Lithophane

[mmccue29]

Any sugestions on lighting or frame for a lithophane.

[lto]

We have used regular under-cabinet lights in a wood frame with white coated hardboard for the back. The glossy white coat on the hardboard helped eliminate any light patterns on the litho.

[jseiler]

what kind of wattage of lights and bulb type? I tried fluorescent (7w) and it was dim, shadowwy and bad color. I have tried halogen uncabinets and they got rather hot in a small litho box.

regards,
John

[mmccue29]

under-cabinet lights sounds like it would work. I thought of a night light type bulb but was worried about the heat.

would you do some kind of shadow box?

[billp]

Compact flourescent bulbs solve the heat problem.And since they have a screw in base they are easy to attach to the base of the box. And you can also use the smaller tube (T-8?) flourescents IF you can hide the ballast in the box.
Most of us who have done these boxes first find out the distance the bulb has to be behind the lithophane to get a good clean image, and THEN we size the thickness of the box.
THIS is one major issue with lithophanes; since each photo is different, each light source may have to be (or otherwise the bulb may create a "hot spot", OR "dead spot"in the next lithophane if the same size box is used). If you are lucky enough to have a very consistent source of photos (same background, lighting, etc) then you might be able to standardize the box. Otherwide, each box has to be custom built.

[mmccue29]

Thanks Bill, I would have not thought of the distance or the flourescent bulbs. I will go and check them out tommorow. Always good to hear from a pro like you.

[brian_harnett]

I use compact flourescent bulbs in the lamps I have made they work well with good light distribution.

9038

9039

[billp]

Brian,
Your 4 sided approach is one of the most practical applications, as you can get multiple coverage from a single bulb. That's why I did my "shoji lamp" a few years back...Of course the joinery is another issue altogether, and you have got that part down very nicely...

[mmccue29]

Wow, those lamps are wonderful. What a great idea and what workmanship

[wayneo]

So Bill,
Have you got a picture of your "Shoji Lamp"? We would like to see it..........



Wayneo

[billp]

Wayne,
I can't find the originals, so I plucked these off of my web page. Hope the resolution is good enough to see them.
I used the same concept as Brian; one bulb, 4 lithophanes. It makes the entire process MUCH easier, as well as giving you more latitude in laying out the lamp. The only major change is as I mentioned above; there is considerably more joinery to deal with than in your standard "box".
For example in this lamp I have stopped dados, and dowels holding the lithos in, and keeping the box together. The lamp measures 23.5"tall, and 9.75"wide. The frame is made of mahogany,with a dark stain to emulate the original Shoji screens which inspired the project.

9040
9041
9042
9043

[nappy1]

I purchased a 5 or 7 watt "DIMMABLE" Floruescent from Home Depot. It worked well.

[mmccue29]

You guys are great. Thanks for all the help.

[wayneo]

Bill,
Wonderful! Thank You so much for showing the pictures! They are great!

What material did you use to cut them out of? How long to cut?

What kind of bulb? Seems like a small bulb would give "hot spots" of light. A long bulb may spread it out better. Use of a diffuser?

So when are you going to post your "Create a Lithophane user manual?"

Regards,

Wayneo

[billp]

Wayne,
Thanks for the kind words. I have used Corian for almost all of my lithophanes in the last few years. Being denser than acrylic it has better contrast, and that's what you want in a lithophane- contrast. it also cuts beautifully, and is pretty scratch resistant. It's weakness is the fact that it is brittle, so if you drop a piece, it's crumb city...
I did those panels on my old PRT with a PC router I believe, so it was a long process. I think each panel took about 4.5 hours at something like 2IPS (this goes back a few years so I'm not too sure on the numbers, but I think there was a thread on this Forum around the time I did them so the info is probably still floating in the ethernet...).
The bulb I used was actually a flourescent "work light wand" of about 15 inches in length. I think it's about 15 watts. Only down side to the wand was that it has a very thick, ugly power cord I keep meaning to change out. Because it was tubular, and long, I didn't need a diffuser, and that's one reason I went with the four sided design. As pointed out before the distance from the back of the lithophane panel to the bulb is crucial in getting optimal results. Since my panels were standardized, all I needed was to test the effect the shop lamp had at different distances to guage how large to make the lamp...
I think I have already written one guide to doing lithophanes on this Forum so a search might track it down. I used Artcam Pro when I did the lamp
and I know there is also a similar guide posted on their Forum (www.artcam.com (http://www.artcam.com)).
In the interim, many people have created excellent lithophanes with V Carve Pro, and if you do a Forum search under Dave Rodda's name you'll see an incredible example of what you can do with that program as well.
Lithophanes are weird ducks; as many people can tell you everyone LOVES them, but they are NOT a big seller for most people unless you find a "niche market". OR unless you want to make some unique one of a kind gifts for family and friends...

[shawn394]

Great work on the lithophanes guys. What is a good soutce for the ball nose bits used to rout out the picture? I have looked at a couple of places I get bits from and have not found any. Thanks for the help

[brian_harnett]

I use a 1/16 solid carbide 2 flute ball end with 1/8 shank.
I get them at http://www1.mscdirect.com/cgi/nnsrhm

[billp]

Brian's right. MSC is a great source for small bits . In fact if you are ONLY going to use them for lithophanes you only need bits with a cutting length of no more than .5" Some people use the longer 1-1/2" tapered bits as well, but there is more of a chance to break one of those, and their cost is significantly higher. Be sure to get the collet adapters which have been mentioned MANY times on this Forum so you can use bits with an 1/8"shank...

[patricktoomey]

I'm looking on the MSC site and I see router bits down to 1/8" ball. The only thing I'm seeing at 1/16" or smaller appears to be end mills for metal cutting, would these work for wood products?

[brian_harnett]

Patrick you are correct I use the metal cutting end mills for the lithophanes I also use them in wood they cut wood just fine.

[Brady Watson]

Metal end mill = wood upcut spiral

-B

[patricktoomey]

Thanks, that's good news, it opens up lots of other bit possibilities.

[jumbaugh]

I used to make lithophanes but recently sold my equipment. The problem is I'm still getting inquiries and need someone who has the software and equipment to do this. I have two customers at present, one of which once three before Christmas (of course) and a second one who is also probably in aa hurry. Email me at jaum@alltel.net (mailto:jaum@alltel.net) and I'll get you in touch with them

Jim Umbaugh