I needed an exposure unit to make expose my screens for decal printing. I did not have $1800 to buy one so I made my own. I used several ideas I had seen and put the different ideas together to make this one for less than $225.
Once the box is finished I did my marking for the light units. I made a mark at 6", 12" and 18" and made a hash mark 2" in from the end. This will put the light units in an ideal position in the box. See picture below. Before I put the sides on the box I laid the lights in the box and did my measuring and marks where they would go.
The first thing I did was get all of my stuff organized as to when I would need it. I started by getting the bottom of the box cut to 24x28 inches. I then cut the sides and end pieces from 1x8x4 pine. 2 were cut 28" and 2 were cut to 22 1/4 long. I used a nail gun to put them on. You can use nails or screws.
Next you want to mount your light units in the bottom of the box with wood screws. These units came from Lowes and cost about $18.00 each and come pre wired with ballast and wiring. I cut off the ends that came on them because I am going to wire them in sequence.
There are several ways to do some of the stuff I am going to do while building this box. You do what is best for you with the tools you have. I will try to keep it simple. I used what I had to make it as easy as possible for me. It just takes basic building and measuring skills. If I can do it anyone can. It was fun and as I was building I was smiling at how much money I was saving. I built one of these once before about 10 years ago but without the vacuum top on it. And in this version if you do not want to put a top on that is your choice. It will save you a few bucks.
Close up of the wiring. If you are not sure about wiring just Google basic wiring and it will give you a few pictures.
After screwing down the light units i am going to wire them up. I found an old drop cord and cut the plug-in end off of it. I then cut a few pieces off to make the connections from the light boxes. There are two wires coming out of the unit, one white and one black. I used wire nuts to put them together. I cut a piece of the drop cord to make a jumper. You want to hook the blacks together and the whites together and connect them to the drop cord. You can also put a plug on each of the lights and use a power strip to plug them in. But then you risk one light not starting up.
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