I am going to make one myself for like 30-50$$
Step 1: blow the logo up at Kinkos, make a stencil
Step 2: Paint it onto a sheet of acrylic or something with dayglo paint
step 3: UV keychains
Or you could just use bright ass LED keychains instead. You can get those things like, 3 for 2$.
Last time I checked, some plexiglass wasn't that expensive, and dayglo paint is dirt cheap.
Nothing wrong with stencils, I have been making them since I was a kid, and still do.
I think you are not quite grasping the concept of edge lit signs though. It is the engraved etching which catches the light when the edge is lit, and makes it appear as though the letters are lit. Simply stenciling a pattern to the back won't light a thing, though it may look cool in its own right. It must be etched for the design to be edge lit.
Keep in mind, it would be almost impossible to simply spray paint on a design without having the paint bleed through the edges of the stencil, looking like shit. Also, if you do try this ,,, [And you could likely do it on your PC without having to go to kinkos, especially the way they freak out over any copyrighted logos], make sure to flip the image horizontally, that way it will look right when you look at it from the front.
You'll need something with far more power than a keychain gadget to light these up, unless your design is keychain size [some guys actually do make them that small].
As far as pricing, I'm not saying this shit it worth its weight in gold. It is surprisingly expensive to anyone who has not priced it out.
As stated, 1/2 is not easily available, you might be able to special order it, but chain home improvement stores stock nothing thicker than 1/4 ,,, And that shit is fairly expensive itself.
Here is one of the first results that turned up in a google search of "1/2 plexiglass"
http://www.jmkdisplays.com/sheet.htmlI imagine their prices are competitive, else they wouldn't be in business.
1 square foot of 1/8 plexi is $3 - 1 square foot of 1/2 is $13 ... And thats not including the cutting charge, or shipping.
Here is another place
http://setshop.com/photo-backgrounds/plexiglas $375 for a 4x8 ft sheet of 1/2 plexi, I'm guessing shipping on something this size and weight would be well over $100, probably more like $200.
1 square foot - I couldn't even make 2 8x6's with a chunk that size, just 1. And keep in mind, when the final product is 8x6, the actual piece I use is more like 9x7. You have to allow yourself some slack on all sides when you make any cut, so the blank must be oversized.
With most wood, I can get away with 1/2 oversize on all sides, but thats cutting it very close. For these, I leave an extra inch or more on the height and on the width, to make sure I don't f*ck up. Positioning on CNC is itself somewhat of an artform, and takes a while to get good at.
I have botched quite a few pieces and wrecked quite a few expensive router bits trying to conserve material, cutting it too close and running over a hold down screw. Thats just another reason why any old Joe could not do this on the first day, or week even - And thats one reason why people pay other people to do stuff like this.
I have the equipment, material and expertise to crank out a professional looking product at a reasonable price - You don't.
