Face illumination of acrylic with own hands

Engineering thought, solving exclusively pragmatic tasks, sometimes leads to unique results in the field of aesthetics of our daily life. One of such solutions is the end illumination of acrylic. Initially, this technology was used to create fiber, then - in the advertising field, and is now actively used in the home interior.

New technologies in the home interior

The basis of the method of end illumination is the property of light rays to be refracted, or the effect of total internal reflection. The flow of light, entering the end part of the plexiglas, dissipates and illuminates its frontal surface. How does the endlight acrylic look, photo light panels in the interior of the house clearly demonstrate.

Backlight for home comfort

What is convenient for the end illumination of acrylic, for which use this technology in interior solutions? Firstly, it's beautiful, because a diffused stream of light is created, pleasing to the eye. Secondly, it is practical. The use of solutions with this technology allows you to arrange lighting with minimal power consumption. And thirdly, often only the method of face lighting allows achieving the desired decorative and practical effect.

The backlighting of acrylic panels is used in a home interior in the following cases:

• For lighting of ceiling panels;
• To create a false window with backlight;
• For lighting the kitchen apron panels;
• For illumination of shelves from organic glass ;
• To illuminate the ladder handrails made of acrylic;
• For creating framlines as decorating elements.

Frame - light panel, where you can insert posters with images. Posters can be depicted in any style, landscape or picture. Its charm is that the printed image can be replaced, and it's quite easy to do it. If such a light panel is placed in a low-lighted zone of an apartment or a house, then it, besides an aesthetic panel, carries a quite practical load, creating additional lighting.

How to make false windows using pre-built profiles

Let's consider one of the variants of the interior solution: the end illumination of acrylic when creating a false window. Sometimes in rooms without windows or where they are not enough, designers practice creating false windows. If earlier used for these purposes, wallpaper, now as an imitation, you can use ready-made light boxes - frames. They are delivered in full configuration, it remains only to put a poster with a suitable image. It can be an imitation of a view from a window with a drawn window profile or a favorite landscape. For full realism, the frame-light can be supplemented with an overhead imitation of window flaps.

The possibility of replacing the poster without special difficulties allows you to change the "zaokonnuyu" picture from time to time. For example, the view of the summer street is changed to an autumn landscape. This is achieved by the fact that the frames are equipped with a click-profile. It allows you to snap off the top panel of the profile and easily remove the security module. There is another option: end-face acrylic, profile "Magnetic". The peculiarity of this profile is that the upper part is attached to the lower part by means of a system of magnets.

Materials for self-assembly of the light panel

Face lighting acrylic with their own hands can be an interesting task if you like to make at home. To install the lightbar you will need:

• Acrylic sheet;
• aluminum profile;
• LED ruler or tape;
• Compact power adapter (adapter) at 12V.

LED strip - flexible printed circuit board, on which the LEDs are fixed on one side, and on the other hand an adhesive layer is applied for attachment to the aluminum profile. If you intend to install a simulation window in the bathroom or other rooms with high humidity, then you should buy a special moisture-proof tape. In the case of using a false window and as a light source, it is necessary to purchase a high-power LED strip. Calculate the power of the adapter can be calculated by the formula: the power of the block is equal to the power of the LED tape, multiplied by its length in meters.

Profile for the light panel choose one-sided. Pay attention to the following characteristics: the thickness of the profile and the lighting system. Profiles can be designed for luminescent lighting or for the installation of an LED strip. Since the thickness of the panel is important for the false window, the LED illumination is considered. For end illumination, the most important is the type and characteristics of the material, so we will consider it separately.

Acrylic for face lighting: description and application

The panel should be illuminated evenly. This requires a certain acrylic for the end illumination, the processing of which was carried out according to all the rules. Uniform bright glow provides colorless diffuse particles appearing in acrylic sheets with special sheet preparation. At home, it is not possible to achieve such a degree of uniformity and intensity of luminescence, so it is necessary to purchase Plexiglas of the required thickness and suitable for other parameters. The thickness is selected based on the size of the light panel.

As can be seen from the table, an acrylic sheet with a thickness of at least 8 mm is suitable for a light panel imitating a window. You will find on the manufacturers' websites not only acrylic for end illumination itself. The description and application of each species are detailed there, so it is not difficult for you to navigate with the thickness of the sheet and its parameters.

Separately, it should be clarified that the ends that will be highlighted should be well polished. The same parties where the LED strip will not be installed should be covered with a reflective tape. If the acrylic sheet was cut using laser cutting, then additional polishing is not needed. Another important point is that any damage to acrylic will result in a redistribution of the light flux, so the sheets are covered with a protective film. You only need to remove it before installing it in the profile.

Build the profile and connect the backlight

Acquired whips (pieces of aluminum profile) are cut to the desired dimensions at an angle of 45º. After that, they are connected with each other by means of corners. When three sides are assembled, you need to install an internal LED strip around the perimeter.

Preliminary to the tape connected wires, through which it will be connected to the power supply. Here is an important point: one 12V power supply unit is designed for no more than five meters of tape. If it is more - you need to connect two power supplies. Each tape is connected separately, they do not need to be connected with each other. There is another option - to take the adapter to 24V, then the end acrylic lighting is possible by the method of sequential connection of two LED strips.

Mounting the light panel

After the three sides of the profile are assembled and the LED strip is installed, you can proceed to the direct installation of the light panel. To do this, the profile starts:

• Reflector is a sheet that will reflect light.
• Sheet of cast acrylic.
• Film with a printed image.
• Protective sheet.

The order of installation is clearly visible in the figure. The acrylic sheet should be installed so that it is above the LED strip, because it is the main light-scattering element. After setting all the components, the last side of the profile is fixed.

The reflector sheet can perform the role of the reflector. It can be purchased together with light-scattering acrylic. Firms engaged in the sale of plexiglass (acrylic) for the end illumination, will offer both a reflector and a protective coating. But as a reflector can act any reflective cloth.

For a protective cloth, thin transparent acrylic or a dense light-transmitting film can be used. There are certain requirements for the poster. It must be printed on a special film with backlit coating. This coating provides a high light transmittance. For the rigidity of the design, you can insert a backdrop into the profile, but do not forget to take into account this when buying a profile - its thickness should be sufficient for all layers of the panel.

The final stage

When assembling the aluminum profile to its upper part, it is necessary to screw the fastening elements (suspension brackets), at least 4 pieces. When the light panel is fully assembled, it's time to install it on the wall. For this, hooks are attached to the wall using dowels. After that, it remains only to hang a false window and power the power supply.

Thus, using technological innovations, you can create an ultramodern design on your own. Acrylic edge lighting is a bright representative of such technologies, with its help you can create many interesting interior solutions.