Make custom LED neon shapes

LED neon or LED flex is a very handy material for creating neon-like signage and effects.
As time goes on it's harder to find places that still make traditional glass neon.  This is largely due to the advances made with LED technology providing a safe low voltage alternative for illumination of channel letters signs, and novel materials like this that emulate the traditional linear lines of neon.
Cost is a major factor too.  While the LED neon flex won't last as long as a properly processed neon tube, it is easier to drive and much more tolerant of rough handling.

This project uses short pieces of LED neon flex to create very punchy looking geometric shapes.  It's perfect for using up residual scraps from other projects.

To make a frame, copy and paste one of the scripts at the bottom of this description area into openscad, a free piece of open source software written by mathematical wizards.  It allows you to describe 3D objects as text.  That makes it very easy to adjust parameters to make custom STL files for using with your choice of slicer software (converts an STL file to a 3D printable form), and then print them with your 3D printer of choice.

Neon frame openscad scripts.   Circle, triangle and square.  Make sure you leave the "=" and ";" intact when adjusting variables - they are needed by the software:-

//LED neon circle frame
//Two main adjustable variables
thick=5;     //thickness of LED neon
diam=121; //diameter of circular frame
//More specialist variables
wall=1.2;    //wall thickness
height=6;   //depth of groove
$fn=100;    //circle segments
//Don't change variables below here
wl=wall*2;
thk=thick*2;
radius=diam/2;
difference(){
//main disk
cylinder(h=height+1, d=diam);
//central void
translate([0,0,-1])
cylinder(h=height+2, d=diam-thk-(wall*4));
//cable hole
translate([0,radius-wall-(thick/2),-1])
cylinder(h=height+2, d=thick-1);
difference(){
//channel groove outer dimension
translate([0,0,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=diam-wl);
//channel groove inner dimension
translate([0,0,-1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=diam-wl-thk);
}
}


//LED neon triangle frame
//Adjust these main variables to suit
thick=5;     //width of LED groove
width=150; //width of frame
//More specialist variables
height=6;   //depth of LED groove
wall=1.2;    //wall thickness
curve=20;  //corner outer radius
$fn=100;    //circle segments
//Don't change variables below here
wl=wall*2;
crv=curve*2;
thk=thick*2;
crz=(width/2)-curve;
tri=crz*1.732-crz; //peak of triangle
difference(){
//main disk
hull() {
translate([-crz,crz,0])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv);
translate([crz,crz,0])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv);
translate([0,-tri,0])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv);
}
//central void
hull() {
translate([-crz,crz,-1])
cylinder(h=height+3, d=crv-wl-wl-thk);
translate([crz,crz,-1])
cylinder(h=height+3, d=crv-wl-wl-thk);
translate([0,-tri,-1])
cylinder(h=height+3, d=crv-wl-wl-thk);
}
//cable hole
translate([0,(width/2)-wall-(thick/2),-1])
cylinder(h=height+2, d=thick-1);
difference(){
//channel groove outer dimension
hull() {
translate([-crz,crz,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl);
translate([crz,crz,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl);
translate([0,-tri,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl);
}
//channel groove inner dimension
hull() {
translate([-crz,crz,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl-thk);
translate([crz,crz,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl-thk);
translate([0,-tri,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl-thk);
}
}
}



//LED neon square frame
//Adjust these main variables to suit
thick=5;     //thickness of LED neon strip
width=100; //width of frame
//More specialist variables
height=6;   //depth of groove
wall=1.2;    //wall thickness
curve=20;  //corner outer radius
$fn=100;    //circle segments
//Don't change variables below here
wl=wall*2;
crv=curve*2;
thk=thick*2;
crz=(width/2)-curve;
difference(){
//main frame
hull() {
translate([-crz,crz,0])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv);
translate([crz,crz,0])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv);
translate([-crz,-crz,0])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv);
translate([crz,-crz,0])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv);
}
//central void
hull() {
translate([-crz,crz,-1])
cylinder(h=height+3, d=crv-wl-wl-thk);
translate([crz,crz,-1])
cylinder(h=height+3, d=crv-wl-wl-thk);
translate([-crz,-crz,-1])
cylinder(h=height+3, d=crv-wl-wl-thk);
translate([crz,-crz,-1])
cylinder(h=height+3, d=crv-wl-wl-thk);
}
//cable hole
translate([0,(width/2)-wall-(thick/2),-1])
cylinder(h=height+2, d=thick-1);
difference(){
//channel groove outer
hull() {
translate([-crz,crz,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl);
translate([crz,crz,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl);
translate([-crz,-crz,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl);
translate([crz,-crz,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl);
}
//channel groove inner
hull() {
translate([-crz,crz,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl-thk);
translate([crz,crz,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl-thk);
translate([-crz,-crz,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl-thk);
translate([crz,-crz,1])
cylinder(h=height+1, d=crv-wl-thk);
}
}
}

• #science_technology
• #custom
• #diy
• #led
• #neon
• #flex
• #sign
• #tube
• #strip
• #linear
• #line
• #frame
• #circle
• #triangle
• #square
• #safe
• #low_voltage