3D-printed Rocket Lamp
----I'm a student at Independence High School----
This is a lamp designed after a rocket. The lamp is made with a 2-liter soda bottle and 3D-printed parts, and built with function and simplicity in mind. It can be used as a table lamp, but also in various other ways. The build is made to accommodate various configurations, not just the way I configured mine. You can also customize it to your heart's content. Finally, and most importantly, I made this because I felt inspired by the endless ways you could reuse plastic bottles instead of recycling them. If you want to make one, or a similar project, let's jump into the materials you'll need for this build.
Supplies
Although possible with many different materials, there are some things that you definitely need.
3D-Printer
A LOT of filament
2 liter soda bottle
Scissors
Wire Strippers
Light bulbs+mounts-anything that can fit inside the bottle.
Parts
Here are ALL the things I used, you can play around with the design if you want, if you want to build this in the first place.
1x Dr Pepper bottle
3D Printed Parts
1x T8 Bulb
1x T8 socket with 5 a switch (recommended) and wiring
1x Superglue
1x Activator
1x Wire Strippers
1x Scissors
Design
This design consists of three parts: the bottle, the base, and the cone.
If you wanted to make your own, you'll have to make a set of fins that properly match the curves of the bottle you're trying to make it around
TIP-find a 3d model online, export to fusion, and create a sketch around that instead of painstakingly measuring the curve.
About the cone, mine was exactly 4.25 inches, and took quite a bit of persuasion to fit into the bottle, more on that later.
the base piece, just make sure the top of the bottle can fit in.
PRINT IT!
In this step, just grab the stl files I've uploaded, slice it, and print the pieces out. on my printer, the fins took 2 hrs each, the nozzle 40m, the base 1 1/2 hours, and the cone took 5 hours.
ASSEMBLY
There is not much assembly in this build. Once this step is completed, cut the bottle as seen above:
Then, glue the bottle to the completed base.
After that, add your own light bulb and it's fixture*.
How? cut the fixture's wire, and you now should be able to put the fixture in. Then, put in the bulb
(sorry, I do not have photos of this process)
Then, connect the wires back together.
You can solder them or twist the wires together.
Finally, cover the wiring in electrical tape.
Superglue the base to the bottle**
DO NOT GLUE THE CONE TO THE BOTTLE
*will vary by by the type of lighting you choose
**shown in image
Downloads
FINISHING TOUCHES
After assembling the parts of the rocket, the bulb would be exposed at this point, and it is recommended to cover it up with a translucent material, like the cloth I used to wrap it with. aluminum foil can be put at the bottom of the cone to reflect light back down. Lastly, you can add different cosmetics, like stickers.
Applications
Once you're done assembling your project, go ahead and plug it in. Now, you've got yourself a slightly more stylish desk lamp. Alternatively, you can hang it up somewhere, to function as a normal lamp.