May 3, 2012 at 11:19 am

Using Mirrors & Adding LED

After my last LED post, Ernie Robinson shared an interesting example that he lit up with the use of these light emitting diodes. I asked him if he would be interested in sharing it with others on the blog, which he agreed.

LED mirror etching depicting ocean life.

But as you can see, this LED glass was etched on a mirror. He said it’s a 1/4″ mirror and is etched from the back where the silver plated side’s located. Of course, you would need to use a sandblaster to do this. I did make a post awhile ago about removing silver backing without a sandblaster, which you might want to check out if you don’t have a sandblaster.

I really like the cool blue LED with a view of ocean life. It looks as if you are looking inside a saltwater fish tank with the frame.  I’ve etched simple mirrors in the past, but never added LED’s them to the backside. Very cool!

I hope you enjoyed this idea, and it would be great to thank Ernie for sharing in the comment below. Thanks for sharing Ernie!

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okieernie
About okieernie
My wife and I enjoy stainded glass. Wanting to add a little something extra thought I'd try etching and carving. I've been learning for the past three years.

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15 comments so far

  1. Linda

    May 6th, 2012 at 12:25 pm

    this is sooo cool

  2. Wil

    May 6th, 2012 at 12:39 pm

    Very Cool! How did you go about placing the LED’s on the back to light it up?

  3. Glen Morris

    May 6th, 2012 at 1:43 pm

    Nice job! A sure hit with bar owners.
    Glen

  4. J.J.Anghelone

    May 6th, 2012 at 2:56 pm

    Great job! I, too, would like to know how you mounted the LEDs. This gives a super affect.

  5. william.kolsteren

    May 6th, 2012 at 7:25 pm

    i like it verry much.always interested in something new. good job.

  6. Sam

    May 6th, 2012 at 7:40 pm

    This is very cool, might have to make this my next project to try. Thank you for sharing..

  7. mark m

    May 6th, 2012 at 8:55 pm

    hay great job well done my friend !! one thing ? where did you fine the sharks at?? if you do’nt mine. u see i have this car whitch is a lancer gt an the side profile looks like a shark. that whould look so cool at the botom back of my side windows? ps keep the ausum work flow’ng .

  8. Ernie

    May 6th, 2012 at 10:45 pm

    The mirror is 1/4″ thick (old bathroom mirror picked up from a garage sale). I use old stockade fence to make my frames. I router a channel for the LED to lay in. Allow enanaough gap for the wire to feed around the inside of the frame and the glass. The next frame I make I will share a couple of ways to mount LEDs in frames. The blue LED almost gives a black light appearance.

  9. Ernie

    May 6th, 2012 at 11:16 pm

    I do vinyl signs and have thousands of clipart. The shark came from a 3 volume collection called Vector Clipart. Sorry, but I don’t remember which volume it came from.

  10. Tee Cee

    May 6th, 2012 at 11:19 pm

    Great piece of work and execution. If I may ask, where did you purchase the LEDs?
    Can’t wait to see more of your ideas incorporating LEDs….might get my creative juices flowing again. Thankx for sharing.

  11. Desmond

    May 7th, 2012 at 3:24 am

    Fantastic, I love the idea!!

  12. Ernie

    May 7th, 2012 at 4:54 am

    I purchase the LEDs on EBay along with the power adapters. Lights sell for around $3 and power adapters the same. Of course the longer the strip of LEDs the higher the cost, but they are bright enough you only need to put them on one edge of your project.

  13. Eva

    May 7th, 2012 at 8:24 am

    Super Idea!! Very beautiful!!!!!

  14. J R

    May 7th, 2012 at 11:28 am

    that is cool good job

  15. Claire

    May 8th, 2012 at 5:28 am

    That really does look fantastic! I’ve engraved mirrors before but, believe it or not, it’s never occured to me to engrave on the silver backing side – I will be trying that out very soon. Thank you for sharing this with us.

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