How to Make Led Light Box Display! Whether you’re a professional photographer or just someone who likes to snap photos for fun, we all want our pictures to look their best. How can we do that? Well, one way is by creating and displaying them in an amazing lightbox display! In this post, I will show you how easy it is to make your own led photo lightbox display using common household items.
A photo lightbox display is a great way to showcase your photographs. The best part about this type of photo display is that it’s so easy to create! It’s not too hard and is a great way to save money on lighting costs or if you just want something different for your home.
How to Make Led Light Box Display
I made myself an affordable lightbox with the help of some easily accessible materials. All in all, it only cost about $20 for an RGB LED strip and other items that were lying around or buy at below-market prices!
Step 1: Materials
These materials are required for making the Led Light Box Display
- plywood (I used 15mm birch ply)
- flexible LED strip
- 1/4″ vinyl-faced MDF
- sheet of dollar-store foamboard
- woodworking tools
- wood glue
- Hot glue
Tempered glass is a much better option than any other material for the top of your desk. I was able to find two 14″ x 14″ panes at only $0.50 each with some searching, which made my day!
The glass in this lightbox is special because it’s made from panes of broken computer monitors. The type of material also makes the pane more expensive than other options, but if you have an old printer or scanner laying around then that might work too!
Step 2: Box Sides
I made my box sides 6″ tall and used a finer finish polish to make it more elegant looking. Using a router mounted in the table, I cut rabbets (or “rebates”) along the top edge to hold the glass and another pair down where it meets MDF panel. The length of sides was made as needed for a specific pane with two opposing joints having just enough added strength at corners!
Step 3: Dry Fit
The sides of the box were dry fit to check that my glass would fit correctly. In order for me, I had cut just a little deeper into each top Rabbet so there is enough room when installing panels or windows on an outside wall without any frameworks underneath this keeps things cleaner!
It’s not a bad idea to check your work before you assemble the box. You might find that one of those parts doesn’t fit right and need to be adjusted or replaced, rather than when it’s too late!
Step 4: Paint Inner Walls
The inside walls were given a fresh coat of white spray paint, giving the room an all-new look.
Step 5: Assemble Box
The construction process for this project entails using wood glue as well as brads to assemble all its parts; once they’re dry (of course), you fill in any exposed holes through which putty was applied before sanding smooth once more – at last allowing spray lacquer coats onto your new creation!
Step 6: Glue in Glass
I cut a small corner piece of glass glued it into place with E-6000 and removed the residue with soap and water (or Goo Gone) then placed it into place. The glue along all four edges held fast for less than an hour before curing completely!
Step 7: Foamboard to Diffuse Light
In the end, I found that cheap foamboard worked well for properly diffusing light. Make sure you use a type of board with thin paper on it! One piece was cut to perfectly fit against my inside glass window and allowed me maximum visibility during this project’s duration.
Step 8: Add Light Power Boxes
It’s hard to find the perfect light for your home. Do you have a set of LED strips that cast an uneven glow, or perhaps some type of lighting fixture in need of new bulbs but unsure which ones will work best? If you’re having trouble finding something good enough just take note of this DIYer who replaced their SECOND cord set with a strip-of bright and colorful LEDs!
Step 9: Affix LED Strip
I secured the LED strip with hot glue to keep it in place around the wall. The adhesive was a little suspect, so I reinforced every inch of where they meet by applying copious amounts of the gooey substance that bonds between pieces and surfaces alike!
Step 10: Bottom Panel
The bottom panel is cut to fit and screwed in place with the white side facing out.
Step 11: Finishing Touches
To make my sliding refrigerator door work, I attached a piece of velcro to the bottom corners and used adhesive-backed foam.
Thank you for reading this post. 🙂
Note: Interested to know about LightBox Photography Tips? Read here.