[kwirky]

I built something using meanwell power supplies from mouser.ca and ordered cree COB leds from aliexpress. You can get heatsinks from mouser.ca in all sorts of shapes & sizes, too. Google for a heatsink calculator to find out how much heatsink you need with/without fans. Check the local listings for large aluminum scrap for a cheap source of heatsink material.

I learned how to drill & tap aluminum as I went & wished I bought multiples of the taps so that when I broke one I didn't have to wait to get another. Some of the LEDs I was just lazy & epoxied them to the aluminum with thermal epoxy. In hind sight I wished I used one of those high frequency dimmers earlier on, the ones which are put on the voltage output of the power supply. They pulse the power at a high frequency, maintaining a solid voltage out so you don't get colour shifts. I could then dial in a maximum voltage on the main power supply and use the dimmer unit to tweak output. It was far safer than worrying about my power supply outputting too much voltage for the leds because I turned the pot's knob just a little too far.