Introduction: 3D Printed Pet Lights
Nothing beats a greeting from a friendly face! Pulling up to an unlit garage and suddenly being welcomed by a pair of cat faces that appear in the dark is so much better than the generic home lights sold in the big box store. It gives a home a bit of local personality and makes your pet part of the decor. These outdoor lights and a corresponding lamp are easily generated by your 3D printer. The art of 3D printing pictures has been commonly done for a long time and there are several sites that provide easy conversion of photos into lithophanes. These are white plastic 3D prints whose slight varying thickness makes a very agreeable photographic likeness when lit from behind. Before 3D printing it was carried out by having changes in thickness in more modest materials like porcelain. They were popular in the 1800's and made by carving wax and then doing a porcelain impression. Currently you can take just about any photo and produce one of these conversions. Recently, I have been adapting these to some fun designs to display your pets face either as an outdoor light fixture or an indoor lamp. The process of converting one of your pets photographs into a relatable likeness is easily done with a few clicks and the 3D printing is done accurately with even a modest 3D printer. I have described two different housings to display these with (1) has a formal aluminum backing with light for outdoor light replacement and the other (2) a fully 3D printed housing for more indoor use but could probably be wall mounted even outside with some accommodations. They cost nearly nothing to produce.
Supplies
You will need a 3D printer for any of this. I used to use an Ender which did fine but I recently upgraded to a Bambu Labs P1P and really like it for the effortless high quality prints it produces. Can't say anything bad about it.
- Bambu labs Matte White PLA plastic--$20
- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078YKGWWF?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 Sockets with included cord and switch ---$10
- 10 x 10 inch aluminum sheet 1/4 inch for outdoor mounting
- Ceramic Socket $4
- Dog and/or Cat Photo (you can also use a kid....)
Step 1: Make the Lithophane
There are several websites that make the conversion of your photo from JPEG to stl file very easy to do. I use: https://itslitho.com/ for all of these studies. Take a photo that you are happy with: best to use a high contrast one that is close-up on the face for best results. I take them with my iPhone and use the technique for isolating the object of interest by pressing on the frame and it automatically separates it and enables you to save it separately into photos. Go to the itslitho web site and upload it--you don't have to join. After upload is complete go to the model window and under shape options go to circle. Make the diameter 200 mm...leave the other shape options alone. Under Frame options select Frame, thickness 5 mm and Depth 10 mm and leave angle at 45 degrees. Maximize the mm per pixel option but don't go over the 300 mb limit. Model options were left alone. Image options is where most of the fiddling comes in--trying to center your model and adjust its position in the frame space. At this point you push download and transfer the resulting file to your slicing software. I would have provided the files I used but they are too large for Instructables.
Step 2: Printing Your Lithophane
The important stuff comes in the slicing software. You have to use a white PLA with a matte finish for these things to look good. They sell specific filament for these prints but I haven't used them. They have to be printed in an Upright position for them to print well and adhesion at the base can be a problem for some printers. Don't reduce the number of triangles even if prompted to. The base should be surrounded by a good size Brim...I randomly run a 40mm one just to give good adhesion, I also supply support from the base for up to 30 degrees to provide even more bonding--this goes to the frame only. On the Bambu the speed has to be reduced to about 45mm/sec vs the usual 200 which prints but provides very muddy looking prints that do not work. I use the baseline remainder standard settings for PLA. The infill is set at 99%. It has to be solid.
Step 3: 3D Print Outdoor Lamp Components
The outdoor fixture consists of an aluminum sheet that has 3D printed components attached to it. All files for the holder of the ceramic socket as well as the support elements for the Lithophane disc are included.
Step 4: Print Indoor Lamp Components
All components for the indoor light are printed in Matte PLA of various colors. No support is needed for any of the features and they all print at normal speed.
Step 5: Outdoor Light Build
The base of the outdoor light is made with a 10 x 10 sheet of aluminum plate 1/4 inch that can be easily obtained from any metal shop...it costs about $30. You can also use the back plate from the indoor light box which has been designed to be compatible with outdoor fixture box for screw mounting if you desire but may be better printed in ABS for temp stability. In my design the Lithophane disc was directly superglued to the Body4 support at the 180 degree position at the rim of the disc. The disc as well as the socket assembly were then attached to the aluminum back plate with 4mm screws that were taped into the back plate after measuring their position. The reason for the removable screws was to accommodate possible removal/mounting of the fixture. The ceramic socket was held into position with the 10 mm screw mount normally used in lamps. The 3D printed parts surround the wires and socket and generally make it water resistant. The hole where the wires exit the lamp holder at the top can be sealed with a dab of silicone sealant. For surface treatment I sandblasted the aluminum plate and coated it with matte poly spray sealant.
Step 6: Building Indoor Light
The indoor light back plate has been designed with holes that can accommodate mounting to a wall fixture or stand alone on the table mount. All are printed in PLA without support and in Bambu Matte finish. The design of the lamp is done to enable the switching of the Lithophane discs when one animal falls out of favor and has to be replaced with another. All components are superglued together the first ones being the rim supports onto Body4. These are then placed to on the disc at below the 180 position to allow the disc to be removed and their positions on the back plate carefully marked and the two support features superglued in place. The lamp holder is then glued into its central spot superiorly. The lamp holder is designed to hold to 4mm heat in screw mounts. I used the 6mm depth ones and placed these with a soldering iron. Two 4 mm screws than hold the socket in the correct position. (see assembly photos) Using these adjustable supports the lamp bulb can be positioned to best accentuate the lighting of the lithophane. The wire holders that you printed are superglued to the back to hold the cord in a good position.
Step 7: Using Them
I use the Ecosmart Motion Sensor 1600 lumens 100W replacement bulbs for all of the installations. It provides plenty of illumination for even daylight use and the radar units located inside are really amazingly good for picking up vehicles and humans to activate in the on position. They also have adjustable light temp output. Just plug the units in or in the case of the outside unit wire to the outside receptacle box with wire nuts. I am not sure about the outdoor resiliency of the PLA in the arctic winter but I will keep you informed...in any case they are very easy to replace.
