PJ Neon

Description

Product:

This sign is inspired by the band: Pearl Jam. It is made on a plywood base with neon flex strips glued firmly within grooves to light up the words PEARL in yellow and JAM in purple, larger text. The word JAM is lined with 3 neon strips soldered together and held strongly with glue which outlines the word. The PEARL section is lined with 2 strips of neon flex at the top and bottom of the word, it is illuminated by shining through a sheet of semi-opaque acrylic that is attached to the wood. The wooden background is a round-edged (for safety purposes) square made from plywood cut on a CNC machine. It is held up by a string that is tied around a picture frame eyelet but this is obscured by the background as this is behind it. The wiring leads to a female DC jack which links to a power supply that provides the power to light up the neon strips. Some of the gluing is visible when close-up and when the lights are off but cannot be seen when they are on or from a small distance.

Journey:

A student made this product during their work experience week. The process started by sketching their unique design with rough drawings and then designing it on a CAD software and adjusting it for it to be cut by a CNC machine. They then used a sheet of plywood for it to be cut into. They then went to their cut wood and sanded the rough edges. They then browsed the internet for the necessary equipment: the neon flex, wires, power supplies, and glue. Their equipment arrived and they cut the wires to a fit length so they would reach the female DC jack and the neon flex so they would fit the lengths of the grooves cut by the CNC machine. They then soldered each wire together so they wouldn’t fray when soldering all of them together and so that the positive and negative wires wouldn’t make any contact. They also soldered the solder tabs on the neon flex so that it would be easier to connect them to the wires. They then soldered the wires to the solder tabs on the neon flex to connect the two. They then cut out a section in the back of the plywood board to create a space for the semi-opaque acrylic and the yellow neon strips. They drilled some holes for the wires to go through and then stuck the neon strips into the grooves with super glue and thread the wires through the drilled holes. They glued the acrylic sheet onto the back and glued the neon at the edges at the top and bottom of the text. They then soldered all of the positive wires together and all of the negative wires together and put them into the female DC jack and clamped them in there with the screws and plugged in the cable and connected it to the other end of the female DC jack.

Specifications:

Power: 36W

P.D.: 12V

Current: 3A

Size: 18mm x 400mm x 400mm

Cable Length: 1.2m