geekhack
geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: Thomas73951 on Mon, 07 June 2021, 15:05:46
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I was just wondering if anyone knew of any LED strips that could be used in a keyboard case like the image below. Or are most LED strips wider than 9mm?
(https://i.imgur.com/2IYlTbW.png)
Thomas :)
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i have some of these
https://keeb.io/collections/frontpage/products/rgb-led-strips-sk6812-ws2812b-compatible
which are only 5.5-5.6mm wide
if you're planning on standing them on end so the led is facing the outer edge. though most side/underglow leds face the bottom (not the side - outer edge of the keyboard)
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One led is 5 x 5mm. There are some smaller leds as 3,5mm. But these should be soldered somewhere. You could use a horizontal strip.
I can't imagine what you are trying to do.
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spec sheet for the WS2812B
http://cdn.sparkfun.com/datasheets/BreakoutBoards/WS2812B.pdf
so probably most any strip based around the WS2812B should work (one of the most popular ones used for underglow in keyboards)
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I'm not sure what width of LEDS you need, but if you are looking for thin LEDs, there is a 1.5mm wide LED strip on aliexpress. The only downside about this is that there's only one length they provide when you purchase the LEDs, 1M.
Link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002554592301.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.1f455b1cUyVug0&algo_pvid=null&algo_expid=null&btsid=0b0a555d16231984973146676e0345&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
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Thanks all for the information, I think what I'm trying to achieve is something like this with sideglow:
(https://i.imgur.com/pBen3QV.png)
I have also realised that frosted acrylic sideways is not frosted, so the original plan won't quite work, oops. The image above looks like its diffused but idk how.
i have some of these
https://keeb.io/collections/frontpage/products/rgb-led-strips-sk6812-ws2812b-compatible
which are only 5.5-5.6mm wide
if you're planning on standing them on end so the led is facing the outer edge. though most side/underglow leds face the bottom (not the side - outer edge of the keyboard)
The LED strips without massive spaces around the LEDs are a good find and might work. So your saying that with sideglow, the LEDs usually face down? Because if so I can remove the extra space I made around the PCB.
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The LED strips without massive spaces around the LEDs are a good find and might work. So your saying that with sideglow, the LEDs usually face down? Because if so I can remove the extra space I made around the PCB.
yes, always facing down
you can use any acrylic, just give it a good light sanding (including edges) and you have "frosted".
- space them in closer to the center of the board for a more even look, get too close to the edge and you really get differences in brightness and can easily pick out where the leds are located.
look at the image you posted. it's not really apparent in the edge, but if you look at the reflection, you can see what i'm talking about.
do a google search for "pcb underglow" and look at the images for examples of how it's typically done.