How to make a fiber optic light diffuser with a dot of hot glue

This is the method I use to make my glow-dot LED capes and flags.
Materials needed:
*0.75mm fiber attached to an LED light source
*hot glue gun
*teflon or other non-stick work surface
*cold metal spoon in a bowl of ice - the thicker the spoon, the better it will work
Make sure your spoon is nice and cold first! You are using it as a heat-sink and it needs to be chilly.
The non-stick work surface is key here. I ponied up for a 3'x4' sheet of solid teflon, but you can make do with a large tempered-glass cutting board sprayed with PAM or some other kind of low-key silicone grease. I've even used solid shea butter in the past.
When your glue gun is nice and hot, stick a dot of glue over the fiber, right on the work surface. The fiber is thermoplastic, so it will bend very easily in the glue - as you bend it, you can see that light is now diffusing out through the glue dot.
Grab your cold spoon and freeze the glue dot! You can peel the dot and the fiber up from the work surface when it is set.
Note: This method is best used in conjunction with some kind of cloth - I have used sheer white poly/nylon organza in the past, and then sandwiched the dots/fiber matrix under another layer (quilted on) when I was finished. You might also use a heavier darker cloth as the backing and whatever sheer front layer you'd like. By themselves the dots aren't terribly robust, but in conjunction with the cloth layers they last pretty well.

[@adamcollier3095]

the mechanism for the light escaping in this video is the bend in the fiber, the glue just maintains the bend, this technique will not work on many fibers and if you bend it too tight all or most of the light will escape in the first bend

[@wessley4606]

@Damnit Bobby shut up.

[@NG-sz2xi]

@@wessley4606 lol

[@dinilmusick]

it appears to me that the intensity drops after successive kinks in the cable

[@tinaschmidtsart]

Wow. You are soooo creative! This is great! Thank you!

[@T--ge3mc]

the light escaping in this video is the bend in the fiber, the glue just maintains the bend, this technique will not work on many fibers and if you bend it too tight all or most of the light will escape in the first bend

[@cristianci00]

OMG.... thanks for this tips!!! very helpfull

[@fuelban]

Excellent, really useful and very smart... Thom in Scotland

[@bestamerica]

'
wow that pretty goood idea...
during day time is a weak...
dark or night is the best to see the color LED light

[@glassjoebiden5833]

That just gave me an idea! 👍👍👍

[@RetreatfarmFarmvilleVirginia]

I Bet you could get some of those miniature Crystals for jewelry making and glue those on. There are ones shaped like mini Prisms that would consentrate the light.

[@zanehaselden5573]

Impossible unless you walk around with a wire running up your arm to a back pack with the light source and power pack in your back pack...

[@foreckbs]

Awesome!!!

[@MdAminulIslam-yd4mk]

Wow excellent idea

[@Rosalie2204]

Hi where did you buy the fibres. I have a decor piece that is from the 70's and have fibres made out of glass but I find it dangerous with children and pets and I wanted to put the plastic fibres instead.

[@tauseefakhtar5788]

Wow amazing

[@anomaly2349]

Thanks @Thien Huynh

[@nikushim666]

Really almost any semi transparent material will work such as epoxy or silicone as examples. By coating a segment of the cable you are breaking the total internal reflection allowing light to diffuse.

[@MyFictionalChaos]

I know nothing about fiber optics but I assume you cant make one big whole hot glue plate size of light? like anything flatter and wider than that wont reflect the light?

[@msg1137]

Free making LED ☺️ 👏👏👏

[@ChesterHandman]

What kind of light source are you using?

[@Furby_assassin]

neat could do this to light a x-mas tree with one led..... hahaha

[@anomaly2349]

Where can I get the fibers?

[@adnansalar3330]

Nice

[@debapriyamaity5146]

U ARE JUST GREAT ...A"M 4M KOLKATA

[@crazyjohnny3131]

nice

[@mohammadadankhan8053]

Superb

[@carmenzapolanco2253]

Ecxelente bonito linda

[@nandukumar5904]

Amazing can you share me the buy link sister and can we get little thicker in size

[@davidlane3444]

Is your fiber cable coated or uncoated? I was told you couldn't use hot glue on fiber optic cable, but diffusion points like this is exactly what I want to do!

[@louuuuuuu950]

David Lane I think it isn't coated... I believe the glue cooled down early enough to not melt the fibers because of the cold spoon that was on ice that he/she used

[@dipeshbhudiya3804]

Optical fiber kahase mangaya

[@foreithteenus9803]

yeah that is some nice cubic zirconia

[@karlwashere123]

Can you do it with fishing string? Monofilament heavy weight fishing string?

[@leucocephala]

Nope! I tried, believe me. You need to get proper fiber optic filament for the light to travel along it.

[@rajeevnayak9988]

Bhai Kaha milti hai optical fibre

[@AshokKumar-bj6ov]

where I contect u

[@lohithvigneshsaddala9732]

It's gud

[@bastardsalad4387]

I thought you were going to start eating the ice like cereal

[@leucocephala]

lol

[@biancamaria5970]

how does the light shine through that huge rock on yo finger? :)

[@jakelong2803]

Noice

[@AshokKumar-bj6ov]

I have a proposal for u

[@forced23]

your jealous is showing