Postmodern Inspired Lamp

Recently I found myself setting up my new workstation and realized I did not have a lamp. While my room has ample lighting, at the end of the day I prefer to wind down and tinker under calmer light. Though I looked around for a lamp, I could never find a design that I liked that was available or in my price range. At some point, it became apparent that I couldn’t find anything I liked and would need to design it myself. Even though I grew up making, most of my projects start with a general idea of a finished design. This was different. Though I knew I wanted to design a lamp, I had no idea what I wanted it to look like. While I have briefly played around with AI previously, I have had little experience integrating it into my workflow and thought this would be the perfect time to experiment. For this project, I used Google’s imageFX image generator to generate ideas and help in the design process. While I do feel I will need more experience integrating AI into my workflow, I am happy with both my experience and the result.

• Ender 3 pro
• Pla or other filament
• Led lamp components ( or repurposed lamp components)
• USB cable and power supply  
• Fusion360
• Drill and drill bits
• Super glue

Optional:

• Anything suitable to remove supports

For most of my life, I have found I like unique designs with large uninterrupted pops of color. While I think I have an eye for design, I often find that my taste and my budget rarely are in sync. After looking both online and around town for a lamp I found myself feeling that I would have to settle for something I would be less than happy with. When I decided that I would instead design my own lamp I struggled with ideas. This is when I turned to AI to help. While I tried out a few different image generators, I found myself most pleased with Google’s imageFX. Not only did I think it provided designs better in line with what I was hoping for, but I also felt the user experience was easier as well. Though I played around with a handful of prompts, I found the phrase “1970s vintage postmodern style table lamp” generated some designs that I fancied. After a few iterations on this phrase, I eventually settled on a design that I would then use as the basis of my lamp. 

While I usually begin my designs with sketches on paper, this time I instead jumped directly into Fusion360. I began by creating a rough sketch of the generated image using estimated dimensions based on my 3d printer's available print volume. At some point, I realized what drew me to the design was its use of large round organic shapes. This led to some experimentation where I added my touch to the design. I did this by replacing the bottom portion of the generated design with a half sphere and adding extra dimension to the top as well. Once I had an idea of what I wanted the lamp to look like I began to refine the dimensions.

Though I enjoy making hobby electronics, I do my best to work on my designs in a manner that facilitates finishing a project more efficiently and faster. One of my personal design principles is if I can repurpose something for roughly the same price, or cheaper, I first attempt to incorporate it into my design. Similarly, if I can repurpose something to give it a second life I attempt to use it first before purchasing any new parts. For this project, I dug through my electronics part box and found the components to an old broken led desk lamp someone had given me. This was great because it meant that I already had most of the parts that I needed and could save myself both time and money.

After finding the electronic components I would use for the lamp I created objects roughly their dimensions. I used these objects to help locate their placement and designed slots for some of the electronics to mount into. During this time, I gave extra attention to the board housing the potentiometer to ensure I could access the shaft to install a new knob. Toward the end, I also designed a knob to control the brightness and a small plug to add a small artistic touch to where the power cable would run.

My original idea for this lamp was to use a glass dome instead of a printed piece to diffuse the light. I also originally wanted to finish the piece with a filer and apply paint to remove the layer lines. Somewhere along the line, I heard the suggestion that we should embrace layer lines as they are a part of additive manufacturing like marks left over from injection molding. This inspired me and I decided I would embrace the fact that this is 3d printed and eventually found myself proud of it.

For the body, I used an old spool of red pla from MakerGeeks. For the globe, I used Polymaker PloyTerra White. While the body was printed without issue I had to print the globe several times to get a desired part. I played around with the thickness and found that 3 walls for the globe gave the best print. At this thickness, ample light was still able to shine through while preventing gaps and zits from the z seam.

Since many of the parts had large overhangs supports were necessary for printing. I used tree support only contacting the build plate and found great success. I am always surprised by how well this almost stock Ender 3 pro can perform. Most of the parts were printed at .28 mm layer height with some of the larger parts using the adaptive layering setting to help combat the rougher layers at the top of the half spheres. For the globe, I used a .16 mm layer height. I found with the globe it was important to dry the filament well to achieve the best results. I also added a brim to the globe to help it remain in place while printing.

Hotend: 200 C

Bed: 60 C

Print speed: 50mm/s for most parts, 35 mm/s for the globe

Layer height: 0.28 mm for most parts, 0.16 mm for the globe

To assemble the lamp, I first drilled out any holes I may have covered to facilitate printing. A useful design tip is if you have a hole anywhere with an overhang it can be beneficial to fill the end with a 1 mm thick “plug” that you can drill out afterward. This helps generate better supports and can prevent your holes from being filled with difficult-to-remove support material. After clearing the holes, the head was attached to the base using a few screws I had from a previous project. In the head, I used another screw to set the mount for the led before running the wires to the base. I then used a little super glue to seat the plug into place before running the usb cable. Since I had to snip the connector off the usb cable, I used the opportunity to wrap the cable around an anchor that I designed into the print. This was designed to help remove stress from the electronics when the lamp is moved around. Lastly, I used the small screws from the previous lamps enclosure to mount the usb port and remaining electronics making sure to leave clearance for the dimmer knob. After everything was assembled I began wiring.

Wiring for the most part was straightforward. Since I had to cut wires when repurposed the electronics into the new housing the first step was reconnecting them. After this, I had to resolder the usb connector back onto the cable. Once all the soldering was complete I insulated the joints with electrical tape and shrink tubing where best applicable. With everything wired and insulated, I briefly plugged in the lamp and tested it to ensure it worked. After being pleased with my soldering, I finished up the project by installing the base plate using a few more screws and friction-fitting the globe into place.

With everything printed and assembled all that was left was making a place for it on my desk. Not only am I happy that I finally found a desk lamp, but it makes me smile every time I look at it knowing I made it.  Finally, at the end of my day, I can relax and tinker away peacefully.

If you are interested in making this lamp yourself I have listed a link to the files below. Since I repurposed electronic components I already had you will have to find your own compatible components or adapt the design yourself. On that note I would love to see someone remix this design to work with the Bambu Labs led lamp kit to make it more accessible to more people.

https://makerworld.com/en/models/478316