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.