Here we are building a UV exposure unit for the cyanotype process. It is only about the LED pannel. In my case, I have build a furniture which have the box for UV exposure. It is about 25 cm high.
What we need :
- wood boards
- metal plate
- 30 UV LEDs : 1W each LED with emitting light in the 380nm
- power supply for the LEDs, we need two of them
- some electrical wires
- heat paste for CPU
- two components glue
Steps:
- Prepare a 50-60cm x 40cm wood board
- Add some 4 to 5 cleats about half a centimeter thick in order to attach the metal plate on top of the wooden board with a layer of air for heat dissipation
- attach the metal board. It should be a little bit smaller that the wooden board
- attach the two power supply on what will be the rear end
- draw a grid with 5 line and 6 columns space of 5cm between each lines and 6cm between each column
- put a drop of some CPU heat paste at each intersection
- circle it with glue
- glue the LED
This is what it look like when you’re done
- Now connect the LEDs : we are connecting them in series, we need to make two independent circuits
- Connect the 220V side of the power supply to a cable with a switch
- Make a quick test
- And finally attach the board in your UV box.
When exposing a cyanotype coated paper, we get a very nice blue after 3 minutes, and solid blue in 4 minutes.