Looking for help ordering parts and putting together Studio Lights (will pay)

[Mark Steffel]

Hi all,

I'm looking for someone who can help me figure out which power sockets I should be ordering for the studio lights project (and which 10 mm button I should be ordering for another project), and then, when I have all the 'pieces' ready, help me put together the first light or two. I'm relatively new to soldering and very new to electrical, so I'll probably have lots of beginner questions. Please contact me directly if interested (marks...@gmail.com). I'm probably low on my estimate, but was thinking it might be 2-3 hours total (maybe 30-60 minutes to figure out the power socket and buttons, and later 90-120 minutes for putting it together [once all pieces are ready]). Was thinking $30/hour. But open to negotiation, no idea what the going rate would actually be.

Some additional details: I'd like to attempt putting together some Studio Lights: https://wiki.milwaukeemakerspace.org/projects/studiolights

Unfortunately, the video that I'm following https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhbMnQt14_o is a bit light in specifics (even looking through discussions, patreon, etc) I'm left with ambiguous items to get like; power sockets, medium thickness acetate & diffusion sheets.

I'm looking for someone familiar with the electronics lab that can help me figure out which power sockets I should be ordering, what gauge wire I should be using, and to help me put the first one or two together [there are 5] and I can hopefully do the rest on my own. 

I'd also like this person to confirm I'm ordering the correct 10 mm buttons for https://www.instructables.com/Electronic-MasterMind-Game/ I'm hoping to be able to complete this project from what I learn from the studio lights.

I can be reached at marks...@gmail.com, I have a day job so the 'putting together' help would most likely have to be either a weekday night or a weekend. I'm occasionally in Lenox on Fridays.

Thanks in advance,
Mark
Mark

[Jim Rawson]

https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/about/

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[Bryan Flannery]

I'd be happy to help when I can for free. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/milwaukeemakerspace/CAGiNDVTpQzhUDUHV8_7sRFS19FpfVpMhKQ76HYEymhoZvYUpEA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Tony]

Hi Mark,

These sockets look similar to the ones in the light video:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255799912353764.html

The most critical component of the lights is the LEDs.  You are looking for LEDs with the color temperatures you are after and the highest Color Rendering Index (CRI) you can find.  You can determine the max brightness through both the light output of each LED and the number of LEDs per meter in the strip.  The 144 LED-per-meter strips are incredibly bright, but they produce a lot of heat at full brightness.  If I were to optimize the design, I would use digital controls or 10-turn potentiometers for the brightness.  That way you are more likely to be able to reproduce the color temperature and brightness between uses.

You can find diffuser material in discarded LED computer monitors, laptops, and TVs.  There is some material we use for sand blaster window overlays at Lenox that might work as a stiff clear film.  If you buy some clear film, you don't want acetate, polystyrene, or PVC.  They yellow over time.  PETG, acrylic, or poly-carbonate diffuser sheets would be better.

To figure out wire gauges, determine the maximum power draw in amps and then select wire rated for that amount of power:
Here's a random result from Google:
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html
I use 20 gauge stranded wire for most projects that use less than 5A.

These look like the buttons used in the game:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256801106756652.html

We have quite a few spools of wire at the Makerspace.  Let me know next time you will be at Lenox and I'll show you the plastic film and wire that might work.

 - Tony

[Mark Steffel]

Thanks for all the responses.

I'll contact Bryan directly, and will donate the $ I was going to spend on this to the makerspacer.

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