Night Light

Have you ever bought a decoration that you thought was cool when you got it, but as your interest changed you wanted something different later on? Well, you don't have to worry about that with this 3D print! This LED night light is customizable which means that it can look like whatever you want.

I always thought it would be cool to have a lamp I could point to and say, "I made that." This 3D-printed night light allowed me to customize a lamp to fit my interest and demonstrate what I am learning in my engineering classes.

The lamp was designed using Tinker Cad. The arms are thanks to the wonderful design by Tinker Cad user Y.G.S. My concept of a cactus would not have been successful without their design.

I have thoroughly tested how long this lamp can be left on before it starts to get warm. I have successfully left this lamp on for more than a week straight without the bulb even starting to feel warm! LEDs are pretty cool.

Here are all the materials you will need

Electronics:

• Lamp holder plastic keyless candelabra base
• LED Bulb that fits the base (I used a 7 W bulb)
• Standard power cord (I cut off the outlet of an extension cord)

Other Materials:

• Hot Glue
• Colored Filament
• (Optional) Soldering Materials

Tools:

• 3D Printer
• Hot Glue Gun
• Wire Strippers
• (Optional) Sandpaper
• (Optional) Soldering Iron

The lamp comes in four main parts.

1. Base Plate (Quantity: 1)
2. Locking pins (Quantity: 4)
3. Lamp body (includes locking plate) (Quantity: 1)
4. Lamp Top (Quantity: 1)

I have included the .stl files for the standard cactus print below. Make sure to print four of the locking pins. It's okay if the locking pins come out a little ugly! The locking plate is designed to tolerate misshapen locking pins.

I used supports when I printed the lamp body and lamp top. I set my supporting settings so that the supports touched the build plate. The cactus arms are hollow and you don't need any support on the inside. Sanding is optional after printing, you definitely may want to clean up the intricate design on the top.

Put a drop of hot glue into the four holes of the base piece and then insert the locking pins into the holes. I did one hole at a time so the hot glue wouldn't dry before the pins could be inserted. Make sure you don't use too much hot glue that it spills all over when you insert the locking pins. The pins should touch the bottom of the hole and should be as straight as possible.

After the glue dried, I cut off the excess hot glue with a pocket knife. Make sure the hot glue is not piled up underneath the top of the pin. If it is not clear the locking plate won't be able to fully lock don't the locking pins.

1. I cut off the outlet part of an extension cord to get the power cord for the lamp.
2. Using wire strippers, strip the wire end of the power cord to reveal the copper wire.
3. Connect the power cord to the candelabra 
4. Since this is an LED we have to make sure the positive wire is connected to the silver screw on the candelabra LED base.
5. If you want to sauder the wires to their perspective components feel free at this point. I used the provided screws so that I can always go back and customize the lamp circuit (maybe add a switch) later if I want.
6. Orient the candelabra LED base so that the wire comfortably fits in the rectangular groove.

I put just a few drops of hot glue on the top of the candelabra LED base so that the bulb does not get out of place. Make sure to put the glue on the edge of the candelabra LED base so you can remove it later if you want to change the base or then circuit later on.

Making sure the wire is in its proper position, align the bottom holes of the cactus body with the top of the lock pins. Gently rotate the body of the cactus clockwise until the pins move into their proper grooves (see the above pictures). All that is left is to insert the top. You can rotate the top so that the design is oriented the way you want.

As stated earlier one of the main points of the lamp is that individuals can modify any component of the lamp.

Important notes to consider before modifying.

Top: If you want to modify the top note that I included a 1 mm lip that keeps the top from falling into the lamp body.

Lamp Body: The walls of the cactus are 1.5mm thick. I found that this is the perfect thickness that allows light to pass through standard PLA filament. The pattern of the print blocks just enough light to make the lamp mesmerizing to look at. Below is the .stl file of my locking plate. As long as you include this in your design and space for the power cord your design will work with the base plate.

Locking Plate: The base plate is nothing incredibly fancy. My only suggestion is to make sure your locking plate design matches your pin size (which in turn matches the hole design in the Base Plate.

Base Plate: Make sure to have a place for your wiring. and that it matches the locking plate design.

Wiring/ Bulb: I used a small LED for the night light but a larger LED would work just as well. Just make sure your light does not make too much heat so the filament does not melt.