New Member, New Vendor - ArtFully Acrylic (Adam Bowers) Saying Hello to All!

[ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)]

Excellent!

 

I've been waiting for someone trustworthy in the club to do acrylic work for a long time.

 

I'll be in contact.

 

Looking forward to it!

 

Welcome to the club!!!

 

Thank you very much. Glad to be here. (I can't get over this silly emoticon...love him)

[hbh]

Hi! Welcome!

Just so I can be amazed, what does "custom LED edge lighting" mean or look like? I have LEDs and they are great! But edge lighting?

[L8 2 RISE]

Check out his website. Pics are there!

Edited May 2, 2012 by L8 2 RISE

[ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)]

Hi! Welcome!

Just so I can be amazed, what does "custom LED edge lighting" mean or look like? I have LEDs and they are great! But edge lighting?

 

Acrylic, when LED's are cast through the edge, has a very cool "glowing" effect. I have attached two recent pics from one I am setting up right now (so disregard the electrical tape as it's only temporary during fabrication). The included pics involve 4 strips of waterproof LED's, two of which are color changing for variable effects. The effect is self explanatory from the secondary picture with the test tank on top. The effect is even better when the tank has water in it unlike this one though . It can also be enhanced by having the acrylic laser etched with a design of choosing. Any designs, graphics, etc.. etched into the middle of a panel will "pick up" the lighting and receive their own secondary illumination (if you have ever seen an acrylic "EXIT" sign you will get the idea).

 

The setup in the pics is a personal one I am setting up for myself (selfishness is allowed every once in a while ). I will create a build thread on it sometime soon.

 

Have a great day all!

Edited May 2, 2012 by ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)

[hbh]

Wow! Now! Now I am drooling... I have seen sand blasting done for stained glass effects. It sounds similar in the end result. Very cool & awesome. Another reason to love acrylic!

[ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)]

Actually, sandblasting works just as well for the etching and provides basically the same effect as the laser etching does...whatever design is there picks up the lighting. What happens is it creates an "interruption" in the light passage so the light follows the path though majority continues on which is why all of the edges receive a heavier amount of light than the center of the panel as well.

[yauger]

dude that would be really cool to use as a 360 degree moonlight... betcha you wouldn't have coverage issues then! :clap:

[ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)]

dude that would be really cool to use as a 360 degree moonlight... betcha you wouldn't have coverage issues then! :clap:

 

Oh it most certainly would be cool for that. If you notice the last picture (tank illuminated in red)...that was shot in the garage, no flash, no lights, and was dark outside so you can also see how it even illuminates the wall behind it with a nice glow. Do that in blue....like an actinic gone wild . H-E-double hockey sticks, its a good thing I make these with a dimmable feature too

[ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)]

dude that would be really cool to use as a 360 degree moonlight... betcha you wouldn't have coverage issues then! :clap:

 

I have now setup this tank with livestock (freshwater on this one though sorry). Here are a couple pics with the lights running (you can see them bigger in my WAMAS gallery). The pic in red has lights running on all four sides. The pic in white only has LED's running on the two sides. And there are many many more color options on this setup including brightness adjustments for all

 

Edited May 10, 2012 by ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)

[ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)]

Hello again all!! I have already been introduced months ago on here and many of you already know me and my work quite well , but I figured this was an appropriate spot to drop a line and say THANK YOU to WAMAS and all of its members. You all and the glowing referrals you have sent my way have really grown this little business to something special that continues to grow everyday.

 

In fact, we have gotten so busy that we have been painstakingly looking for a suitable shop space in the area to move into. If you have been by my "shop" lately picking up an order you certainly understand why...the garage at my house certainly simply can't keep up with this volume anymore . With that said, if anyone knows of or happens across a location that may work please don't hesitate to let me know. I am quite particular about the space and its cost as even though we are growing quite rapidly its not quite big enough to knock out the "other" job just yet so I want to keep the costs reasonable so I don't have to pass on too much of that additional expense to all of you guys when you call upon our services.

 

What I am looking for is a warehouse/garage type/flex type space that is at least 500 square feet, but preferably 700-1000 square feet. I am trying to find something that won't require lease terms greater than 1year (as I may need even bigger in short order if these things keep up like this ). Most importantly I really don't want the cost of this location to exceed $1000/mo + utils.

 

If you know of, or have a place that fits this please let me know via PM or email. I would greatly appreciate it. As you know, I am currently located in Chantilly, but would consider areas such as Manassas, Fairfax, Annandale, Falls Church, Springfield, or Lorton...but I certainly want to remain in the NOVA area.

 

Thank you ALL again for your business, your friendships, and your accolades!!

[Jim]

Adam, I don't know if you've found anything, but you may consider a storage unit to use as a workshop. Many of the large storage facilities have units setup for power, lighting, and climate control. Probably worth a look.

[ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)]

Hi Jim, yeah I have looked at a few of those. Though they are attractive price wise they haven't had what I need in its entirety so far though. Generally, when setup for power the ones I have found may only be on a 15 or 20 amp circuit...which I have a tendency to blow consistently . The bigger issue though usually is no water supply...gotta be able to water test my tanks before customers pick them up you know . Never had a leak, but better safe than sorry so I always water test.

 

Thanks so much for the suggestion though. I encourage more great ideas from you and others =).

 

I have located a sweet spot which I am trying to secure, but I won't know for a few days if it will pan out so the search rages on in the interim.

[ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)]

Well, great news! Things have worked out with the new shop space location. I moved in on Saturday this past weekend. For those of you who have seen the "shop" I have been working out of up to this point you will know that small would be an understatement since it was my homes garage...and only a single car garage at that. 200 sf of space doesn't give much room for multiple builds at a time at all!

 

As business has increased over the many previous months the only way we see to keep up and reduce the length of our growing lead time was to get into a real shop space where we could then have multiple builds going on all at once and now that has become a reality.

 

Our shop is now located 10 miles further than previous just inside Manassas off 234 and Balls Ford Rd. We now have 1200 sf of space to work with though =)...that of which we are absolutely stoked about, but nervous at the same time of course. As many of you know, this started as a hobby for me and I don't think I originally would have dreamed of it growing as quickly as it is, but you all and many other aquarists and fish lovers have certainly had a substantial impact on that.

 

Thanks to WAMAS and everyone for their continued belief and support of our business. And a very special thanks to Chris. Chris just ordered from us last week and once he found out that we were moving the shop he graciously volunteered his time to assist with the move in exchange for help moving his tank once we finish building it. I see it as a very generous offer and will always be grateful to Chris for his assistance. It was tremendous.