Homemade Lightwedge Project

Vaporware · 01-14-2007, 12:40 PM

Motivated by lack of available custom booklights, I am making a custom lightwedge. The idea behind it is very simple. The lightwedge is simply two LEDs, a resistor and 6 volts. the part that costs $25 is the light guide. The light guide has tiny angles in the casting that reflect a tiny part of the light evenly over the page of the book.

My plan is to cut the lightwedge to the right size (as detailed in the third picture lightwedgemode.jpg), add a new switch and a batter pack that clips onto the back cover. I'm going to try to use the magnets in the ebook to attach it, but I suspect they won't be strong enough to hold the heavy plastic.

I don't think it will be very hard, but I don't have the right tools right now to really get started.

yvanleterrible · 01-14-2007, 02:04 PM

Where did you get the tapered plastic? That is the hardest part to get a hold of.

You can get rare earth magnets from leevalley.com .

diabloNL · 01-14-2007, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Where did you get the tapered plastic? That is the hardest part to get a hold of.

You can get rare earth magnets from leevalley.com .

He took a original Lightwedge apart. I have been looking also for the materials to make one myself. I think I will wait and see if this is the way...'You can do it!"

yvanleterrible · 01-14-2007, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diabloNL

He took a original Lightwedge apart. I have been looking also for the materials to make one myself. I think I will wait and see if this is the way...'You can do it!"

I'd like to add a light wedge in one of my cheaper boxes. I can just picture this; open the lid, flip up the lightwedge, insert the reader, turn it on, flip back the wedge, turn it on also and read...

kacir · 01-14-2007, 03:25 PM

I have asked a friend visiting USA to buy Sony Reader for me. It will take quite a few weeks until she returns from her trip.

In the meanwhile I want to prepare for making myself a homemade lightwedge.

I am planning to buy a thick (cca 10mm) piece of acrylic "glass". (That will be a slight problem, because everyone wants to sell me 1.5m x 2m piece and all I need is an A4 sized piece).
First I will cut the acrylic into the desired size + 5mm on each side.
Then I will glue it into a board, using cca 10 mm thick spacer, so it is coplanar with the board and is above the surface of board. I will put a screw to the each corner of the board.
Next I will take a long piece of coarse sandpaper and glue it flat to a large flat surface. Now I take the board and position it above the sandpaper so it stands on four screws with the acrylic touching the sandpaper. Screws will be standing next to the sandpaper and will be able to slide very easily.
Then I will spend some time sliding the board back and forth so the acrilic grinds in the sandpaper. By adjusting the screws I will be able to make precise wedge.
When the wedge is done I will use finer and finer sandpaper. The final grinding will be made with a sandpaper used for finishing automobile paint on a rubber block.
I will finish the surface using polishing paste. You can get amazing results with polishing paste on acrylic.

I have been working with acrylic before and it can be grinded very well and very rapidly. By polishing it you can make it look very, very nice and proffesianally made. Acrylic can be also bent and formed when you heat it very carefully. Be prepared to waste a lot of material until you get it right.

Disclaimer No. 1
Lightwedge is probably patented, so use this only for your "personal educational purposes"

Disclaimer No. 2
If you have no experience working with wood and/or acrylic and if you value your time at more than 2 bucks per hour you will be much better off buying the original LightWedge and trimming it to your needs. But FIRST PRACTICE ON A PIECE OF ACRYLIC YOU ARE WILLING TO THROW AWAY. Acrylic has peculiar properties then you try to saw through it.

Disclaimer No. 3a
I am going to do this for fun and I have well equiped workshop.

Disclaimer No. 3b
I have no means to purchase Lightwedge
Even purchasing Sony Reader is very complicated for me.

Disclaimer No. 3c
An average salary in my country is magnitude less then in USA. (so I consider $25 to have much greater value than most of you)

I will do this project when I get Sony Reader into my hands, so I can make a perfect fit. I will post photos of all steps, but do not hold your breath ...

Vaporware · 01-14-2007, 09:17 PM

Well, I decided to work with what I have. A Dremel rather than a bandsaw. i'll have to say I'm happy with the results sofar.

yvanleterrible · 01-15-2007, 09:08 AM

Can you cover the LEDs? You seem to be getting quite a blast of light in the face there. That makes it too distracting to read comfortably!

Vaporware · 01-15-2007, 09:37 AM

I put the thing together last night and read for a couple hours. Those 4 AAA batteries and the lexan add about 4 ounces to the weight. I had noticed the lights to the face problem prior to bed. I used masking tape to cover the LEDs, Yvan.

Still needs a new switch and I need some strip aluminum to screw the thing together structurally. I seriously doubt that two neodynium magnets by themselves could hold JUST the tapered lexan piece in place, much less with full battery pack and things. It's going to want to pull off from the left side of the screen, so I need to add a hook that will grab the reader from the left and latch on the right with the magnets.

Hey Yvan, I'll trade ya for your sweet wooden book holder

yvanleterrible · 01-15-2007, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaporware

I put the thing together last night and read for a couple hours. Those 4 AAA batteries and the lexan add about 4 ounces to the weight. I had noticed the lights to the face problem prior to bed. I used masking tape to cover the LEDs, Yvan.

Still needs a new switch and I need some strip aluminum to screw the thing together structurally. I seriously doubt that two neodynium magnets by themselves could hold JUST the tapered lexan piece in place, much less with full battery pack and things. It's going to want to pull off from the left side of the screen, so I need to add a hook that will grab the reader from the left and latch on the right with the magnets.

Hey Yvan, I'll trade ya for your sweet wooden book holder

Yeah sure! With a couple of greenbacks it's manageable.

obelix · 01-16-2007, 11:10 AM

Great, I agree the LightWedge-around solution is one of the best for reading.
Did you see my similar homemade lightwedge?

post #77:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...2202#post52202

Vaporware · 01-16-2007, 05:42 PM

Yes, it was my inspiration to get off my butt. I have pictures of the final design, but my card reader isn't working properly and I can't get them right now.

scotty1024 · 01-16-2007, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaporware

Well, I decided to work with what I have. A Dremel rather than a bandsaw. i'll have to say I'm happy with the results sofar.

Have you thought about wrapping the edges with aluminum tape to seal them? You might even get enough reflected light to increase illumination of the Reader.

Vaporware · 01-16-2007, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scotty1024

Have you thought about wrapping the edges with aluminum tape to seal them? You might even get enough reflected light to increase illumination of the Reader.

Actually, flame polishing the edges provides a significant reflection effect by itself. I'm considering wrapping the edges simply because the light that does get through is too bright and illuminates the room.

yvanleterrible · 01-17-2007, 10:11 AM

You have to think about covering the ughly green fibre! A nice wood cap would do it!

Vaporware · 01-17-2007, 10:41 AM

Yes, that would be great! But, I've been rethinking my design and I think I can eliminate the circuit board altogether in a future revision. I've come pretty far with this design and think I might need to start with a new lightwedge for version 2. I think obelix is correct in abandoning the 4AAA batteries and working with a mobile phone battery.

By simply hot-gluing the LEDs into the lexan and integrating the battery and switch into a "backpack" like Obelix, the magnets could probably be used to attach the lexan to the reader and it would look VERY sleek.

01-14-2007, 12:40 PM	#1
Vaporware Not here yet. Posts: 49 Karma: 11 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: ETI-2 Ebook Reader	Homemade Lightwedge Project Motivated by lack of available custom booklights, I am making a custom lightwedge. The idea behind it is very simple. The lightwedge is simply two LEDs, a resistor and 6 volts. the part that costs $25 is the light guide. The light guide has tiny angles in the casting that reflect a tiny part of the light evenly over the page of the book. My plan is to cut the lightwedge to the right size (as detailed in the third picture lightwedgemode.jpg), add a new switch and a batter pack that clips onto the back cover. I'm going to try to use the magnets in the ebook to attach it, but I suspect they won't be strong enough to hold the heavy plastic. I don't think it will be very hard, but I don't have the right tools right now to really get started. Attached Thumbnails

01-14-2007, 03:25 PM	#5
kacir Wizard Posts: 3,450 Karma: 10484861 Join Date: May 2006 Device: PocketBook 360, before it was Sony Reader, cassiopeia A-20	Making a homemade acrylic wedge I have asked a friend visiting USA to buy Sony Reader for me. It will take quite a few weeks until she returns from her trip. In the meanwhile I want to prepare for making myself a homemade lightwedge. I am planning to buy a thick (cca 10mm) piece of acrylic "glass". (That will be a slight problem, because everyone wants to sell me 1.5m x 2m piece and all I need is an A4 sized piece). First I will cut the acrylic into the desired size + 5mm on each side. Then I will glue it into a board, using cca 10 mm thick spacer, so it is coplanar with the board and is above the surface of board. I will put a screw to the each corner of the board. Next I will take a long piece of coarse sandpaper and glue it flat to a large flat surface. Now I take the board and position it above the sandpaper so it stands on four screws with the acrylic touching the sandpaper. Screws will be standing next to the sandpaper and will be able to slide very easily. Then I will spend some time sliding the board back and forth so the acrilic grinds in the sandpaper. By adjusting the screws I will be able to make precise wedge. When the wedge is done I will use finer and finer sandpaper. The final grinding will be made with a sandpaper used for finishing automobile paint on a rubber block. I will finish the surface using polishing paste. You can get amazing results with polishing paste on acrylic. I have been working with acrylic before and it can be grinded very well and very rapidly. By polishing it you can make it look very, very nice and proffesianally made. Acrylic can be also bent and formed when you heat it very carefully. Be prepared to waste a lot of material until you get it right. Disclaimer No. 1 Lightwedge is probably patented, so use this only for your "personal educational purposes" Disclaimer No. 2 If you have no experience working with wood and/or acrylic and if you value your time at more than 2 bucks per hour you will be much better off buying the original LightWedge and trimming it to your needs. But FIRST PRACTICE ON A PIECE OF ACRYLIC YOU ARE WILLING TO THROW AWAY. Acrylic has peculiar properties then you try to saw through it. Disclaimer No. 3a I am going to do this for fun and I have well equiped workshop. Disclaimer No. 3b I have no means to purchase Lightwedge Even purchasing Sony Reader is very complicated for me. Disclaimer No. 3c An average salary in my country is magnitude less then in USA. (so I consider $25 to have much greater value than most of you) I will do this project when I get Sony Reader into my hands, so I can make a perfect fit. I will post photos of all steps, but do not hold your breath ...

01-14-2007, 09:17 PM	#6
Vaporware Not here yet. Posts: 49 Karma: 11 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: ETI-2 Ebook Reader	Well, I decided to work with what I have. A Dremel rather than a bandsaw. i'll have to say I'm happy with the results sofar. Attached Thumbnails

01-16-2007, 05:42 PM	#11
Vaporware Not here yet. Posts: 49 Karma: 11 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: ETI-2 Ebook Reader	Yes, it was my inspiration to get off my butt. I have pictures of the final design, but my card reader isn't working properly and I can't get them right now. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Vaporware; 01-16-2007 at 06:38 PM.

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01-14-2007, 02:04 PM	#2
yvanleterrible Reborn Paper User Posts: 8,616 Karma: 15446734 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Que Nada Device: iPhone8, iPad Air	Where did you get the tapered plastic? That is the hardest part to get a hold of. You can get rare earth magnets from leevalley.com .

01-15-2007, 09:08 AM	#7
yvanleterrible Reborn Paper User Posts: 8,616 Karma: 15446734 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Que Nada Device: iPhone8, iPad Air	Can you cover the LEDs? You seem to be getting quite a blast of light in the face there. That makes it too distracting to read comfortably!

01-15-2007, 09:37 AM	#8
Vaporware Not here yet. Posts: 49 Karma: 11 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: ETI-2 Ebook Reader	I put the thing together last night and read for a couple hours. Those 4 AAA batteries and the lexan add about 4 ounces to the weight. I had noticed the lights to the face problem prior to bed. I used masking tape to cover the LEDs, Yvan. Still needs a new switch and I need some strip aluminum to screw the thing together structurally. I seriously doubt that two neodynium magnets by themselves could hold JUST the tapered lexan piece in place, much less with full battery pack and things. It's going to want to pull off from the left side of the screen, so I need to add a hook that will grab the reader from the left and latch on the right with the magnets. Hey Yvan, I'll trade ya for your sweet wooden book holder

01-16-2007, 11:10 AM	#10
obelix Connoisseur Posts: 65 Karma: 1695 Join Date: Oct 2006	Great, I agree the LightWedge-around solution is one of the best for reading. Did you see my similar homemade lightwedge? post #77: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...2202#post52202

01-17-2007, 10:11 AM	#14
yvanleterrible Reborn Paper User Posts: 8,616 Karma: 15446734 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Que Nada Device: iPhone8, iPad Air	You have to think about covering the ughly green fibre! A nice wood cap would do it!

01-17-2007, 10:41 AM	#15
Vaporware Not here yet. Posts: 49 Karma: 11 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: ETI-2 Ebook Reader	Yes, that would be great! But, I've been rethinking my design and I think I can eliminate the circuit board altogether in a future revision. I've come pretty far with this design and think I might need to start with a new lightwedge for version 2. I think obelix is correct in abandoning the 4AAA batteries and working with a mobile phone battery. By simply hot-gluing the LEDs into the lexan and integrating the battery and switch into a "backpack" like Obelix, the magnets could probably be used to attach the lexan to the reader and it would look VERY sleek.

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