dvdavidvgt
Member
Here I will show a design for a light trap that is made from sheet metal.
I created this design because frankly I hate working with the foam poster board that everyone else seems to use.
Depending
on how cheap you can get your sheet metal and what gauge you use, using
this design will add about $50 to $60 to your cabinet.
First some tools are necessary:
Sheet metal (usually pretty cheap at lowes/home depot)
Brake press (small 40$ online here)
Tape/welder/solder
Matte Black Spray Paint
Next you need to understand how a light trap works:
Here is a general diagram Ive drawn in paint to help.
You should also have a general understanding of how a brake press works.
For this you can just look on youtube or somewhere else online.
Now we can begin:
First you need to plan the dimensions of your light trap.
The open air ends of the traps should maintain at least the same size as the fan you are using.
Here is a calculator that can help with your design:
http://insomnyak.centelia.net/box_calc.htm
Once you have determined the total size of the opening you need to divide it into a reasonable hight and width for your opening.
Once you have the hight and width you can begin cutting your sheetmetal as such:
After your sheet metal is cut it is simply a matter of bending the 90 degree turns in the design as such:
First:
Then bend some flaps to mount it with:
Once you have the general shape of your trap you will need to then bind the edges so that light does not leak out the corners and such.
As stated before this can be done simply by taping over the outside and maybe the inside (spray paint entire structure black before doing this to avoid reflection through the trap)
Or you can use more complicated methods such as welding or even soldering (spray paint the entire structure black after these are done)
It is a good idea to put a secondary trap (blue in the design picture) over the primary as these tend not to block or absorb all the light.
Keep in mind when making the secondary trap that if you create more space on the sides (as to allow for the primary traps mounting flaps) then you dont have to protude the tap as much outward.
Also as a note: the design picture shows the trap as it would be on the outside of a cabinet however it is recommended that you place these on the inside instead because then air would be pulled through instead of pushed. And we all know the golden rule with fans is pull dont push.
Thanks for reading and I'd be glad to answer any questions
I created this design because frankly I hate working with the foam poster board that everyone else seems to use.
Depending
on how cheap you can get your sheet metal and what gauge you use, using
this design will add about $50 to $60 to your cabinet.
First some tools are necessary:
Sheet metal (usually pretty cheap at lowes/home depot)
Brake press (small 40$ online here)
Tape/welder/solder
Matte Black Spray Paint
Next you need to understand how a light trap works:
Here is a general diagram Ive drawn in paint to help.
You should also have a general understanding of how a brake press works.
For this you can just look on youtube or somewhere else online.
Now we can begin:
First you need to plan the dimensions of your light trap.
The open air ends of the traps should maintain at least the same size as the fan you are using.
Here is a calculator that can help with your design:
http://insomnyak.centelia.net/box_calc.htm
Once you have determined the total size of the opening you need to divide it into a reasonable hight and width for your opening.
Once you have the hight and width you can begin cutting your sheetmetal as such:
After your sheet metal is cut it is simply a matter of bending the 90 degree turns in the design as such:
First:
Then bend some flaps to mount it with:
Once you have the general shape of your trap you will need to then bind the edges so that light does not leak out the corners and such.
As stated before this can be done simply by taping over the outside and maybe the inside (spray paint entire structure black before doing this to avoid reflection through the trap)
Or you can use more complicated methods such as welding or even soldering (spray paint the entire structure black after these are done)
It is a good idea to put a secondary trap (blue in the design picture) over the primary as these tend not to block or absorb all the light.
Keep in mind when making the secondary trap that if you create more space on the sides (as to allow for the primary traps mounting flaps) then you dont have to protude the tap as much outward.
Also as a note: the design picture shows the trap as it would be on the outside of a cabinet however it is recommended that you place these on the inside instead because then air would be pulled through instead of pushed. And we all know the golden rule with fans is pull dont push.
Thanks for reading and I'd be glad to answer any questions
