Our blueprint
You will be able to download our blue print at this link:
http://www.sendspace.com/filegroup/hAVSKROF7r6o4Ad8lgppBA
The blueprint needs to be adjusted slightly still, when we use 2mm card the shape no longer fits properly. We also need to adjust the engraving lines. A new version will be drawn and uploaded ASAP.
Things we still need to think about
1. What will we do with the left over letters/shapes?
2. How do we make the lamp hang? With a hook? Will be have more than one lamp?
3. Will we have more than one lamp hanging?
4. Will our lamp also work in a room with existing lighting?
5. If we use fairy lights, what will we do with the existing wires?
Tutorial of how to re-create our lamp
- 1. Download the blue print from this blog
- 2. Adjust the design to your own needs and wishes. Add your own patterns or words.
- 3. Test the lasercutter to find the correct setting needed for 2mm cardboard. It will different for different lasercutters. We used power 100, Speed 3 and PPI/Hz 1000.
- 4. Cut out the net on the cardboard using the lasercutter
- 5. Save the letters - you can do something with those
- 6. Assemble the net (without glue) and fold all fold lines
- 7. Glue the net together - we found that wood glue worked well
- 8. When the net is dry, insert the fairylights carefully.
- 9. Find a dark place so that you can experiment with the light.
Documentation of work sum up
Motivation of why we hacked this design
Original Design:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5730
We decided to hack the Teardrop Pendant Light. We liked that the lamp produced shadows on the walls, which was the aspect which we chose to integrate into our design. We wanted the user to be able to directly interact with our lamp, and to be able to create their own design on it and put together the lamp themselves.
Our idea
The idea behind our lamp was that the user is given a template of the lamp shape, which they can then customise themselves with their own cut out design, so that they are able to communicate who they are.
We used a simple material like cardboard so that the user is able to assemble the lamp themselves.
What we learned & discovered
We tested different lamps and found that using fairy lights created a very abstract and less literal result, which we thought worked well.
The main thing that we learned was how to use a laser cutter, as none of us had ever used it before.
We also learned that you need to adapt the design to the thickness of the material you use, because otherwise the shape doesn’t assemble properly.
Experimenting with putting coloured acetate over the cut outs
