5mm or M5/6 for Arches??

[mikentn]

Hey gang,

Next year I'm planning on adding 4 arches to my display, and am planning on using warm white LED's. I'm using 5mm LED's everywhere else in my display, but am wondering how well they would do on arches.

So, 5mm or M5/M6 ?? Opinions?? Has anyone done any arches in 5mm??

Thanks!

[dpitts]

I would think M5/M6 would be better than 5mm. The light from 5mm is very directional.

[mschell]

I would tend to agree - M5/6 is much better for arches than the 5mm. But I've used very little for the 5mm in anything.

[budude]

I used 5mm for my window surround wraps last year and they looked pretty good, but I suspect they could get lost a bit in a regular arch build. The M5/6 would have a better chance to poke out and be seen.

[CaptKirk]

I did arches with 5mm and with 4' spacing and a 3/4" pipe, all the LEDs ended up pointing the same way so I lined them all up and it looks good to me- very uniform and VERY bright (I need to take a quick video). If you are going to wrap something where the LED end up pointing all different directions, the M5/M6 would be better for light dispersion.

[OregonLights]

I've seen arches with both styles and think both look great, but I like the M5's better, they are viewable from any angle. It's true, the 5mm are very directional, but when viewed dead on they are very bright (much more than an M5). It's a trade-off.
I faced the same decision when making my mini trees this year and chose the M5's. Very happy with them.