I’ve uncovered my project box for this after moving (finally) and am wondering how to mount a bunch of the 8x8 LED Matrix (SK6812) boards side-by-side on a wall. I don’t have a 3D printer and my first attempt using wooden sticks and tape went poorly. I would prefer if they didn’t have any gaps between them…
Ideas? Thoughts?
Super glue sticks to the backs very well. Any material that super glue will stick to can be used to join the panels or to add mounting hardware.
I have seen blue masking tape work well for temporary setups.
For a simple, durable setup that could be disassembled if necessary, I’d
Careful if you get one of the “Extreme, Permanent, Outdoor or Industrial” flavors. 3M makes some serious adhesives. When they say “permanent”, they actually mean it – I’ve had relatively heavy things mounted to outdoor stucco walls with this stuff for years now.
Hey thanks for the ideas! I actually used the blue masking tape (honestly, a LOT of it) with the sticks the first time I set up a small matrix of the “eight-by-eights” - I just got done removing all of that mess and am starting over (with more “eight-by-eights” added, of course!!)
I did procure some “craft project wood” (ok ok they are popsicle sticks) and was pondering using superglue with those… as long as I can be sure the panels are going straight and even… hmmm…
As far as 3M and adhesives go, zranger1, you aren’t kidding! I was able to get a small sheet of their 300LSE adhesive [ https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/545361O/high-stength-dc-tape-w-adhesive-300lse-9475le-9475leb.pdf ] and it is pretty astounding stuff! I’ve used it to repair a rear-view mirror to the windscreen - and it works on more than glass and plastic! It’s no thicker than a piece of paper! I’ve been temped to use that rather than superglue as I tend to get that everywhere…
Not sure how many you have to put together, but I had three 8x32 matrixes and I taped them to some foam board from the Dollar Tree with double-stick tape. I cut out holes for the wires to come through. Then I put the whole thing in a shadow box frame I bought on Amazon. Plenty of room for the PixelBlaze in there.
https://imgur.com/gallery/ktMh06n
I’ll share my solution in case anyone else runs across this later. I had a 3x3 matrix made out of nine ElectroMage 8x8 LED Matrix (SK6812) boards (I love these boards, they are so bright and easy to work with!). I wanted to leave room for an expansion of seven more boards to make a 4x4 matrix later on.
I carefully planned out a design of “popsicle sticks” or craft wood sticks (114mm x 9.6mm x 2mm) that would allow for room around the 3-pin header connections. I also wished to have each stick make contact with two or more boards and reinforce each other. Working with one row at a time I used some heavy T-squares to keep things aligned. I used Gorilla Glue Super Glue Gel, which I love for projects as the gel formula stays where you put it and won’t run all over. I would glue a stick into place and then weight it down to ensure good contact while I moved on to the next stick. I included a place to attach a stand to the bottom of the completed matrix and also a place to hang it on a wall at the top of the matrix (I hadn’t decided on a placement yet)
I had some 8 inch / 20 cm Dupont jumper cables ( see Amazon.com ) which were the ideal length and connector to wire all the boards together.
If you’ve any questions, I will try to help!