Hanging Foldable Lampshade!

On this page, you'll find the tutorial and process for creating a hanging structure made up of laser-cut pieces based in origami. Fold it up and take it with you anywhere as a flexible, decorative container to spice up a room!

Paper (or other material that can be folded without breaking)

Acrylic (or another hard solid material)

Thread (or another thin string/wire/pipe)

Any 3D Printer compatible with STL

Any Laser Cutter with adjustable power levels

For this project, I wanted to create a collapsible and portable structure, that can be easily moved from place to place without taking up too much space. As a college student who moved three times this past summer, I like the idea of a functional and aesthetic object, that can easily be set out or put away. I was playing with ideas of foldable and retractable objects, as seen above. I wanted the project to be decorative and fun to use, bringing something special without having to be settled into the room.

Inspired by the fun and versatility of Yael Akirav's conductive origami, I also wanted to incorporate origami folding. Each module is made up of a square creased diagonally and horizontally, then folded into a triangle shown above. This is commonly called a “waterbomb base” in origami, and is a staple in such folding techniques. I decided to create columns of these modules, and interlock them by alternating the corners, as seen in the image above. I assembled the prototype seen in the image above, and taped it together. The longer these structures are, the more flexible they are to make a different path.

This is a crucial step! In addition to analyzing your prototypes, creating a 2D model of the top view of your structure will help you to understand how and where to secure the pieces together.

Use a right isosceles triangle, where the base represents the length of the side of each model, to represent one column. You can also use a line from the top corner to the midpoint of the base to account for the folded portion.

My project assumes that the bases will be faced inward, with each base corner pointing toward the folded portion of another module. Keep that in mind as you go through the rest of this tutorial if you’d like to make a different shape.

Rather importantly, you should now adjust the triangle sizes and radius of the inside shape (how far away the triangles are from the point they will be rotated around).

Since my project uses 6 columns, each triangle is rotated 60 degrees to make a perfect hexagon with the bases of the triangles. You may use more or less columns to create a different polygon for the inside shape.

This is relatively up to you, given the limitations of the size of the object(s) that will be inside your structure and how snugly you’d like them to fit.

I went through various iterations to create the design of one module. Here are the relevant findings if you would like to create your own version.

If your pieces intersect each other, you’ll need to create slots on the folded portions.

- Theoretically, the best slot is an isosceles triangle surrounding the line segment on the folded portion which is inside the corners of the other pieces. The base of this triangle, without accounting for the thickness of the material will decide how high the module can be extended.

- My model does not actually use these slots. I tried circles, long rectangles, and following the corners, convinced that with the perfectly accurate slot, the pieces would interlock perfectly and hold without needing other adhesive. None of my models produced this result.

- With each design, I recommend creating 2 modules for each column to test out how well your pieces fit. I used up quite a lot of paper with my earliest designs.

With longer columns, having holes that go through every piece can later help you stabilize the structure.

- I would be using thread, but rope, pipes, or wiring can accomplish this as well. Keep the material in mind what you want to use when you size this hole.

- The closer the hole is to the center of the module, the more stable the structure will be.

Once assembled, the most visible space will be the square enclosing the crease between modules.

- This is the area you should use for creative or artistic design, and what you could cut out to make desired projections/shadows if you plan your material and shape to do so.

- When editing one module, this will be cut in half. Make sure the top and bottom will line up properly if you do an asymmetrical design.

You may reference my file to understand what the unfolded module looks like, and where designs should be positioned.

In general, also remember to leave enough buffer distance to remove the pieces that will be cut out without ripping.

I created an array of modules to take up the whole area of the material that I would be laser cutting. You’ll want to leave a little extra in order to assemble different cut pieces into one column, if you’d like one column to contain more modules than the number that will fit in a line on the material you’ll cut from.

When creating your array, do not duplicate the whole module if you’re placing them side by side, but exclude the one that will overlap, as laser cutters often follow the paths, not the image. This is important so as to not cut through folds, but also just to maintain consistency and speed. You can double check all overlaps by confirming how many curves are added when you select the whole module.

The laser cutter I used reads from Adobe Illustrator. Open your 2D array in the relevant program, and separate the folds from the cuts into different layers. The diagonal lines and those parallel to the width of the column should be folds, and the designs and column separators should be cuts.

Place your material in the laser cutter, then send the fold layer, on a lower power setting, followed by the cut layer, on a higher power setting. For the one I used, I used 6% power for folds and 22% power for cuts.

Assemble your columns by lining up as many modules as you’ll be using and adhering them together. Fold your columns (one direction for diagonals, another direction for horizontals) and assemble them.

Note: If you want to assemble some pieces where the cuts are not in the correct location, you can use a drill to cut the interlocking slots and stabilizing holes. I used this method to make use of previous prototypes where I had assembled the structure at a slightly different angle, requiring differently located slots.

Using my top view 2D model, I trimmed the inner lines and added the stabilizing holes, creating a silhouette to use as a base shape for other objects.

Make your base shape into a solid. Make sure it’s not hollow, because a few of my models were, causing a lot of problems when 3D printing. For me, I extruded the base shape, created a larger box with my specified height, and used Boolean Intersect on the 2 objects.

Using a PCB prebuilt by my professor to control a lightbulb, I did my best to measure the centers and diameters of the holes in the corners, but had trouble getting the dimensions right. I modeled cylinders and used Boolean Difference with larger cylinders with my specified height, thus creating screw holes. I also modeled triangular prisms to and positioned them to strengthen these cylinders so as not to break off.

With another one of the hexagonal prisms, I modeled a box and used the shell function, to create a cap that would cover the PCB.

Finally, I created a cylinder and used Boolean Difference to cut out where the relevant cords would run.

I 3D printed the PCB box. Make sure you use a color that is not as transparent as mine, if your PCB emits light like mine does.

You can see above how the PCB is meant to be positioned, but my measurements were off (a few times), and so I screwed what I could and hot glued the rest.

I added the triangular prism screw hole supports after creating the lid, so I needed to file down the corners so that the cap would fit.

After checking how the whole piece would be assembled, I cut down and resoldered the wires that would be attached to the PCB. This project also includes a piece of wire soldered to the PCB that would run down to the bottom of the structure to activate the bulb by touch. When soldering, check for stray pieces, keeping in mind that crossed wires will cause short-circuits.

I laser cut another acrylic using the top view silhouette, to create a solid bottom piece.

Next, I threaded the stabilizing holes. To hold the top piece up, I crossed all the thread to the other side before pulling it through the PCB box. With enough foresight, measurements, and avoidance of getting it all tangled, you could tie the same thread once at the bottom and again right above the bottom of the PCB box (the knots will limit how far your pieces can be extended), then pull the rest of the thread through the hole in the top to serve as the lamp hanger (I used a separate piece for the lamp hanger). This should secure everything except the lid of the PCB box. I used a bit of hot glue to secure the ends of the thread.

- If you also choose to use thread, be careful to keep it as tight as possible to avoid tangling, while still leaving enough room for the folded structure to expand. This will take longer than you think, I predict.

The power cord should go through the lid of the PCB box, and the lightbulb and touch wire should go through the bottom. Tie the touch wire into the thread at the bottom.

You may consider creating a frame of some sort to hold the shape from the inside. I originally was going to use a 3D printed case for the lightbulb and touch wire, but it ended up as unnecessary. This may help if you’re using a more dynamic shape for your column, and you need your light bulb to stay somewhere in particular, and hold the overall shape. If you choose to do this, remember to make the frame sturdy, and leave enough openings for the light to escape.

I considered using thread to tie around the creases between modules to hold the structure together, but when pulled too tight, the thread can start to cut through the paper. I did end up using hot glue to secure the intersections of the columns. If you do the same, use as little glue as possible, positioned on the crease between modules and the space above the slots. If the glue is not centered, it can restrict the ability of the structure to collapse and expand.

You could also consider adding straps to secure the structure in the collapsed position.

Make sure to leave time for cleaning up the laser cut pieces and strings of glue.

Then, you’ll have a new, fun collapsible lampshade!