8/7/2019 LittleLamp
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step 1What you needI saw a lampshade made out of the shape below
at a friend's house, so I traced the shape and mademy own. the lamp
i saw used thin plastic for the pieces. I believe the original
design for this lampwas done over 30 years ago by the firm Iqlight,
they sell pre-cut parts in case you do not want tomake the parts
yourself.
Below is the shape as an image, and i've also attached a DXF
file.
You will need sheets of paper or plastic that allow light to get
through. The stiffness of your materialdetermines how large your
pieces can be - stiffer material for larger pieces and larger
lamps, thinnermaterial for smaller pieces and smaller lamps. (see
next step)
You will need a lamp fixture - just a raw socket on a cord. I
found some nice ones at Ikea for $4, andsome fluorescent bulbs. Use
a compact fluorescent bulb so you can get more light without
meltingthe plastic.
I experimented with a number of different plastics and sizes for
the parts, here are my results:
- HDPE: works well, looks good, cheap and easy to get. I used
0.8mm thick stock for 8cm pieces(measured flat-side to flat-side).
That's about the smallest you'd want to go with that thickness,
youcould go up to 12 or 15cm with that thickness. this is the least
expensive plastic by far. One of thecommenters suggested using
plastic milk-bottles, which are made of HDPE, this is a good
idea!
- Acetal (delrin): this seems to be the best choice for looks,
it has the purest white color and bestlight dispersion (basically,
looks just like acrylic except it doesn't crack as easily). I used
0.35mmstock for 6cm and 8cm pieces, and 0.5mm stock for 8-12cm
pieces, and 0.65mm stock for 12-15cmpieces. It still is a little
brittle and harder to work with than HDPE, and more expensive. if
you cut thiswith scissors it will be somewhat tricky due to the
brittleness, but possible.
- Vinyl: I did not try it, probably want to use thicker pieces
since it is not very stiff. but you can usecolors!
- Paper: I did not try paper but it should be good for smaller
constructions.
- Laminated paper: this is a great idea suggested in the coments
section. try laminating color tissuepaper, then cut the pieces from
that. very unique and colorful!
- Acrylic: too brittle, it will crack when you try to assemble.
too bad!
- Nylon: has a yellow-ish look when lit up which makes it
undesirable.
- for a large construction use stiffer material for the same
size piece. ie, if you are making alampshade with 12 pieces use
thinner material than if you are making a shade with 100
pieces,assuming same size pieces.
Where to get it:
HDPE 1/32" sheet: sheet: http://www.usplastics.com item number
42584
Acetal sheet, 0.015" and 0.020":: http://www.mcmaster.com item
number 8738K52 and 8738K53
