LED tube lights are all the rage right now and in this tutorial we’re going to be making our very own! These come out to about $25 per foot if you follow the instructions below, but the nice thing is you can use whatever materials fit your budget (you could probably swap out some cheaper materials), and you can make them in whatever length you want (I’ve made both 18” and 3’ ones).
MATERIALS:
1 ½” diameter frosted acrylic round tubes in whatever length you want (I got mine from Canal Plastics)
½“ wooden dowel rod at least as long as your finished tube will be (I picked mine up from the local hardware store)
12 volt DC adapter (I got one with a splitter, more on that later)
2x end caps per tube (ask me about these - we have a ton left over!)
5m LED light strips (I like the ones from LightingWill w/ a 90 CRI - these strips also come with a solderless connector)
You’ll also want some extra wire
You’ll need a few tools like a screwdriver, wire cutters, a hot glue gun and a soldering iron.
INSTRUCTIONS:
I cut my tubes down to make 18” lights so they would fit in my pelican cases, but you can literally make whatever length you’d like - if you do decide to cut them just use a hacksaw and then sand or file the ends down so they’re smooth. Decide on a length and cut them down to that size. Cut down your dowel to the length of your tube and then drill a small pilot hole in each end.
Take your extra cord and cut a length several inches longer than your dowel rod, and tape one end to your dowel with a few extra inches of excess wire hanging out - I just used some masking tape I had nearby. Make sure the wire is flat against the dowel, it’s tight, and then go ahead and tape the other end down too.
Grab your LED strip, take the adhesive off the back, and leaving about ½“ of the dowel exposed we want to stick it to the rod, and make sure this is done at an angle. Peeling the adhesive off as you go wind it all the way down the rod. We want the LED strips touching but not overlapping. When you get to the other end be sure to leave another ½“ or so of the dowel out, and then if you need to cut your light strip be sure to cut along one of the pre-determined areas - mine have a small cut icon and a couple copper areas where I can cut them. We need these to solder the wires to, so just cut them carefully with a wire cutter. Then strip the ends of your extra wire on the end we just cut, and we want to solder the black to the negative, and the red to the positive. These should be labeled somewhere on your LED strip. IF you’ve never soldered before I recommend you practice on a few chunks of excess wire before doing it here, or watch one of thousands of YouTube videos before doing it. Honestly, it’s super easy, just be careful and go slow. And just so you know, this is the hardest part of the project, after this it’s smooth sailing.
After those are soldered let’s go back to the other end. Strip the excess wire here, and then if you need to cut and strip the wires coming from your LED strip. You’ll want just under 2 inches of wire for each of these. Make sure your solderless power adapter is nearby, and then twist the two bare black or negative wires together, and then slip those into the negative side of that power adapter and screw them down. Simply repeat this step with the two bare red or positive wires. You should now have a dowel covered in LED lights with one end soldered and the other end ready to get plugged in. At this point in time it probably looks bare and ugly but we’re going to add the frosted tubes in just a moment and make everything look real sexy. Before you go any further make sure your connections are solid by plugging it in.
For this last bit grab a couple tiny screws, I just used a handful of small ones I had laying around, get your end caps, your acrylic tube, and that uggo LED stick we just made. In the end caps you’ll want to drill two very small holes directly in the center, and then drill a larger hole on the outer edge of ONE of the caps. I believe I used a ¼” bit for this one. Slide your LED stick into the acrylic tube, and then start one of the screws through the end cap without the larger hole in it. Finish screwing it into the far end of the LED stick, and then slide that onto your tube - it should fit nice and snug.
Then disconnect the solderless adapter at the other end, and using some hot glue, or sturdy adhesive of your choice, connect it to the other end cap with the power adapter on the outside and the wire connections on the inside. This one that you see here was the first one I made, and it is ugly. If you make more than one they’ll come out prettier each time. Reconnect your wires like we did earlier, and snap that end onto the tube to seal everything up. Now plug that super sexy super kickass LED light tube in and bask in all of its wonderful glory.
These lights are super easy to use, just grab a clamp and put them to work in your next project! Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel or check back regularly because for our next tutorial I’m going to show you how to make a bank where you can attach multiple lights to it, with an adapter on the back so it can attach directly to a light stand, and then it’s also going to have a little dimmer knob.
To watch the video tutorial click here, and be sure to check out our other video on making the mount and dimmer for these.
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