JieXing Yee - Project 1 MakerCase Lamp

 Concept:

I like designs that are mostly symmetrical and geometric, so I decided to have my lamp be made that way. I also really like cats so I thought to put one into my project as well. I thought that having just the same picture on all four sides would be boring, so I put in a fox on two of the sides instead. 

Process:

Starting off, the basic box schematics were made on MakerCase.com, and then imported to Rhino 7 to be further customized. Then, because it’s a lamp, I decided to cut holes on all the surfaces for light to come through. I was also thinking that if the holes are too big, the light would be too glaring to the eyes, so I tried to keep them small. Then, I drew the pictures of the cat and the fox on a separate program, imported them into Rhino 7, and then traced them with the Control Point Curve tool. I then also used the Circle tool and Trim tool to create the sun and the moon. 

After that, I used the Extrude closed planar curve to make a 3D model of my lamp. I also turned the hatches into surfaces, and then extruded those to imitate raster and vector engravings. I then ported the model into KeyShot to apply materials and colors, and then to render.

On the physical side of things, I had a 2x2 plywood board laser cut at the Machine Shop. With all the pieces cut out, I spray painted everything black, then hand painted the cat, the fox, the sun, and the moon. Then I glued the pieces together using Loctite Professional glue. Lastly, I affixed the socket and the light bulb, and it’s finished.

Materials:

¼” 2x2 plywood board

Black spray paint

Blue, purple, yellow paint

Loctite Professional glue

6’ Candelabra cord set

40w Candelabra light bulb

Final Thoughts:

I didn’t realize how much more difficult it is to paint on raster engraved wood compared to a fully smooth surface until I was in the middle of doing it. I also overlooked the fact that the pictures on the faces would not show up in the dark. Overall, with it being my first time experiencing many things on this project, I am quite satisfied with it being a decorative piece for my shelf.