Light Box

[raysouth]

Howdy All.

Any folks use light boxes to make patterns? If so, what do you find as the best unit, best size, and where did you purchase?

I thought about making one from a 2' x 2' fluorescent fixture that I have several of but no idea how that would work. Probably heavier to move around and store so thought I would see what others are using.

I have looked around at various light boxes that fluctuate vastly in price but still not able to come up with a workable solution that would not break my bank.

All assistance will be appreciated.

God Bless.

Ray

[chriscraft]

I have made a couple but they were light tables and not boxes. I used thick 1/4 inch glass and fogged it myself with white enamel spray paint on one side. This side goes toward the fluorescent bulbs. You might want to use more than one fixture as my first one was not bright enough.

On my second light table build I used two double fluorescent bulb fixtures and it worked great. They were installed about two inches away from the glass. My light table glass was counter sunk to the table top had approx. 24"x36" working area. I had this table for 10 years without any issues.

The smaller portable light boxes I have seen operate on two 100 watt light bulbs. The box is angled so the glass surface is pitched toward you to give a better drawing/tracing angle. These boxes are molded from plastic so they are portable and not heavy. Building one from wood will add extra weight but it will not be expensive to build.

[Boriqua]

I work from a small home shop so I dont have a lot of space for things that stay out. Sounds like you are looking for something more official but I have become the king of cheap, fast and portable. I have a piece of glass from a cabinet I had that is about 20"x 20". I lay a piece of tinfoil down n the table. I put a small piece of 4x4 on wither side to hold up the glass and I hav a little box that has like 8 of those battery powered undercabinet light pucks. I throw em down and press down all the caps to turn them on and put my glass on the 4x4's. Solid as a rock, been using it for a couple of years for drawings and when I am done the lights go back in the box and I slide the glass back behind my desk and If I am really lucky there is a slice of cold pizza in the fridge and I get to throw it on top of the piece of tinfoil and have lunch

[jfdavis58]

I have one of these:http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/artograph-light-pad-114363/. Works very well. I stacked a couple store deal, coupon, sale, etc and got the cost well below $75.00. I've worked on light boxes for years and found this particular unit to be very uniform, very bright, very compact and storable and incredibly sturdy.

[raysouth]

Thank you all.

Some nifty ideas here but broke down and ordered a Port-Trace 11 x 18 and hope it helps. It supposedly, has two 15 watt fluorescent lamps.

I like the idea of making something myself but not able to do much in that area at present time so scrounged a few bucks and did the Amazon thing.

Hope it arrives soon.

Thanks again for the input.

God Bless.

Ray

[Troy Burch]

Hi Ray, I've never used one of them things, maybe you can tell me what it does that makes it better than useing traceing film. Does it make patterns easier to trace or maybe easier to see? Thanks Troy

[chriscraft]

Troy, one of they ways I've used light under my work is when I am layering a drawing or in this case building a pattern. First, you need to have a pattern in order to trace it with tracing film.

To help create/design a pattern, a light box/table comes in handy. Starting with the rough sketch of your pattern idea on paper, this rough sketch isn't a clean line drawing yet and may have many lines you don't want to use. One may need to trace over your own hand drawing to refine these lines. During this process, your using paper and not tracing film, the light base will let you see through the layers of paper as you refine your final drawing/pattern. I like my final work to end up centered on good quality paper. This will be your original that you can now copy or trace with clear tracing film.

So if you already have a clean line drawing of your pattern, then one doesn't need a light source under your work, you need light over your work to help you see what your tracing onto the clear film.

I enclosed some pictures that show my original sketch (pattern idea)that I had for a possible belt pattern I wanted to tool. You can also see my refined cleaned up line pattern I created using my light table. With this final line pattern on paper I can now make my clear film transfer sheet.

I have a professional drafting light table with a second drafting light over my work. This table has a drafting roller straight edge and a positional floating arm that when moved anywhere along the tabe will always be a true 90 degree angle or any angle as it can rotate 360 degrees. These drafting tools are used to square your paper/work and will help you layout any vertical lines. The rolling straight edge is used for all my horizontal lines. I tape the top corners of my project after I square it so it doesn't move but I'm still able to flip the paper to layer any underline drawings. If I need light under my work, I turn off the overhead light and turn on my light table to light the base. Switching my light source from under and over as needed.

I had used one of these professional drafting light tables back when I was 14 years old. It was at my local public library and one could check out the room to used this table in one hour incrimates. It was an amazing tool when drawing and I always wanted one of these tables after this day. It was another 18 years before I could get one.

One can get by and use a small portable light box this same way with hand held t-squares and right angle protractors. I did for many years.

These larger light tables are stable and become a nice work station that is always ready to go. Yes they take up some space but don't we need a well lighted work station to transfer patterns anyway. I don't always turn on my light table and use it as a regular drawing table.

I can assure you that every professional tattoo shop has one of these light tables on site. Whether it be a purpose built professional table as mine or a home build table, they are needed to create artwork/designs that will be transferred onto your skin to be tattooed.

Like our leatherwork patterns, once hand tooled onto leather, it can not be removed similar to a tattoo, why not just make your pattern accurate before transferring onto your leather project.

Edited March 21, 2015 by chriscraft

[Troy Burch]

Thanks Chris

[raysouth]

Well Troy, Chris did a fantastic job of explaining the use of a light box/table. I have finally had the opportunity to use my new light box and very pleased with the results. Makes pattern making a lot easier, now that I can see clearly.

The idea of using a light box came to me from dvd about making sheaths and just had to have one after that. Great time saver and extra special now that I don't have to strain my eyes to see what I want to accomplish.

Thank you all, for the information and response.

God Bless.

Ray