Homemade pool table light

M

mohrt

Student of the Game
Silver Member
Not happy with finding exactly what I wanted, I decided to make my own. Here is my first prototype light, using LED lights. It is about 4' in length and 1/2 inch thick on the frame. Very light, maybe a pound. This is a work in progress, but so far I'm liking the outcome. Sleek, lightweight and BRIGHT.

Cost so far, about $40 in materials, and a few hours of my time.

Nnn9ll.jpg


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M

mohrt

Student of the Game
Silver Member
irock said:
Very nice, I think you are on to something, LED is the future.
Click to expand...

I agree, they are cheap, do not put off heat, are very bright and consistent. These LEDS also diffuse very well on their own, no lines on the table to speak of. And I don't have this big ugly heavy thing handing over my table. :)
 
JamesJ

JamesJ

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Nice Work

This looks very impressive. Please let us know how the coverage works. I'm currently using 4 100W bulbs on a 9ft table, but still seem to have some dark areas/lines on one side.
 
M

mohrt

Student of the Game
Silver Member
JamesJ said:
This looks very impressive. Please let us know how the coverage works. I'm currently using 4 100W bulbs on a 9ft table, but still seem to have some dark areas/lines on one side.
Click to expand...

This is a 4 foot light on a 7 foot table. Coverage is pretty good, a little dimmer on the edges than the middle but still no shadows. It is adequate, but I may like it a bit brighter. I'm going to try doubling up the LEDs and see if I like it, then tripling and see how that looks. They also make LEDs with triple the brightness, so I wouldn't need so many strips. I also may try a wider light bar and spread them out a bit more, see how that turns out.
 
JohnPT

JohnPT

"Prove it!"
Silver Member
Maybe make the dimensions match the table to scale. Twice as long as it is wide.
 
M

mohrt

Student of the Game
Silver Member
JohnPT said:
Maybe make the dimensions match the table to scale. Twice as long as it is wide.
Click to expand...

Right, I'd make the light 4'x2' to match the table dims. I might even try 5'x2.5' for more coverage. The current setup makes the table a bit brighter in the middle, which isn't a nuisance to me. I also thought about putting LEDs at an angle, but I want to keep it simple. These LEDs are not very directional, which is good.
 
Pidge

Pidge

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Sweet!

Had my table for around 3 years now and never bothered with table lights. I've got lights dotted around my pool room and they work better than any pool table light could. But I don't know...I like the dark, seedy look of a dark room and a lit pool table.

Birthday coming up so I'm going to have to convince the Mrs to get me some lights. Subtle hints. Leave a page up on the laptop with pool lights, a few subliminal messages and record over her iPod with a recording demanding pool lights.

Really nice job though mohrt. Can't argue with pool table lights for $40!
 
Chopdoc

Chopdoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Excellent.

I am looking for my first table and have been thinking of lights. None of the lights I have seen are satisfying actually.

This looks like a very viable idea, I like it a lot.






.
 
moccabee

moccabee

Mocc1Cues
Silver Member
Can you take a picture with the ambient lights off? Just leaving the LED lights over the table?
 
brandoncook26

brandoncook26

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
mohrt said:
Here you go:

bycbZl.jpg
Click to expand...

That's definitely brighter in the middle, but seems to be a very good start. I think if you did 4 of those for a 9 foot table the coverage would be excellent.

It looks strange seeing that tiny little fixture when I am so used to the big bulky overhead lights.
 
M

mohrt

Student of the Game
Silver Member
DaveK said:
Nice !

How many LEDs are in one strip in your light ? Do you know the part # of the lights ? What color temperature ?

I have a couple of reels of these :

http://www.optekinc.com/datasheets/OVQ12S30R7.pdf

in the 3300K temperature.

Still working on a final design.

Dave, the Saskatchewan Snail
Click to expand...

Here are the lights I used, from the person I ordered them from too (free shipping ebay store):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190688493270

Also the power supply and adapter:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160832506229

And the connectors if you cut them:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190699252929

There are 600 LEDs in a single strip, I trimmed off 48 of them off to line it all up. They are bright white lights.
 
M

mohrt

Student of the Game
Silver Member
brandoncook26 said:
That's definitely brighter in the middle, but seems to be a very good start. I think if you did 4 of those for a 9 foot table the coverage would be excellent.

It looks strange seeing that tiny little fixture when I am so used to the big bulky overhead lights.
Click to expand...


It actually doesn't look anything like that in real life, the exposure of my camera phone is way too hot. It looks far more subtle.
 
M

mohrt

Student of the Game
Silver Member
I had purchased a switch from Radio Shack to install on the light, but since it is so light and delicate it would be swinging around every time I touched it. So instead I installed a light switch for the ceiling outlet.
 
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