Litho Case

[SandBuoy]

Heres a lithopane I did for my sister in law flying in Friday. here BD was in Feb a few day after mine and I told her she had to come here to get it. She will probably think its not that goog until she sees it light up. Then hopefully she will too.

Its mahogany with tung oil on the outside. Didn't want any finish on the inside with the bulb heat. Its a 25 watt and you can handle it after its been lit for 1/2 hour so it should be real safe.

I put hinges on the back so she can change the bulb, a slot on the back for heat to escape. The bottom section has a slot in it for the cord to run threw from the fixture. After making this one I think I will probably stay with this style becuase of the ease of making it and only 3 glue joints. Think I have about 2 hours in it from scratch and probably 1 of it scratching my head on what to do next haha....

[ChrisAlb]

That's really cool!! Now you have me thinking.....lol

One thing though, I would put at least a light coat of polly on the inside. Once completely dry the heat shouldn't pose a problem. I would think without it, the heat will slowly dry out the inside and over time, may cause it to warp. I'm no finishing expert but if there's one thing I know about wood, heat and or moisture on wood finished on only "some" faces isn't usually a good thing for the wood...lol

Just a thought

Beautiful work!

Chris

[DStimpson]

Is that Corian?

Looks GREAT!! Nice job............

[SandBuoy]

I am going to investigate some finishes at Lowes and HD today. We're heading for the big city today and tomorrow on a shopping CC/craft spree. I agree the wood will over time dry out. I still have a couple days to put a coating of finish on it before she takes it home. I also want to look at lights sources and some shiny tin for a deflector in the back.

Yes its corian. Funny thing, hold it up to a flouresent light and its as white/grey as can be. Put it in this case with a regular bulb and it turned a yellowish color. Would be a great effect at halloween.....? bulb just went off on a carve.

[fwharris]

Great looking box and litho! I am sure she will love it...

[CustomWestCoast]

Niced job on the box. Do you get a lot of light reflection out of the back of the box?

[LittleRedWoodshop]

I have started painting the inside of all of my litho boxes with gloss white paint... reflects so much more light and we don't have to worry about the drying issue.

[SandBuoy]

Just got back from a 2 day trip so sorry for the late responses. Thanks for the nice comments and great suggestions all. We went to Lowes and Home depot to get some supplies I needed here. 2 hour trip for us one way. But they are finihsing up a brand new HD 2 miles down the road to be opened in about 1-2 months.

Cyndi had the reaction I figured I would get. Like anyone else seeing an unlighted Litho for the first time, she knew it was the boys and thought it was very nice. I could see her eyes rolling in the back on her mind thinking " what an ugly carving haha". Linda then reached over and turned on the light in the box. Cyndi's eyes just about popped out of her sockets and she was shocked at what appeared. Man what a great feeling to see someones reaction to these lithipanes for the first time.

I got a round 25 watts bulb at HD and several other to try out in the box. The round bulb actually lighted the litho better then the long 4" tube did. I also got some LED bulbs with smalled bases on them to try in some other light fixrures I have coming. So I am not done experimenting with a good safe light source. Anyone thinking about selling these better concidered the saftey factor of the light source and electrical problems that could occur.

The one I have in there now is very good, but I would really like finding one that produced the same or better light with less heat so I can reduce the depth of the box and save wood. Its over 7" deep now with 3-1/2" between the litho and the back cover.

I looked for some shiney tin I could curve and attach to the flip down door on the back. Started running out of time and I forgot to check out over at the heating section. We're going back Sunday to drop Cyndi off and HD is down from the airport so we're stopping for one more shopping spree.

I am planning on trying the white paint on the inside this morning. I got a good quality heat resistant paint to try. Were I don't use paint I will apply a coat of clear finish as suggested so the wood doesn't dry and crack from the heat.

[ChrisAlb]

I've yet to get some Acrylic and do a litho but I've heard a lot of good talk about "puck" lights. Apparently, they're low voltage and low heat.

Krylon makes a whole line of high heat spray paints in a rainbow of colors. The kind you paint engines with. I'd think that would solve any heat issues. I also wonder what kind of interesting colored "glows" you could get from the light bouncing around inside.

Hmmmmm....better get some materials.