Introduction: Paul Revere's Lantern Ornament

Inspired by the history of Paul Revere, I decided to make Paul Revere's Lantern into an ornament. The real lantern is located in the Concord Museum in Concord, Mass. I found a couple of pictures online to use as my models. A lit lantern is utilitarian, but can also be ornamental. Paul Revere's Lantern has decorative cut outs which allow heat to escape, while also creating a decorative, reflective pattern when the lantern is lit.

I used 123D to design it. I am new at 123D, but experimented with the tools, deleted often, and remade it until I was happy with it. I asked for and received advice from friends. They explained how specific 123D tools could be used. I think it came out pretty good for a beginner!

This is how I made it:

1. Pull in a solid cube to the grid. Check the size. You can use the scale tool to make your cube the desired size.

2. I then pulled in a smaller solid cube and used the Push/Pull tool to push the smaller cube through 2 sides. The 4 supports were created when I did this step.

3. I drew the arched faces by using the Spline tool. The center point was a separate click. I selected and deleted the "extra" material, leaving the curve.

4. I selected the inside bottom square and used the Push/Pull tool to lower that square to create a tray for the candle holder.

5. To create the candle holder I drew a circle within another circle on the bottom of the lantern. Next, I Pushed/Pulled up the rim. Then I extruded the center of the circle and cut out the circle in the bottom of the lantern. A bulb on a string of lights can be pushed up into the candle holder.

6. The stacked cylinders on the top of the lantern were made by sketching 2 circles on the top face of the design. The smaller circle was sketched within the larger one. I then extruded the two to the desired heights.

7. I made the hole in the top cylinder to hold the ring. I pulled in a solid cylinder and sized it to the diameter of the size hole I needed. I positioned my solid, narrow cylinder over the front of the ring holder and extruded it through, making a nice empty tunnel.

8. Making the hanging ring was a challenge! My friend helped to show me how to do it on a Skype call. I took notes and tried it over and over until I got it. Since the solid with the hole is curved, I could not sketch directly on its face. So, I sketched and extruded a rectangle to be my flat-faced solid on which I could sketch a circle. I sketched the rectangle so one of its sides hit the center of the hole. Next, I drew a circle the size of the ring I desired. I hid the materials so I could see just the sketches of my lantern. I moved my sketched circle so it was in the hole "tunnel."

9. To make the ring have depth, I then drew a very small circle perpendicular to the larger sketched circle. I made certain the the small circle looped over the large circle and fit into the "tunnel" hole with room to spare. Using the Sweep tool I selected the Profile and the Path. The ring was made! That was an exciting moment. I had spent a few hours trying to get it right!

10. I extruded sketched polygons on the top of the lantern to serve as the holes for the heat to escape. In reality, there are many more on the real lantern. They are quite decorative and add interest to a plain lantern. I lack the skills right now to make those, but I tried. They did not look right.

11. I added extruded polygons with a small sphere on top of each to imitate the decorations seen on the real lantern. On each front face I sketched and extruded a design using Polyine and Spline tools.

12. Finally, I selected the whole and made it one piece. I selected brass as the material.

I know it has many steps. Thanks for reading. I'm so happy I finished it!

Step 1:

3D Printed Ornament Design Challenge

Participated in the
3D Printed Ornament Design Challenge