project two : laser cutting

After reiterating the lamp form designed in my initial prototype, I created the laser cutting files needed for the lamp shade.

I then went down to the workshop to get these cut. I decided to do the laser cutting first as it was what I felt most comfortable doing. Although I had a bit of assistance, the laser cutting process was rather breezy.

Here are my actual cuts:

I then began to assemble the lamp to get a physical idea of the form and dimensions. This was a pretty easy process, slotting the planes into the circular bases.

While I was doing this, I got a bit inspired and started playing around with different heights and ways that I could change the shape of the lamp shade. In the end, I just stuck to my original design.

My initial idea was to thread a fibre through the branches of the shade in order to get some cool lighting effects.

However, it turned out that I hadn't quite thought this through properly when making the design because it was really difficult to thread the pieces when they were all in place. So I ended up ditching that idea - it'll be something I'll explore in the next project.

This was the lamp shade when it was all put together. I actually quite like the look of the holes in each piece, adding a bit of detail to the object.

weekly challenge : five

This is a laser cut leaf shape that I produced for this challenge. First I sketched a simple shape of a life, scanned that image and transferred it into Adobe Illustrator. I used live trace to get an outline of the sketch which I could then laser cut.

Here is the final cut:

I could have probably added a bit more detail to the leaf using etching - something I may look into for my lamp design.

project two : initial prototype

This is my initial prototype - just made by sing foam board and card.

The first issue I came across was that the base I am planning to use doesn't really accommodate the light bulb I have. I may need to look into altering the 3D print file I have so that it does work for the bulb I have, or to get a new bulb.

I'm not extremely happy with the design of the lamp, but I can still play around with the form and see how it goes from here.

project two : inspiration

I've been looking at different ways that lamp shades can influence how light is dispersed. These are some simple models that utilise laser cutting.

weekly challenge : four

For this challenge, we were asked to 3D print a model we had created in the last weekly challenge. Since I didn't do last weeks challenge, I just downloaded a file from the internet and attempted to print that.

I decided I might as well try print a piece that I will use in my object, which is a lamp. I am planning on 3D printing the base for it. I found the file download here where the base is used for a lighted vase holder.

Here is my first attempt:

So it didn't really go to plan... Half way through the print the filament stopped extruding from the printer and I'm not really sure why... It will be something I have to ask about in our next studio session.

However, I think finally getting something (although it's shit) printed is a step in the right direction for this project. I'm now a little bit more confident in using the printers and it's probably better that I find out that these weird things happen now as opposed to later!