Lighthouse - a Table Lamp

Lighthouse is a table lamp that highlights the beauty of paper.

It's easily customizable in height and style, and can also act as a floor lamp.

The lamp is simple to make if you have access to a 3D printer and a few basic materials and tools.

• Plastic
• 3D-printer with approximately 255 g (9 oz) of filament (I suggest using PLA-filament)
• Wood
• Wooden rod with a diameter of 24 mm (0.94 in) and length of at least 465 mm (18.31 in)
• Handsaw
• Bar Clamp (Optional)
• Sandpaper (Optional)
• Paper
• A sheet of paper with the dimensions of at least 165 mm x 420 mm (6.50 in x 16.54 in), an A3-paper works fine
• Scissors
• Lamp
• An E14 light socket with an outer diameter of approximately 28 mm (1.1 in)
• An E14 low energy light bulb
• Screws (Optional)
• 3x Screws: 3 x 12 mm (0.12 x 0.47 in)
• Screwdriver

Lighthouse is made of a combination of plastic, wood, paper, and a lamp socket.

Salvage and Re-use

For the legs of the lamp and the lampshade, you can use a broomstick and a piece of paper.

Maybe you can find an old lamp from which you can re-use the lamp socket?

The plastic pieces are unique though, so you will need access to a 3D printer for them.

End of Life

Nothing lasts forever, and neither does a table lamp, so whenever it reaches its end of life, it's easy to take apart to re-use or re-cycle the parts.

The legs for Lighthouse are made by cutting a rod into three cylinders.

• Find a rod with a diameter of 24 mm (0.94 in) and a length of at least 465 mm (18.31 in)
  
• Cut the rod into three parts: 3 x 155 mm (6.1 in)
  
• If you want you can use a clamp to hold the rod while sawing and finish the parts with a bit of sanding
  

Customization

If you want to adjust the height of the lamp, feel free to adjust the length of the legs. As long as you keep the legs the same length it will work fine.

The plastic parts of Lighthouse are designed to be 3D-printed without the need for a lot of support material.

3D-model files (CAD files) and customization
To build Lighthouse you need to 3D print two different parts - a top and a base.

If you want to print straight away, you just need to use the STL files, but if you want to customize the lamp you can import the STEP files to your CAD software of choice. You can find the files at the bottom of this step of the guide.

Filament and the Environment

For Lighthouse, you need approximately 255 g (9 oz) of filament.

To minimize the negative effect on the environment I suggest that you find a plastic filament that is plant-based, such as a PLA-filament, instead of a filament made from fossil oil, such as an ABS filament. In general, a PLA-filament is less robust than fossil-based filaments, but I find that you can compensate that with a higher infill rate (higher density) of your prints.

Part Orientation

The parts are designed to be printed laying flat on the print bed, with the leg holders pointing upwards for the base-part, and with the side without the slot upwards for the top-part

Print Settings
I used these settings on my Creality CR-10 Mini 3D printer:

Layer height: 0.24 mm

Infill density: 30%

Printing temperature: 210 °C

Build plate temperature: 60 °C

Print speed: 50 mm/s

Wall and support speed: 25 mm/s

Support: Everywhere

Build plate adhesion type: Raft

Raft extra margin: 8 mm

Print Time

This is the time it took for me:

Base: 17 hours and 41 minutes per part

Top: 7 hours and 12 minutes per part

Stay Safe

As always when it comes to 3D printing, make sure you have your printer in a well-ventilated area to protect yourself from any harmful fumes.

Cut the paper into the dimensions of 165 mm x 420 mm (6.50 in x 16.54 in).

Customization
If you want to adjust the height of the lampshade, feel free to adjust the dimension of 165 mm (6.50 in). As long as you keep the other dimension, 420 mm (16.54 in) the same, it will fit the base and top of the lamp

You could also choose a colored paper, or cut patterns in the paper if you want to personalize the lampshade.

Now you have all the parts - let's build the lamp!

• Push the legs into the leg holders on the bottom of the base part.
  
• With all the legs in place, rotate the legs to find a good combination so that the top of the base part of the lamp is more or less horizontal.
  
• Depending on the final dimensions of your 3D printed base part and your legs, you might want to add fastening screws to hold the legs in place.

• Push the light socket through the hole in the base part and screw it together.
  
• Screw the light bulb into the light socket and try it out.

IMPORTANT: Heat & Safety

You must use a light bulb that doesn't get hot, so it doesn't become a fire hazard.

In my case, I use a low-energy light bulb, and I made sure to test it in controlled circumstances before I added the paper lampshade.

• Bend the paper into a cylinder - be careful not to crease it
  
• Gently push it into the slot in the base-part
  
• Fasten the top part by pushing it onto the top of the paper cylinder

Good work - you're done!

If you enjoyed this project, you might also like other guides in the same series:

Note - a Laptop Stand

Crab - a Synth Shelf