to post to it, then you're
certainly welcome to. You're also certainly welcome to talk to a
tree. Both have the same results.

By agreement, sci.electronics became invalid when it was replaced with
the seven sci.electronics.* newsgroups that are now on (or should now
be on) all news servers.

So if you post to sci.electronics on your server, and no other servers
accept it or propagate it (which is what was agreed to), then you
might as well be talking to a tree.

See what I mean, jellybean? :)


BTW, you might want to ask your news server administrator why they
aren't obeying the agreement..

My newsreader says, Some of the newsgroups are invalid. Send anyway?
and I click yes. Very minor annoyance..

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
You can get 1.8mm and 3mm LED's from RS and Farnell.

Was thinking about the icicles. How about making some hardset epoxy and
dipping the LED's in when the glue is quite tacky so that it coats it and
forms strands. Thenyou could hang them up to cure. Viola, instant bespoke
coloured icicles to be mounted on a strip of breadboard.

Just an idea.

Robbie

"Tapper" <oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:nNSdnejK4ZdMEC-iRVn-vw@iwc.net...
Fishing line!!! Amazing. Thanks: I'll try it out.

"Watson A.Name - Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote in
message news:MPG.1a1bdb93a15919ec98990b@news.dslextreme.com...
In article <a5KdnQt_2O4zsCyiRVn-jw@iwc.net>, oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com
mentioned...
Thanks, that's cute. But that is table-top. Dollhouse scale is 1
inch
= 1
foot; my house is 3 feet tall. I'm not looking for a Christmas
Village;
I
built a house and want to decorate it. Thnaks for the info anyway
(it's
something to shoot for!), and the NG tip.

I went by the hardware stoe last night to get a key made and they had
a layout of more than a dozen xmas/winter houses, train station,s
ferris wheels, etc, most with the fiber optics and multicolored lights
in them. I think they use nylon monofilament fishing line for the
fiber optics, and run them to a central point where the light is. I
haven't seen inside one of these yet, I guess I'll have to investigate
further. They even had a snow making machine that sits in front of
the model, dropping flakes on the ground. It operated off a wall
wart. Cute. But the neatest one was a working model of a roller
coaster ride, and on the front was the word
---------
( TORNADO )
---------
 
"Tapper" <oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<Xo2dnbVJWpmrZC2iRVn-tA@iwc.net>...
I am trying to make lighted Christmas decorations for a dollhouse (1/12th
scale). The smallest LEDs I have are too big, and the "microlamps" from
Radio Shack (cute little LED-sized filament bulb) are OK, but they're
expensive (over $1 ea) and I think the heat would be a hazard. I want
strings of lights to go around the edges of the roofs, around Santa and
Reindeer stand-ups, etc, just like on a real house.

Power reqs aren't important: I can run on batteries, use the DC juice in the
house now, or go AC.

My DREAM is to make "icicle" lights, just like the ones that are so popular
now on real houses. I'm fiddling with fiber optic and clear heatshrink
tubing but the fibers are too stiff when they're short: they won't dangle
from eaves properly, although horizontal runs are OK.

Any ideas for sources of strings of bitty little lights? Or fringes of fiber
optic? I want authentic-looking decorations, so I'm trying to create
hundreds of points of light. I get a nice effect from staggered fiber in
clear tubing but it's pretty time-consuming since I'm a beginner.

Thanks
--Pat

Another idea.

Take two unisolated wires in parallel, and solder SMD leds, size 0603 on them.
Available in a multitude of colors, and mostly cheap. Called Chipleds.
Possibilities:

TLxx1008A Toshiba
LxQ9xx Osram http://www.osram.convergy.de/scripts/product_class.asp?CLSOID=10018
 
That's a thought. I've scored some fiber and gotten good little lights at
intervals, but it's a bit small. I am considering covering the slashes
with tiny glass beads, or dipping the whole thing in clear acrylic sealer to
see if I get a bit of magnification. But while the bottle's out I'll try
dipping an LED. Do you think the heat from the LED would cause it to
seperate over time? I use Liquitex acrylic medium, so maybe it's flexible
enough. Of course, it's blowing and raining cats and dogs here so the stuff
won't cure before Thanksgiving!!

--Pat

"Robbie Banks" <robbie_banks@nospamhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bovm34$dr2$1@sparta.btinternet.com...
You can get 1.8mm and 3mm LED's from RS and Farnell.

Was thinking about the icicles. How about making some hardset epoxy and
dipping the LED's in when the glue is quite tacky so that it coats it and
forms strands. Thenyou could hang them up to cure. Viola, instant bespoke
coloured icicles to be mounted on a strip of breadboard.

Just an idea.

Robbie

"Tapper" <oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:nNSdnejK4ZdMEC-iRVn-vw@iwc.net...
Fishing line!!! Amazing. Thanks: I'll try it out.

"Watson A.Name - Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote
in
message news:MPG.1a1bdb93a15919ec98990b@news.dslextreme.com...
In article <a5KdnQt_2O4zsCyiRVn-jw@iwc.net>, oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com
mentioned...
Thanks, that's cute. But that is table-top. Dollhouse scale is 1
inch
= 1
foot; my house is 3 feet tall. I'm not looking for a Christmas
Village;
I
built a house and want to decorate it. Thnaks for the info anyway
(it's
something to shoot for!), and the NG tip.

I went by the hardware stoe last night to get a key made and they had
a layout of more than a dozen xmas/winter houses, train station,s
ferris wheels, etc, most with the fiber optics and multicolored lights
in them. I think they use nylon monofilament fishing line for the
fiber optics, and run them to a central point where the light is. I
haven't seen inside one of these yet, I guess I'll have to investigate
further. They even had a snow making machine that sits in front of
the model, dropping flakes on the ground. It operated off a wall
wart. Cute. But the neatest one was a working model of a roller
coaster ride, and on the front was the word
---------
( TORNADO )
---------
 
Never heard of it before, or Maplin for that matter. Thanks for the tip.
I'll grab some and see. I was hoping to run on battery power, but I can do
AC if necessary. I found some of the wire at glowire.com. I guess it's
time to dump some more cash into this damn project!

Thanks ellen
--Pat

"ellen" <shpf.pg@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:boum3n$1a8$1@sparta.btinternet.com...
How about trying the electroluminescent wire that Maplin sells. You should
be able to bend it into any shape or just paint out areas to get the
effect
you need.

Have not tried it myself though

regards


logan

"Rheilly Phoull" <Rheilly@bigpond.com.au> wrote in message
news:bos7s1$1hf77d$1@ID-151145.news.uni-berlin.de...

"Tapper" <oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Xo2dnbVJWpmrZC2iRVn-tA@iwc.net...
I am trying to make lighted Christmas decorations for a dollhouse
(1/12th
scale). The smallest LEDs I have are too big, and the "microlamps"
from
Radio Shack (cute little LED-sized filament bulb) are OK, but they're
expensive (over $1 ea) and I think the heat would be a hazard. I want
strings of lights to go around the edges of the roofs, around Santa
and
Reindeer stand-ups, etc, just like on a real house.

Power reqs aren't important: I can run on batteries, use the DC juice
in
the
house now, or go AC.

My DREAM is to make "icicle" lights, just like the ones that are so
popular
now on real houses. I'm fiddling with fiber optic and clear heatshrink
tubing but the fibers are too stiff when they're short: they won't
dangle
from eaves properly, although horizontal runs are OK.

Any ideas for sources of strings of bitty little lights? Or fringes of
fiber
optic? I want authentic-looking decorations, so I'm trying to create
hundreds of points of light. I get a nice effect from staggered fiber
in
clear tubing but it's pretty time-consuming since I'm a beginner.

Thanks
--Pat



The SMD leds are pretty small :)

--
Regards ............... Rheilly Phoull
 
Should be ok on the heat front as long as you're using a limiting resistor
and not pulling too much current.. Try the old 5 minute epoxy that you can
buy in most hardware stores. The one that comes in 2 parts, you mix
together. Has a glass transition temperature at 60 degress c, so should be
fine heat wise.

Let me know how you get on, would be interested to see a final picture of
the project. You can post it on alt.binaries.schematics.electronic

Cheers
Robbie

"Tapper" <oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:D6GdnTU6RchyeS6i4p2dnA@iwc.net...
That's a thought. I've scored some fiber and gotten good little lights at
intervals, but it's a bit small. I am considering covering the slashes
with tiny glass beads, or dipping the whole thing in clear acrylic sealer
to
see if I get a bit of magnification. But while the bottle's out I'll try
dipping an LED. Do you think the heat from the LED would cause it to
seperate over time? I use Liquitex acrylic medium, so maybe it's flexible
enough. Of course, it's blowing and raining cats and dogs here so the
stuff
won't cure before Thanksgiving!!

--Pat

"Robbie Banks" <robbie_banks@nospamhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bovm34$dr2$1@sparta.btinternet.com...
You can get 1.8mm and 3mm LED's from RS and Farnell.

Was thinking about the icicles. How about making some hardset epoxy and
dipping the LED's in when the glue is quite tacky so that it coats it
and
forms strands. Thenyou could hang them up to cure. Viola, instant
bespoke
coloured icicles to be mounted on a strip of breadboard.

Just an idea.

Robbie

"Tapper" <oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:nNSdnejK4ZdMEC-iRVn-vw@iwc.net...
Fishing line!!! Amazing. Thanks: I'll try it out.

"Watson A.Name - Watt Sun, Dark Remover" <alondra101@hotmail.com
wrote
in
message news:MPG.1a1bdb93a15919ec98990b@news.dslextreme.com...
In article <a5KdnQt_2O4zsCyiRVn-jw@iwc.net>, oldNOgodsSPAM@yahoo.com
mentioned...
Thanks, that's cute. But that is table-top. Dollhouse scale is 1
inch
= 1
foot; my house is 3 feet tall. I'm not looking for a Christmas
Village;
I
built a house and want to decorate it. Thnaks for the info anyway
(it's
something to shoot for!), and the NG tip.

I went by the hardware stoe last night to get a key made and they
had
a layout of more than a dozen xmas/winter houses, train station,s
ferris wheels, etc, most with the fiber optics and multicolored
lights
in them. I think they use nylon monofilament fishing line for the
fiber optics, and run them to a central point where the light is. I
haven't seen inside one of these yet, I guess I'll have to
investigate
further. They even had a snow making machine that sits in front of
the model, dropping flakes on the ground. It operated off a wall
wart. Cute. But the neatest one was a working model of a roller
coaster ride, and on the front was the word
---------
( TORNADO )
---------
 

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