If anyone is interested in using fiber optics to light part of your scenery, or just to experiment with, I found a very cheap source for lots of fibers, the connector and the light source/driver. This source being pre-assembled takes the mystery out of the mix for first time users. Even if you need to use longer fibers, the light source and connector is still a real bargain.
Wall Mart is selling a 32-inch fiber optic Christmas tree for $9.95. They have taller higher priced fiber optic trees. Lowe’s and The Home Depot usually have larger fiber optic trees, also.
The plastic needles are attached to a strip that wraps around the light pipe. Pull off enough of the needles from each branch to find the strip. Use sprue cutters to carefully cut and unwrap until you have reached the area where the fibers exit the branch. If your have to use a hobby knife, make all cuts linear to the fibers. Carefully pull more needles off the tip being sure not to kink the fibers. You will find a heavy gauge wire protruding from the exposed tip. Using pliers, pull the wire straight out of the cluster while holding the attached end of the branch. The remainder of the needle strip, taped to the fibers, is removable by holding the bunch of fibers with one hand and pulling straight with your other hand.
If you break off an occasional fiber, do not worry, there will be lots left over. Kinks reduce or block the flow of light, so do not bend the fibers too sharply when you attach them to your project.
Mount the light source where it will have plenty of ventilation. Halogen bulbs produce a lot of heat and can catch near-by flammable materials on fire. It will also melt foam insulation, which produces some rather deadly gases. Please be careful, I would really hate to lose any forum members because of some unique animation.
Have any of you used fiber optics on your layout? If so, what did you light? I will show pictures of mine later, unless my original idea looks terrible. I am almost
The fibers are short. Varying from about 10 inches to 28 inches for the 32 inch high tree.
Your 6’ tree would probably have longer fibers. Even if we have to purchase a roll of fiber optic strand, for the price, I thought this was a good start. When you have to buy a replacement halogen bulb, well you know what I mean.
I have a supply of real glass fibers that vary in size and are a real pain to work with. Are the fibers a little more giving(Flexible) from these newer trees ? Can they flex a little better in tight spaces?
The Fibers in the trees are probably plastic, they’ll be a lot easier to use than real glass fiber. You can do all sorts of cool things with the plastic ones- strip off about a half inch of the covering (if there is any) heat it slightly with a batch and it will ball up. With a little practice you can make small streetlights with a short piece of brass tube and a brass shade, and light a bunch of them up with one bulb.
I removed a strand that protruded sideways to experiment with. The fiber did not kink until I bent it tighter than one quarter of an inch radius.
The fibers seem to be plastic. They do not break when I form a kink, which folds backwards.
The tips are processed to cause the light to exit perpendicular to the fiber shaft.
Sprue cutters or scissors easily remove the tip if you do not want that effect.
That effect is what inspired my idea for an animation feature which will be revealed later.
The only reason I am being secretive is for once, I want to be the first person to try one of my ideas. I’m a little slow about execution of a project.
I used a solder iron to make an HO size flood light shaped ball on the end after cutting off the processed tip. The results were impressive. I also tried sanding the ball but the side transmission of light did not seem to improve. The sides light up better when I melted one of the processed tips. Some experimentation will determine which length of processed area makes the best HO or N scale light bulb.
In a dimly lit room the melted tips project a beam of light similar to out-door floodlights at a distance of up to about 20 scale feet.