Desk Luminaire

I made a desk luminaire. I made it because it was the Industrial design 3rd year students school project. We were given a task to make a desk luminaire made up of 100% biodegradable materials.

3mm MDF wood

Self-raising flour

Sand

wooden spoon

Sawdust

Warm water

Natural glue

Measurement jug

Spoon

Sand paper

Eggshells

Laser machine

Baking soda

CAD software – Solidworks (any other software can be used, I used Solidworks)

Non-stick spray for food

Metal file

Cup

Bowl

After a long time of looking at some references, I began designing the desk luminaire. I started by designing the lampshade using a top plane and lines and three-point arc and adding dimensions into it. After that I used boss extrude and I extruded it 3mm. When I was done extruding, i saved the solidworks file and also saved the top plane as an DXF so it can be laser cut. For the base, I started by making a circle on top plane and I boss extruded it using 15mm. For the small 26mm circle in the middle I cut extrude it and it made a hole. Then I stated making the lampshade slots. I made a 3mm thick rectangle and made it tangent to the middle circle. Then from the inner circle I used trim entities to cut it 19.50mm away. After that I did 15 circular pattern of the lampshade slots with equal 360 degree spacing. And then I cut extrude it down by 9mm. I saved the solidworks file and set it to top plane and saved it as DXF file. 

For the lampshade laser cutting I gathered the 3mm MDF wood. Its height was 590mm and the length was 470mm. I placed it inside the laser machine. I don’t know how to use the machine, so I asked someone in charge of the laser machine and he cut the parts out for me. I then cut the lampshades between them to separate them. For cutting the base, the MDF wood height was 500mm and the length was 800mm, and I got it cut too. I then used the saw stop machine to separate the circles for making the mold.

To make lampshades mold, I started by using the saw stop machine to cut 3 parts with the height of 200mm and lengths of 500mm. I then glue the parts of the lampshade with the new parts I cut with the saw stop machine. For the base I glued the circles I separated after laser cutting. For the lampshades slots I glued the small 3mm thick rectangle parts together so they can form a 9mm height. Once the glue was dry, I used a metal file to scrub away the excess glue that was sticking out. I then started adjusting the circle I glued to make equal spacing for the lampshades slot. I applied glue underneath them and slid them inside the circle.

I started by gathering the ingredients for mixing. I gathered sand, sawdust, Self- raising flour, measuring jug, table spoon, cup, eggshells natural glue and baking soda. I started by pouring 8 tablespoon of saw dust in the measuring jug. I then pour 4 tablespoon of self-raising flour in the jug and a pinch of baking soda. I then crushed the shells of 6 eggshells into small particles inside the bowl using the wooden spoon. I then pour one tablespoon eggshells in the jug and started mixing. I then warm up the water using a kettle. I took the cup and pour warm water inside it, and then pour some natural glue inside and stir. When I was done stirring, I poured the water inside the measuring jug and mixed until it was a liquid form. I then took the non-stick spray and sprayed it inside the lampshades mold. When I was done, I stirred the mixtures again and pour inside the lampshades mold. I realized the mixture wasn’t enough, so I repeated the mixing process until all the lampshades molds were filled. And I put the in a place where the was shade to dry. 

For the base the process is the same as the last one. But for this one I used 26 tablespoon of saw dust, 18 spoons of self-raising flour, 9 spoons of sand, 1 spoon of baking soda, and 4 spoons of eggshells. I repeated the process of warming the water and adding glue. Once I was done with the stirring I pour the warm water inside. Of course the water wasn’t enough so I repeated adding warm water and some natural glue in the cup and stirred, then I poured the warm water in the jug and stirred until the mixture was in a liquid form. Then I sprayed the non-stick spray inside the base mold. Finally I poured the mixture inside. I shook it a bit so the mixture can spread. And also with this one I placed in a place where the is shade to dry.

It took almost 4 days for the lampshades to dry, and for the base it was 4 days, if I didn’t place the base mold to get the sunlight, it was going to take a whole week or more. Once everything was dry I brushed of the dusty stuff that didn’t bond with the rest. And I also sanded down some the edges with a sand paper.

Once I was done brushing, I took the metal file and started filing down a 6mm deep straight line under the base for the wires because my wire thickness were close to 6mm. the line was going from the end towards the inner small circle.

With the assembly process, I started by taking the two wires and slid them under the base where the wire socket 6mm deep straight hole was. When they were appearing at the middle circle I pulled them upwards where I screwed them with the light socket. After that I placed the bulb and inserted the light socket inside the hole and it was a tight fit. Then I slid the lampshades one by one inside at the base. I applied a little force when pushing them inside. And when I was done they were all standing upright nicely. And the desk luminaire was done, when it was night I just enjoyed looking the shadow lines it was making at the wall.