**The Great LED Light Showdown: Buy vs DIY**

In this article, we delve into the world of LED lights and compare two popular options: buying one pre-made and building one from scratch. Our team put both to the test, pitting their design, build quality, function, time required, and price against each other in a battle for supremacy.

**Design and Build Quality**

Both the buy and DIY options had their strengths when it came to design. The buy option boasted a sleek, smooth finish that seemed to gleam with an inner lightness. However, our designers noted that this came at the cost of uniqueness - after all, who wants to be like everyone else? On the other hand, our DIY team created a natural, wavy design that added a touch of whimsy to the table. In the end, we couldn't quite decide which one was better - both had their charms.

"I think it's a tie," said our lead designer. "I like, in some ways I like the natural waviness and in some ways I like this more." Our team member nodded in agreement. "Yes. Love them both. Okay next, the quality, as in the build quality... I think it's going to be the buy, like being glass makes it feel higher quality."

The buy option indeed felt more premium, its weighty base giving it a sturdy presence on the table. However, our DIY team pointed out that this also made it less versatile - who wants a light that can't be easily moved or rearranged? On the other hand, our build quality was top-notch, with every component carefully crafted to ensure a smooth, seamless finish.

**Function**

When it came to lighting up the room, both options shone bright. But while the buy option produced a warm, cozy glow, our DIY team found that theirs had a slightly harsher light. "It is harsher," said our lead designer. "I don't know."

However, we soon realized that this harshness was also part of its charm - after all, who wants a light that's too soft and comforting? On the other hand, the buy option lacked one crucial feature: it had no way to service or replace the bulb.

"I think that lowers the function," said our lead designer. "Function... yeah."

This made our DIY team proud - after all, they'd built a light that could be easily fixed and maintained. But we couldn't deny that the buy option was more convenient in this regard.

**Time Required**

Of course, no discussion of LED lights would be complete without talking about time. And what better way to compare our two options than by timing how long each took to build? Our DIY team came out on top in this department - with a total of five days spread over two weeks, they'd built their light and shipped it before the buy option had even left the factory.

"Sometimes we can build the DIY before this would get in," said our lead designer. "That's true."

But while our DIY team won the battle of time required, the buy option still took a day to design and test - a small price to pay for its sleek, premium finish.

**Price**

Finally, it was time to talk about the bottom line: how much would each light set us back? The buy option came in at a whopping $200, while our DIY team had managed to build their own for a mere $124.98.

"Yes, we're cheaper," said our lead designer with a grin. "Wow."

And yet, as we looked at the two lights side by side, we couldn't help but feel that our DIY option was worth every penny - or rather, 96 cents. After all, there's something special about building something from scratch.

**The Verdict**

In the end, it was a close call. Both options had their strengths and weaknesses, and each team had won in certain categories. But when it came down to it, we declared our DIY option the winner - if only by a hair.

"I'm pretty proud of us," said our lead designer. "Honestly."

And as for what's next? Only time will tell - but one thing's for sure: our little light showdown has sparked a newfound appreciation for the art of building something from scratch.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(deep breaths)Are we smelling ourselves?This is a weird start.This isn't gonna makeit into the video.Um.As makers, we often seesomething that we wanna buy,but then we stop ourselves.'Cause we thinkwe can make that.And today we're actuallygonna make the thing,an iridescent gem lamp.We're also gonna buy it.I mean, we alreadyhave bought itbecause at the end wewanna do like a comparison.It's actually gonna be alittle bit of a spreadsheet,but we wanna see like, wasit worth it in the end.(upbeat music)So the thing thatreally caught our eyeabout the gem lamp washow it was so iridescent.And it is made out of glass.Yeah.Now that's a littlebit intimidating,but you know, wedo have acrylic,but the unknown thingis can we laser cut it?Yeah.Because it's kindof a complex shape.Well the main thing is like,this is kind of mirrory.Will like, this reflectthe laser back upinto the projector anddestroy our laser cutter.That's what I wanna know.Oh, it's all mirrorsinside the laserand we're gonna bebouncing high powered beam.It's only partially reflectiveand the unknownsdon't end there.Oh no my friend, howare we gonna join it?The one thing I worryabout the gem lampis I've been looking at thepicture and wondering like,what is the joint? Is it solder?Is it glue? Is it epoxy?If it's epoxy, we got that.I'm still like a littleconcerned about this laser test.But I mean, I'mdown to go for it.I like how your reassurance is.Thank you.Well first, let's apply it.Okay, okay. Let'sapply this film.So we actuallyhave two differentiridescent films left over,left over from our woodand resin computer case.So we're gonna betrying both of these,one to see like,is one better at not meltingand catching fire when weput it in the laser cutter,but also is one likeprettier than the other.I don't know, theylook very similar.Yeah, the acrylic that you buyto go with our laser cutter,the Glowforge has thisprotective paper on it.So what if we can reapplythe protective paperover the coating?It might, it might.Maybe that will.It might do nothing.Maybe it'll ruin it more,but I feel like that'sanother test we can try.Yeah.Yeah.So let's prep oursheet with our films.You know what, if we're lucky,what if this is the hardestpart of the project?Just applying the film.It should be pretty easy.So how this film works.I remember it being difficult.(both laugh)Well, how this film is supposedto work is you apply soapy waterthat lets you like workout all the bubblesand everything like that.And then you let it dryand you end up with aperfect mirror finish.Yeah. But do you not rememberhow long this tookus the first time?Like we didn't even include itin the video 'cause it wasso long and painstaking.Oh no.How are we gonna differentiatebetween these two sheets?This one's longer.Yeah. But once we cut it,we're gonna needto like label them.We'll label them.Okay. Okay.With a sharpie. Whoop.God,those are the sharpblades, my sir.These sheets are supposedto have a protective film.You're supposed to separateit before applying it.I mean, you have a piece of tapethat you're trying to.Okay nice.Oh okay, oh yeah, okay.Can you get the soap andapply it to the thing?Do you remember how much?Like a decent amount, right?You can't overdo it.Oh geez. Yeah I do rememberhow finicky this was.Right?You grab the plasticthere. I'll grab this.And then as it getstowards the end.What? As it getstowards the end.What? We're towardsthe end. Do you want?Do I let go and do Ihold it closer to that?Oh, oh, it's curling bad.Wouldn't it make moresense to use my two handsand your two hands insteadof your mouth and two hands.Oh, spray this.It is rolling. It issticking onto your shirt.Hold on,I might spray you in the face.No, you need the middle.You only need the middle.Well, I thought you said,I thought I wassupposed to spray a lot.You didn't sayonly in the middle.Okay.Now we'll just apply itand there's no wrongway to apply it.Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.Did you see that?It looks cool.Did you see that?It went on so smooth.It does. It looks diff-Like it's different colorsfrom every direction.It's different colorsthat's what's so coolbecause like we're makingthis faceted gem like thing.Hopefully when weall put it together.Every facet.Will look like it'sa different color.Even though it'sthe same material.Yes.On all of that.I'm like alreadyseeing a preview of it.Like there's yellow,there's pinkish purple.There's a blue.Yeah, this one's a good sheet.This one's a good sheet.This is the good sheet.This is the good sheet. Andas you squeeze the water out,what's left overshould be the adhesiveand then it shouldstart sticking.Whoa, the juicy one.(music plays)So already guys,this is looking epic.It goes from likeorange to yellow,to pinks, to blues.And then back to thoseoranges and yellows.I think that the differencebetween the two differentfilms isn't much.Yeah. I'll be honest.I don't really see a difference,but maybe they'll performdifferently in the laser.Yeah.I don't know. Wealso have our sticky,protective paper covering them.So now we have four cuts todo and a fire extinguisher.We also have that.Okay.(music plays)EVAN: Seems fine.KATELYN: Wow.EVAN: Oh, hello?KATELYN: Okay.So the protectivecovering on the frontthat didn't seem todamage the film at all,did seem to protect itfor many scorch marks.EVAN: Oh yes.KATELYN: Oh wow.If nothing else,we know that we reuse someof those protective paper,but is it necessary?Can we just move forwardwithout the protectivepaper covering?KATELYN: Oh hey.EVAN: It's not exploding,now there are like littlepops of light though.KATELYN: Yeah. Thatis a little weird.I think it's kind of a good signthat when I go topeel this paper off,it doesn't peel theiridescent film off.Yes. That was one of my worries.Oh really? You didn't evenmake me worry about it.I said it like five secondsago when we peeled it off.So the protectivecovering on the front,that didn't seem todamage the film at all.I was listening toyou very carefully.Well actually this islike really durable.Hello.I feel like thelasering maybe like,melted it.Melted it melt on.Yeah.Like kind of sealedthe edges in.Wow. I really wasn'texpecting thisgood of a result so early.This is way more durablethan I thought, honestly,this is the first film.This is the second film.I like this filmmore. I believe.It's a little bit more clear.A little bit lessfoggy or something too.Yeah.It seems,so is the paper worth it?It's a little bit more hassle,but it did seem like alittle bit less flashy.(evil laughing)Let's just do it just in case.Okay.Now all we have to do is 3dmodel this very complex shape.3D model tour.Yeah. So I just startedwith a hexagon base.I did a extrudeoutwards at an angle.I did some cuts andthen there it is.I mean, it's a littlebit simplified,but like it getsthe gist around.And I also designed alittle base right here,so that there's openarea on the bottom sothat we can installLEDs and access it.I did a small scale experiment.I thought it was gonnabe small. It's big.Yeah. It's likealmost full size.Almost full size.And one thingthat we're really wondering howto do is how to attachall these pieces together.It's a very complicated shape.We have it temporarilyheld in placewith blue tape on the inside.But do we use glue?Do we use resin?We're gonna use resin.It's a, but like,because as always,resin isn't just aconstruction material.It's also decorative,look at this jointthat we did a test on.And then we realizedhow we should probablyshow you guys this,this was working so well.I think we're just gonna do thisand we'll show youthe rest of the test.Yeah.Look at this beautifulsyringe of shiny.Oh my gosh. So you just put alittle tack weld right there.Oh no, go, go, go, go.Okay. That, ain'tnot working okay.I'm also not filming itat all, but priorities.You're not filming it?No I'm filming it,but it was like over here.Okay. So I thinkthat's pretty cured.We'll do this corner right here.Look.So you also have togo fast pretty fast.Otherwise the UVresin might go throughand sink down to the other side.Yeah, our joints arenot perfectly sealed.The joints are not perfectlysealed so it don't just drip.All right, let'sget the last two.I'm gonna do it with my thumb.I think my thumbhas better control.It is.It is beefy. Thatis a thick thumb.Stout.It's stout.This is a verydelicate operation.I know.All right, go, go.(breathing heavily)And you had tohide the syringe ofglittery awesomenessafterwards 'cause.Yeah.You don't want that to cure.Yeah.Oh my gosh.This is working way betterthan I even imagined.I also worried thatthe glittery pigmentinside of here was gonnamess with the cure.Me too.You know what Imean? Like, whoa.It's okay.And doing this whole lamp,like this is gonnabe so nerveracking,but also beautiful and glorious.I know, it is tough though.'Cause it's like oneof the final steps.I know.That's always nerve-wrackingwhen the final stepis kind of, the,one of the most hardest.Yeah, most hardestnow I really hopethe tape can come offbecause if thetape can come off,it makes this stepway less stressful.Yeah.Oh yeah.Wooh.This is the way.This is the way.With this in mind.Yeah.I think we can move forwardwith the full scale,actual piece. That's like.With the fancy material.Yeah. That's like 10%bigger than this one.And has fancy material.Final round of laser cutting?Yeah. Let's do it.(music plays)You see, it is bigger. Thiswas a small scale test.Yep.Look at the inside though.Look on how cool that is.I know.While we were assembling it,we tried not tofreak out too much.I can't wait to peel off thislike blue protective layer.Yeah. Oh my gosh.But we're gonna go ahead.Before we do all of the seam,we're gonna do the same thing.We're gonna tack all the cornersand we're gonna mix up thecustom sparkly UV resinso let's do that now.All right. In an effortto block UV lights,I've modified the syringe.It's great.It feels like, you know,a metal tip 'cause metaldoesn't let UV light in.And then I just didlike thick black tape.There we go.Now we don't have to worryabout the syringe curing.Of course you also can't reallysee how much is in there.That's okay. As long assomething is going in there.But what if youhit an air pocket'cause you use it all upand then the air pocket goes.Then that'sunfortunate. You know,would it be easierto pour from the top?It's risky to mess with it.No, this is gonna be great.This is gonna be great.Yes.And then,oh.It dripped.No, no, no, no.Not on the resin floor.Right there.And then let's.Cure it.You cure it just in case.I lost the spot. I looked away.Sorry.The downside of resin floors.I think that's an upside.'Cause it all justblends together.All the resin that we add,it's gonna like become strongerand stronger over time.You know what I mean?We're just gonnahave like a moundover here by the work bench.Right? You ready?Yeah.(music plays)Now I think thateverything is strong enoughthat we can take awaythe reinforcing tapeon a few of these joints.Kind of like one ata time then we'll,UV weld that seam andit's gonna be great.Yeah. You wannado the first one?Yeah. I'll hold it like this.I kind of try to go confident.Oh god.I saw that shake.Don't laugh.No, don't make me laugh,Don't make me laugh.(music plays)I'm just so happy,that isn't working.I'm so relieved.I don't wanna berelieved too soon.Like what if the lights don'twork? What if other things,what if it looks ugly?This video issponsored by Rayconand they say that theirearbuds fit so wellthat they will won'tfall out no matter what.So to test this,we're gonna play alittle slow-mo gamethat my younger cousinslike to call shaky face.EVAN: Shake.Raycon's optimizedgel tips are so comfy.Whether you have Katelynsized ears or Evan sized ears.Oh no.They're staying in.Literally, the earbudsare the only thingstaying in place.My skin is moving more thanthe earbuds, my cheeks.And because of that, webasically live in these earbuds.Here it comes.Luckily they offereight hours of playtimeand a 32 hour battery life.Oho the jowls.I dunno whose is worst.The ultimate.But you know what?The Raycon stayed in.We mostly use oursto listen to podcast.When doing things likedesigning thumbnails or cooking.Raycons start at half the priceof other top audio brands,but sound just as good.And if you need one more reasonto feel good about Raycons,they have over 48,0005 star reviews.So click the linkin description boxor go tobuyraycon.com/EvanandKatelynto get 15% off yourRaycon purchase.You guys ready for aglue tour, a resin tour.We glued it together.Look at that, it feels so solid.We went ahead and addedsome glue to the inside too.Oh my gosh. Lookat the inside guys.Oh my gosh.We say this every time,but this is one of thecoolest things we've made.Oh my gosh.I know like there'sa couple cornerswhere the material kindof peeled up a little bitand I'm like, ohmy god, preview.So freaking cool. Like ah.Now the lighting is somethingthat we reallystruggled a lot withbecause if you just stick anormal light inside of here.You can just,you just see the light.You see the light.Even just this,still looks cool.I know.Like glowingfrom the seams and everything.It looks like silver.And with a light in there,it looks like golden,glowing veins.Like I love how they diffuseand pick up the light.Yeah.And even though,our resin lines are alittle bit imperfect,it just kinda addsto the look of it beinglike soldered togetherwhich is what youwould do with glass.Anyway, let's talkabout the lightsbecause there's been a lot oflaser cutting going on here.So much laser cuttingand a lot of gluing.So it all startedwith this really cool,COB LED, which is really neat.It's really hard to seethe individual lights.It looks more likea continuous line.We kind of laser cutthis spiral guidethat like holds theLED at regular spaces,so that we get a nicediffused pattern,but we need more layers.We need more diffusion.So we just likestarted stacking,like let's add this one.Here is the lid.Let's add this one forone layer diffusion.Let's add another one withsome nice diffusion material.We were reallyjust experimenting.Yeah but it looks nice.Yeah.You know looking fromthe side and like.And on the very top wehave the same materialthat this is made of.Yeah.The color shifty.That alone, this right hereis just a nice little chunk,right? I mean.It is. It's a very nice chunk.This little outer framewill be gold mirrorto hopefully helpreflect the light around.Isn't it insane that like,this is all laser cut.All laser cut.Like it's all laser cut piecesto make this crazy 3d thingand be able to like stack thingsand nest things andmake a crazy spiral.Like that's so cool.So cool.But I think with all ofthese things in place,we're ready forthe final assembly.And then we get tounbox the one we boughtand compare 'em. Ah.We're gonna peel the stickers.We're gonna glue layers.We're gonna tape somethingand it's gonna look awesome.It's gonna look awesome.Montage mode.Okay.Oh no, oh no,it's broken.Oh no.Oh no.Oh no.Did we already mess up?No. I can fix it.I just have seconds to fix it.Is that okay?My god,I didn't expect this montageto be so stressful already.Aahh.god.(music plays)Hello.(music plays)Ooh yeah. All right,but this is the real,this is the realmoment, you're ready?Yeah.BOTH: Yeah.That's so freakingcool. Oh my gosh.It's so much more likeneon than I expected.But like I love it.Wow. Oh, it's a really neon.And look at that.I love,I love the actuallight source too.Me too.And how it reflects andlike the infinitiness.It's kind of trippy.Look, look from down here.As one looks at lights. Yes.Yeah, I know.Right. And it looksgreat on camera too.Look at that.I know.My gosh.That's so freaking cool.I'm really proud of this.I'm like really proud of this.This is like,like, look at, look at, look at,look at it when it moves guys.I know know, it's really cool.And everythingthat we just made,we think it's the coolestthing we ever made.This is coolest one.But guys, this is a magical,magical creation.Like the facets are kind oftrippy in a really cool way.Very cool way.And the colors are so pretty.It's just such anice little nugget.It's a really nicenugget. Look at it.I mean the buy has a tallthing to stand up to.Shall we finally open it?Let's finally open it.It's been months,literal months.For a limited time, wehave charms available.These are gonna be availablefor the next three weeks.We'll have links below.You can put theseguys on your backpack,on your fanny pack,on a necklace.Oh, what about a cat?Put it on a cat um-On your cat?Nowe'll have links below if youwould like to get your own.Thanks.Oh my gosh.I'm so curious. Waseverything worth it?Do you hope it is better ordo you hope that it's worse?I don't really knowwhat I hope for.Ooh.Okay.Wait, is it bigger than ours?No, it's about the same.It might be up on foam.Okay, cool.They're about the same size.How's the weight, heavier?Significantly heavier,three, four times heavier.Whoa.Ooh, wow.Whoa. Wow.How did they do that?The edges, the edges.How did they do that?The edges.How did they do that?I dunno if youguys can see this.I thought there wouldbe like soldering.Yeah, what the heck?It's like grounded over glass.It's glass, right?Ooh.Honestly, like wedid pretty goodon getting similar shape.Pretty good.Similar color.They look like cousins,right?Yeah.They look like cousins.I, ours is sharper,which is one look,theirs is kind of wavierand more natural feeling.They must have someway of like sprayingand adhering insome industrial way.The iridescent.Once it was alreadyput together.Once it was alreadyput together.That's why it's perfectlysmooth over all the seams.Whoa.Well, that's cheating.Okay. So we'll turn ours on.Wow.Nice.Beautiful. We'll turn theirs on.Also nice.Also nice.You know.The camera's pickingup the flicker a little bitwhen it's dimmed,it's just the camera.Oh wow.It's not flickeringin real life. It'sjust like the.But that's wow.And wow.Wow and wow.And wow.Wow and wow.Honestly.Honestly.I really like both of them.Okay, let's, shouldwe do our final,our official official comparisonbuy vs DIY comparison.I just wanna absorbjust, just a moment.Okay. Let's absorb.Just a moment.(music plays)Okay. Let's start withour first category,which is the aesthetic,which one looks better.So I think for the outer shell,I do think that thebuy looks a bit better.The glass does look alittle bit more professionalwith the smooth corners.Also, you know, if youlook closely on ours,you can see a little bitwhere our UV resin seeped.You don't notice it fromfar away, but it is there.Yeah.But I like our light better.I like our light better.Our light looks better.Our light is better,also like.Theirs just like the single bar.Theirs is just a single bar,ours is a diffuse like grid.I mean from someangles. It's fine.But from other angles,you just see a bar of light.You just see the light.Yeah I mean,that was the whole reasonwhy we did this distributed.Yeah.Mesh.I might have to give this onejust a slight aesthetic win.Just 'cause likefrom some angles,the light still looks good.This win's where I'm gonnagive us a ton of credit here.Oh yeah.Ours looks amazing.Great. I love it.And some peoplemight like ours more.Ours does have a bitmore of a modern feel.Yeah, it's a sharp geometricthing that looks great.And it does have more of thatlike infinity stone vibe,like turn them both on again.Yeah, when you lookdeep into ours,everything is mirrorlike and reflecty.Honestly, it's reallyhard to choose.Like I I'm going back andforth. Like, is it a tie?I don't wanna let my biaschime in, but I thinkthat the aesthetics might bea little bit of a tie 'cause.I think it mightbe a bit of a tie.Because like I like,in some ways I likethe natural wavinessand in some waysI like this more.I think it's a tie.I think it's, I would havesuch a hard time choosing.They both honestlylook fabulous.Yes.I love them both.Okay next, the quality,as in the build quality,I think it's gonnahave to be the buy,like being glass makesit feel higher quality.So I'll give it that.I'll give it that.Next is function.How does it light stuff up?But also how bright is it?Well, that's kind of,that's what I mean.DIY first.Oh.Looks great in the dark.It's so cool.I'll do a little rotation.So that you guys can witnessits glory as it moves around.I love it.Oh my god. I love it.It's a brighter light.I but.Does that necessarily meansthat it wins the function?I think one downside of thisone is it has a good sideand bad side, whichmakes it less functional.There's a good sideand bad side yeah.Also there are someparts about our basebecause it is not fullyglued in place. Like.More serviceable.That's true.Which is like glued into thebase, metal base glass here.You cannot open it. Youcannot change the light bulb,you cannot service it.You can't service the light.I think that's part of function.I think so too. Yeah.And actually in a waythis is very harsh.It is harsher. I don't know.I might give it to ours honestlyfor the function.Function, yeah.This one doesn't lookgood from every angleand you can't service it.So I think thatlowers the function.I think that all the time we putinto the actual lightelement is really saving usin this buy versus DIY.It's saving us'cause the shell ofthis is much better.Okay. Are you ready for time?Yes.So we calculated outhow much time this one took,a full day of designing,a full day ofprototyping and testing,a full day for laser cuttingand gluing the shade partand two days fordesigning, laser cuttingand assembling the light base.So that's a total offive days of work.And honestly those fivedays were spread outover two weeks,but five days andthis shipped in three.Yeah.And the only workwas ordering itand taking out ofbox. So you know,with the buy versus DIYs,we always include time'cause we think it's interestingto share how long theseprojects can take.But there's a clear winner.Especially in this.Sometimes we can build theDIY before this would get in.That's true. That has happened.So, but this is justa complete L for us.The final is priceand I actually don't knowyou calculated the price.All right. So how much was this?That was pretty expensive.$200.$200.I think 199.All rightand the final price onours, drum roll please.124 and 98 cents.We're cheaper?We're cheaper.Wow. So we win it on price.Yeah. So most ofthat was in acrylic.Of course.That's pretty good.Disclaimer,disclaimer, you know,we have these toolsand materials.We have the laser cutter.Some people may not have it,but some people mightalso have access tolike a maker space or whatever.Okay. So it's fully tied.It's fully tied. You know what?That is fair to me.That's fair.That's fair.'Cause I do truly thinkthat we won in some categoriesand they won in some categoriesand I feel likethat's pretty fair.I'm pretty proudof us, honestly.Yeah. I'm really proudof us. Congratulations.Bye.Bye.Like, but my handsare doing this.I started doing hehehehe.You know, there's alwayssomething to try at.So we're gonna go.And put our problems.as kick that furtherdown the project path.Put our problems as kickthat down the project path.Just take ourproblems and go boop.For later, yeah.For later.BOTH: Hi there hey,what's gong on?I wish we could just.Take it out.I know it's against the rules.I have a knife.No, no, no, no.It's right here.That's against.We could just like.That's against.We could just kind of like.You won't do it.You can't stop me.I'm too tall.Anyways. Gotta do it anyway.So anyways, gotta do it anyway.What are words?I don't know.Hence the shirt,shopevanandkatelyn.com.Sorry. How to do it?\n"