Neopixel String Blade

One of the projects on my to do list is to create my own Neopixel/intelliblade string blade using 5mm (WS2811) round hat LEDs.
From my research it seems like they are prone to failure (in the naigon tutorial he instructs to make it in sections of 8 leds and test each section).

For anyone with experience, I wanted to ask if the supplier will make a difference. You can get them in packs of 5 leds for $3-$5 or you can get them from china for 100 for $20.
Is it worth the extra $$ not sourcing from china?

Also, they come in two varieties..clear and diffused. Any opinions on which are better to use?
Looking forward to the discussion

making your own neopixel string blade? God bless you on that journey. I haven't heard which are the best to use, but I know Scott and others got their's initially from Adafruit. He does have a good tutorial about how to make the left and right sets to put them together. SpaceWindu on YouTube has a bunch of stuff about strip blades too. Enjoy that project, it'll be a chore for sure. I don't have the patience for that.

Tom

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Originally Posted by Tom Tilmon

making your own neopixel string blade? God bless you on that journey.
Tom

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I find things like this very therapeutic (aside from troubleshooting for bad leds). I'm planning neopixel strip blade first, but it is something I have to try. When I was in art school I helped on an installation where I had to solder up 500+ leds (blue, which were brand new at the time), that was a test of my patience.

Blue flash is still unavoidable with the round hat LED blades, No?