Starwars LED Nameplate

Uses a laser engraver, cnc mill, and your pure awesomeness and creativity to make.

Step 1: Materials

So you wanna make an awesome star wars name plate for yourself (or someone else I guess) then you've come to the right place! Here's the materials you'll need for this instructible:

1. acrylic (I used 1/8 inch thickness)

2. wood - any type of wood works, you'll just need to experiment with it to see how your wood reacts to being cut

3. LEDs (here's the link to the ones I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015441GP4/ref=mp_s_a_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1466722815&sr=8-19π=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=16.4+ft+led+strip&dpPl=1&dpID=51ewWUaXw%2BL&ref=plSrch )

4. power source for LEDs

5. rubber legs (I use them to hold everything together instead of using glue)

6. laser engraver

7. CNC mill

Step 2: Getting Everything Started

So the first thing you have to do to make your own awesome led plate is test stuff. Test print what you're going to write, make cuts in scrap pieces of the same wood you're using, etc. Get a feel for how your material reacts to being BURNED WITH A LASER. I cannot stress this enough, I didn't do that and my first material caught on fire. Once you've got everything squared away and you know how it's going to work you can start making it.

Step 3: Design

So, first off you need to figure out what you want to have on your nameplate. I chose an imperial walker and the star wars empire symbol. Then load the design into your laser and engrave your design onto your acrylic. do this until you're satisfied with how your acrylic looks. then start making the base. The base needs to be longer than your acrylic but not long enough to make the acrylic plate look puny inside the base. My base is 8 × 3.75 × .75 inches. The slot that the acrylic fits into is 1/8 × 6.75 inches and is cut all the way through. then on the bottom of the plate I have a .25 inch long by 1/8 inch deep slot that extends a little bit past the end of the notch for the acrylic plate and goes all the away through the side of the base as shown in one of the pictures above.

Step 4: Assembly

the assembly is probably the simplest step for this instructible. First clamp down the acrylic plate to the bottom of your base and drill the holes where you want them. Then set the LEDs into the slot so the the light shines through the thinner slot. After that attach the plate to the base using the screws inside the rubber stoppers to hold ever thing together. after everything is in place, slide your acrylic plate into the top slot and plug it in!

Step 5: Bonus Steps

After everything is assembled, you can decide to laser engrave a message onto your base for everyone to see. Also I haven't personally done this yet but after your sure everything is put together you can stain your wood to make it look more professional. If you've read this far then you're probably going to make this or you are legitamatly interested in it and I just want to thank you for taking the time to read through my instructible! If there's anything you think I could do to improve it please let me know in the comments!