Ever since I was a kid, I've had a love for neon signs. There would be nothing radder than a collection of them in my future "ultimate game room." A jukebox playing Tool 24/7, a fully stocked bar, a wall full of classic arcade machines, and neon signs lining the walls. Yeah... that would be bodacious!

There are a few problems with neon signs, though. They create a lot of heat, custom-made signs are really expensive, and their constant buzz would quickly drive me insane.

Making them myself is out of the question. I may have a lot of hobbies, but there has never been an interest in learning how to glass blow pipes, then filling them with strange gases. Best to leave that task to the professionals.

However, I'm superb with electronics, CAD, and I own a 3D printer! This was an easy design project as it's basically drawing an eaten pizza, giving it some height, and making a channel for LEDs.

The channel walls ended up being only 2mm thick in the final design.

The print took roughly 10 hours and was instantly ready to have a row of LEDs shoved into it. You may notice that there weren't any holes for power, and there's clearly no mounting solutions designed into the print. This wasn't from lack of forethought. It was simply because I didn't know what was needed yet. Once I found Mr. Pac a home, I soldered 12V to the strip, plugged in some dimming, drilled some holes into the frame, and shoved a screw into the wall. Now they're hanging pretty above my TV with their dimming controls out of the way.

An early design. The pegs didn't work out very well. 

There are red and green LEDs in my drawer, so Blinky and Inky will soon be joining to help Clyde from Pac's gluttony. Oh! I just thought of this while typing right now, but what about a cherry like this instead!? It'll be tricky to keep this room looking like an Applebee's, but might be cool if done right. Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the non-existent comment section below!