Originally Posted by
Ulophot
Hi, folks. I just spoke with someone at SuperBright LEDs, who responded to my long email, including watching the video at aspenimages on building that fancy, allegedly DIY model. In case you missed my earlier post:
Our cold light sources are not going to last forever. My hypothesis is that a plain vanilla, white LED (i.e., non-VC) enlarger source should be inexpensive to make, and that it could either fit the round Beseler or Omega D-series collars or, perhaps better, be made as a rectangle. If made in two parts in the latter configuration, the bottom could be the light source, the top could be one of several modules made to connect the bottom to various 4x5 enlarger models.
Here's where the technical part comes in, regarding feasibility, at least as far as my poor understanding allows: SB's 3000K strip lights come spaced about 2/3" apart, in 3-LED segments, 18 LEDs per foot, sold in 5-meter lengths, if I read the specs chart correctly. Each foot produces 115 or 220 lumens -- I can't understand how they are figuring this between 18 or 36 "density." The strip is less than 1/3" wide, so even at two strips per inch, just 9 strips, i.e., 4.5 feet, would fit a 4.5 x 6" enclosure, so three heads could be made from either $30 or $50 worth of strip lights, plus one of their $20 transformers (12V to 120AC) for each. Would this lumen output be any where near comparable to the output of a cold light head? That's really the potential deal-breaker as I see it, unless for some reason they would not go on and off pretty much instantaneously.
How the enclosure might be constructed, I must also leave to those who do such things. It just doesn't seem as if it would be a terrible challenge, since heat is not a major factor.
Okay, full disclaimer: I work for a huge IT company now, because I couldn't run my own. I'm the world's worst businessman, full stop.
That said, my guess is that, provided the lights are sufficient, someone with know-how and a shop could, after planning, prototype, and set-up, make 20 of these in at least one configuration, maybe three hours a piece, for a cost of maybe $90 (~$40 for the light and transformer, $30? for plywood or 3-D printing material, $20 for white plexi, additional hardware, paint, and other materials) and sell them for $250 a piece for a gross profit of $3400, about $50 an hour. Heck, a good one would be a good long-term investment at $300. The fellow at Modern Enlarger was selling his for $400, but he stopped long ago.
Can someone qualified chime in on the light output or other considerations? Do we have any retired builders with experience in this sort of thing?
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