Ceiling Branch Lamp From PVC Pipe & 3D Prints

This project is part of my Master's thesis and design research about open-design and distributed design.

I want to get a better understanding and connection to the maker community. Therefore I'm looking forward to see how this project will be received. My hope is that someone, somewhere would like to re-create this and hopefully even customize and re-iterate the design.

Important

If you do decide to make one, please let me know! It would be worth a lot to me to have some documentation that someone else have tried it out. Thanks :)

______________________________________________________________________________

This is how the end result got for me. I spray painted the entire thing white in the end. Unintentionally the small LEDs I bought were very blue compared to the other lights. Not entirely intended but I like the effect. Feels more like a snowflake / winter-lamp now (if there's such a thing)

I haven't counted the total cost for this lamp but I'd say you could finish it for around 50€ maybe 70€ max.

Not bad for a unique ceiling lamp if you're willing to put in the work ;)

• PVC Pipes 20mm OD / 17mm ID (should be pretty standard) I used 6m for mine ( 4.50€ )
• Cables - I used 0.75mm² wiring for all the big LEDs since some of them shared wires (Probably overkill) and AWG24-26 for the smaller LEDs

• 3D Printer
• PLA Filament - Around 400g for everything except the joint parts. Depends on how many you want. I printed everything in eSUN PLA+ Black and Cool White (although I could have skipped the black since I eventually settled for painting it white :)
• Transparent PETG - very much optional - See step 9 and 10

• 12V LED Transformer - I got this one at 24w 2.0A which is enough for the 20 lights + all the small diodes ( 9€ ) It's from Biltema which is a nordic store but you can definitely get the same one somewhere else. probably Amazon, eBay or AliExpress... Its Measurements are 125x40x25mm ) Let me know if you wanna make this but can't find a suitable transformer and I will customize the base piece so it can hold it. As long as it's a common one that other's may source easily as well

Regarding the Transformer: On cheap chinese ones you can't always trust the rating of the PSU.

So it might be worth not running them at 100%

You need to decide on how many lights you want before buying transformer.

Since I got 1.2w LEDs I could use 20 of them on my 24w transformer (at 100% )

Keeping at ~80% or so would be preferable with a cheap power supply )

• G4 LEDs - I got Dicuno 1.2watts from Amazon) As many as you need
• 5mm LED diodes - For the small endplugs (Optional) I got these from Amazon They were expensive and twice as many as I needed but they were prewired with resistors so it saved me some time. You could get it a lot cheaper if you buy them in the amount you need and solder a correct resistor yourself.

• Soldering iron
• Multimeter (Not strictly necessary but very much recommended)
• Wago Connectors ( I used 3way) Or another means of connecting cables together
• Wire stripper
• Deburring tool for the 3d prints (and the very end of the PVC pipes) is optional but useful

• M3 Heatset inserts - (4mm long) 6-8x
• M3 screws in different lengths 8-12-16mm
• CA-Glue (Superglue, get a good brand)
• Optional 2mm self-threading screws (No more than 4-5mm in length so you won't damage the wires inside) If you want to screw the parts together rather than gluing it.= lots of extra work and you'll need lots of them but if you prefer to, the possibility is there

There are 6 different joint parts that you can combine as you wish.

All of them need support (from buildplate only) See the screenshots from Cura on how I did it and oriented them.

I used 58° support overhang angle and 30% interface zigzag layer and everything came off beautifully and without any work. But this might not be the best settings for your printer (profile)

I Included a 3d printed jig for handsawing that I made but never used since I got around to using a tablesaw instead. Try to find a way to cut them as straight as possible. The ends on the new PVC pipe can be a bit distorted so the Inner diameter is a bit smaller the first mm or so. So you don't decide that the parts doesn't fit before cutting or using the deburring tool if you've got one.

I cut mine at

• 25mm
• 50mm
• 75mm
• 100mm
• 120mm
• 150mm

But you can find your own lengths and experiment as you wish!

If you decide to print and use the jig, you need a threaded insert here as well as a M3 screw in order to use the endstop so you get the same measurements

Try to find something that looks interesting too you. The middle part that we'll 3d print next has 3 outputs so plan for 3 "branches"

You can hold the parts in position with tape if needed. Don't glue or screw them together before putting all the wiring in!

If you decide that you want to screw the parts together instead of gluing I've attached a drill guide for the PVC pipes

My ceiling has this kind of plug with a hook. So I made a solution to tighten it against it.

Print the parts

For the base I used these settings

0.2 Layer height

Conical Support (from bed only)

Support X/Y Distance 0.7mm

Support Roof Interface 30%

5-6 Top/Bottoms

4 walls

30% cubic subdiv infill

Use a soldering iron on low heat to slowly melt the inserts into the holes.

Note that the screws in the tightener should be oriented so that it tightens when you UNscrew them ( in this case lefty is tighty) :) Here you have to experiment what length works for you, I settled for 12mm but it might not work for you, it depends on how your hook+ connector in the ceiling looks.

Also you couild try printing both the wide and thin tightener to see which fits yours best.

Try hooking this up to your ceiling to see if it'll work for you. Otherwise you might have to find another solution to mount it, modify the parts slightly if needed or even drill and screw into the ceiling

You do you, but I trimmed of the insulation on the wires at the joints, soldered on new wires for the other branches and isolated it with tape (or hotglue if you prefer). I found this to be a fairly quick process for me.

This step takes a lot of time so be patient and careful to not mix polarity. After wiring everything up it's good to double check every connection with a multimeter. Connect all the + wires together in the beginning and same with the - ones. Then check for continuity to all ends with the multimeter.

When everything is wired and checked for continutiy, it's time to glue everything together (or screw if you have the patience for that kind of thing)

For the Globes I used 0°C bed temp to get better overhangs in the beginning. I also lowered the hotend temp to the lower range for the filament.

Both the Globes and Endplugs need support and I used brims as well (16lines)

I printed these with adaptive layer height between 0.12-0.2mm to get better overhangs (Set to 0.16 in cura with 0.04 steps)

The Endplugs you can use the bed heater at 60° as usual

The G4s go through their sockets, bend the wires so it stays in place, tin them and solder to the wires. Isolate and press the entire socket into the end of the PVC pipe.

Don't mount the globes yet if you plan to paint everything

The small diodes gets glued into their sockets, then inserted into their "bulbs" / endplugs. Add a small drop of glue here too if you want. Cut the wire to appropriate lengths and solder, isolate and press them into the tubes.

Connect Line and neutral to the 12V transformer and +/- to their appropriate places on each branch

Wago connectors are your friend here!

I was planning to have a lightsource in here as well but it wasn't really needed cause 20 of those LEDs got very bright . Also it's a bit tight in here so it was hard to get an even lighting of the lid.

I tried a 220V 20w flat COB led but it would be a bright spot in the middle and not the even illumined lid I was hoping for. The distance between lid and lightsource would have to be a lot longer. I also tried a 220v LED strip but couldn't get it to look good.

The solution for the middle would have to be 220V since the 12V transformer is maxed out. But as I said it wasn't really needed. This lamp is perfectly bright as it is with its 20 x 1.2w G4 LEDs

Otherwise I would've tried this from Amazon since it's very flat etc, but it's only sold with its own 12V transformer unfortunately. So it would become more expensive than necessary and I would've had to use a larger transformer or less G4 lights

When still planning to have a lightsource in the middle I experimented with a thin lid and a diffuser in transparent PETG so that's what's sitting there up in mine now. I like how it looks so I kept it that way.

But there's also a thicker (1.6mm), less transparent lid as well if you want it a uniform color.

With the thin lid only, you might be able to see the cables and stuff behind

The diffuser is printed with just infill and no top/bottoms I used cubic at 30%

If you don't like the PVC pipe look then spraypaint is your friend.

I recommend Montana Gold, just be sure to mask your lights with tape before.This is why you should wait with assembling the globes until after painting.

You could also wrap the tubes in vinyl wrap and go crazy with some patterned one

It's a good idea to mask the tube at the beginning of the branch, cause the paint may make it a lot harder to press it in the centerpiece later on. The tubes go in 30mm until they can't go in further. So masking 28mm of the end would be a good idea.

As always, spray in multiple thin even coats and give the solvent time to evaporate in between.

If your branches hang down from the ceiling and it bothers you enough you can print these clips that wrap around the tube and then you'll have to screw them to the ceiling. Use at least one per branch probably.

I don't mind the arms hanging cause it casts interesting shadows

It's very important to me since this is part of my MA Thesis in Design and I need the feedback.

Especially on the topic of sharing designs for free.

I love the idea of sharing my designs like this but please remember that you're not allowed in any way to commercialize my designs.

Thanks for taking part of my project. I Hope you'll make one of your own!