USB Desk Lamp - Dimmable - 3D Printed

Lamps for buy there are like sand by the sea. But a DIY lamp, with individual coloring, is always something special. I will not hide it, building this 3D printed lamp requires a bit of craftsmanship, especially soldering. You should also be able to handle a fretsaw (or electrical jigsaw), not to saw wood but sheet metal and polycarbonate "glass" ... I did both with a fretsaw.

In my opinion, the biggest difficulty in this project is definitely the soldering of the cut LED strips.

This lamp is very variable in its appearance due to the articulated design of the stand. In addition, light can also be adjusted individually. On the back is in addition to an On/Off switch a dimmer. With the 62 5V USB LEDs - I can say that the dimming works quite good. In order to generate sufficient brightness, a relatively large number of LEDs had to be accommodated, resulting in a rather large head (Ø 140mm).

Dimensions of the lamp: approx. H44 x L15 x W15cm

For this project you will need:

• 1x … Ø 135mm white polycarbonate glass, 3mm thick, 70% translucency (I chose this "glass" so that the light area is uniform and you can not see the LEDs. Who does not attach importance to it can instead take 100% translucent material, which of course also increases the light output).
• 1x … 180 x 120 x 0,5mm tinplate
• 1 x 2 Position Mini Toggle Switch
• 1 x LED lighting strip (2m)
• 1x … Ø M4 x 45mm from a threaded rod
• 1x … Ø M4 x 65mm from a threaded rod
• 1x … Ø M4 x 80mm from a threaded rod
• 2x … Ø M3 x 16mm + 2 matching nuts (to connect head, neck and light panel)
• 6x … wing nuts Ø 4mm18x
• 14 ... washers Ø 15 x Ø 4,5mm
• 6x … self-tapping screws Ø 2,2 x 9,5mm
• 4x … self-adhesive rubber pads Ø 8x1,6mm
• ... thin copper wire (for soldering)
• ... thin 2-wire cable (for the USB power connector)
• ... USB Type A plug with cable
• ... soldering iron
• ... solder
• … fret saw (jigsaw)
• ... textile tape
• ... glue
• ... screwdriver

Here you can get some of the necessary parts:

• LED strip: LED Beleuchtungsstreifen, USB TV Hintergrundbeleuchtung 6.56Ft/2m LED Band, Nicht wasserdicht SMD 3528 5V warmweiß https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07VWRJVCV/ref=cm\_sw\_e....
• IMPORTANT!: I do not advise the installation of another or higher wattage light source, because of too much heat development!
• Dimmer: ANGEEK PWM Motor Drehzahlsteller Modul Niederspannung DC 1,8V - 12V 2A https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07RM6LYC3/ref=cm\_sw\_e...
• USB charging adapter: AmazonBasics - USB-Ladeadapter mit 1 Anschluss (2,4 Ampere) - Weiß; 2 Stück von Amazon.de https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0773BH9MB/ref=cm\_sw\_em...

The files must be printed in the following number of copies:

• 1x USB_Lamp_body.stl
• 1x USB_Lamp_front.stl
• 1x USB_Lamp_neck.stl
• 1x USB_Lamp_dimmerknob.stl
• 1x USB_Lamp_back.stl
• 2x USB_Lamp_foot.stl
• 4x USB_Lamp_leg.stl
• 4x USB_Lamp_spacerwasher.stl

3D Printing Print Settings:

• Printer Brand: Prusa
• Printer: I3 MK3S
• Supports: No
• Resolution: 0.2
• Infill: 20
• Filament: PLA, Prusa Galaxy Black, ICE Romantic Red

After you have printed all parts start with ….

Remark: As all parts are designed to fit very precisely, it may happen that you have to rework one or the other part a bit with sandpaper and/or cutter due to different dimensional accuracy of the printers and the different behavior of the filaments.

Let's start with one of the more difficult parts, sawing out the sheet metal ... the tinplate cut.

Sawing can be done with a fretsaw - saw blade no. 5 (or with an electric jigsaw and a saw blade suitable for thin metals). To prevent the risk of injury, you should finish the sharp edges with a file!

When you have done that, you should first drill the 3 holes (2x Ø3mm and 1x Ø 5mm) in the area of the tongue as shown in the drawing. After that you have to bend the tongue - as in the photo - on a table edge at an angle of 90 °.

To avoid possible short circuits, I have taped the edge area of the sheet metal plate with textile tape.

Now cut the LED strips. The number of LED units and the number of strips are shown in the drawing.

This is probably the most difficult part.

First peel off the foil from the back of the cut LED strips and stick them to the panel - as shown in the photo.

Now the + and - poles of the previously cut LED ribbon have to be reconnected strip by strip.

For this you need a soldering iron with a very thin soldering point. The wires for connecting the poles should be cut individually and should not be longer than necessary. At the beginning - where the tongue is located - solder a red wire of about 15cm length to the positive pole and a black wire of the same length to the negative pole.

Now you should cut the polycarbonate glass (Ø135mm). You can do this with a fret saw or an electric jigsaw with a appropriate saw blade.

The cut polycarbonate glass must be pressed into the front ring from the front (!) at a slight angle. I fixed the glass at the outer edge with some small drops of all-purpose glue.

Now you have to screw the soldered light plate to the "USB_Lamp_body" and "USB_Lamp_neck". Here you need the two screws Ø M3 x 16mm + 2 matching nuts. Between light and body panel should be a few millimeters distance (about 3mm).

After that you can screw "USB_Lamp_front" to "USB_Lamp_body" with 3 self-tapping screws (Ø 2,2 x 2,9mm).

Now you can insert dimmer and switch to "USB_Lamp_back".

Some might wonder why an On/Off switch is added in addition to the dimmer, which includes its own Off switch. The combination of both has the advantage that the setting of the dimmer knob is preserved by a switch off by the On/Off switch and does not have to be searched for every time.

If a 100cm USB cable is sufficient for you, you can use the cable from the bought LED strip. This cable is 2-pole and has only one black and one red wire. Then unsolder it from the LED strip first

As I wanted to have a longer connection cable, I took the USB plug with a piece of cable from an old iPhone charging cable and soldered it together. This is a bit complicated because there are several wires and you have to identify the power wires first (last picture).

Feed the end of the 2 wire USB cable through "USB_Lamp_neck" into "USB_Lamp_body".

• Connect the red and black cable from the light plate - as shown on the photo - to the dimmer.
• From the USB cable, connect one cable to the far left of the dimmer.
• Solder the second cable to the middle solder tab of the switch.
• Then you need a short piece of cable (10cm) to connect the lower soldering tab of the switch to the still empty connector of the dimmer.

After you have finished the wiring, you can now screw the "USB_Lamp_back" to the "USB_Lamp_body" with 3 self-tapping screws (Ø 2,2 x 2,9mm).

Turn the dimmer knob mounting bolt all the way to the left and then put the knob - as shown on the picture - on the mounting bolt.

For the "foot" joint you have to saw off a 80mm long piece from the threaded rod (Ø M4), for the "knee" joint 65mm and for the "neck/head" joint 45mm.

Put a washer between each connection point. This way you achieve a smoother adjustment of the joints and the wing screws.

Finally, you can put some self-adhesive protectors under the "feet" (Ø 8x1,6mm).

Done! Have fun with this lamp!

If you have any questions about it, feel free to contact me!