The following instructable will show you how to build what I for fun have called a "Quasicrystal Star Lantern" as a nod to chemist Dan Shechtman who recently won a nobel prize for his discovery of crystals that exhibit aperiodic geometric tiling. For more information about how the pattern on the faces of this lamp relates to his discovery and more background on this project, see my latest blog post .
The shape exhibited here is called a Small Stellated Dodecahedron. The Playful Geometer has been working with this form for several years as seen in our Cosmic SpaceCrafts Lantern line . Currently our products are all made with laminated digital prints, but we're hoping to launch a new line of more eco-friendly paper-only models called EarthBound SpaceCrafts. This is the first of their kind, and we offer their designs in-kind. We created this instructable for the Epilog 4 contest , as we are hoping to obtain a laser cutter to help us affordably distribute the EarthBound SpaceCrafts worldwide for those who don't have the tools or the time to make their own.
For this instructable, you'll need:
Your cutting device
A laser cutter like the Epilog Zing or cutter/plotters such as the Craft Robo, Cricut, Xyron Wishblade, or other home cutting device
Media
12 Sheets of Letter sized cardstock
OR
6 Sheets of 12“x12“ Cardstock (if you have a cutting machine large enough for this)
(used here is 80 pound Linen Cardstock found in scrap booking section of craft store)
TIP: purchase extra paper just in case mistakes happen
You are welcome to experiment with other semi-rigid, flexible media such as wood veneer, Mylar or thin sheet HDPE
Lighting fixture materials
* 1 baby food jar
OR
* 1 small tealight candle holder as seen here : http://www.instructables.com/id/Convert-a-Tea-Light-Lantern-to-Compact-Fluorescent/
* tealight candles
* A metal pen tip OR small glass/metal bead with a hole that will fit your wire.
* About 3 feet of hardware wire (18 guage or so, less length if using tealight holder)
NOTE: I used normal steel wire here but in retrospect, some decorative brass, copper or black wire would have looked much nicer. That reminds me....I would love to see what you can do with this instructable, so please do post pictures of your very own QuasiCrystal Star Lantern !
The shape exhibited here is called a Small Stellated Dodecahedron. The Playful Geometer has been working with this form for several years as seen in our Cosmic SpaceCrafts Lantern line . Currently our products are all made with laminated digital prints, but we're hoping to launch a new line of more eco-friendly paper-only models called EarthBound SpaceCrafts. This is the first of their kind, and we offer their designs in-kind. We created this instructable for the Epilog 4 contest , as we are hoping to obtain a laser cutter to help us affordably distribute the EarthBound SpaceCrafts worldwide for those who don't have the tools or the time to make their own.
For this instructable, you'll need:
Your cutting device
A laser cutter like the Epilog Zing or cutter/plotters such as the Craft Robo, Cricut, Xyron Wishblade, or other home cutting device
Media
12 Sheets of Letter sized cardstock
OR
6 Sheets of 12“x12“ Cardstock (if you have a cutting machine large enough for this)
(used here is 80 pound Linen Cardstock found in scrap booking section of craft store)
TIP: purchase extra paper just in case mistakes happen
You are welcome to experiment with other semi-rigid, flexible media such as wood veneer, Mylar or thin sheet HDPE
Lighting fixture materials
* 1 baby food jar
OR
* 1 small tealight candle holder as seen here : http://www.instructables.com/id/Convert-a-Tea-Light-Lantern-to-Compact-Fluorescent/
* tealight candles
* A metal pen tip OR small glass/metal bead with a hole that will fit your wire.
* About 3 feet of hardware wire (18 guage or so, less length if using tealight holder)
NOTE: I used normal steel wire here but in retrospect, some decorative brass, copper or black wire would have looked much nicer. That reminds me....I would love to see what you can do with this instructable, so please do post pictures of your very own QuasiCrystal Star Lantern !
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Signing UpStep 1: Cut out panels
Download the Quasicrystal_cutlines.zip, extract it to wherever you prefer, and using the software provided for your cutting machine, open the file corresponding to your device:
Craft Robo, Xyron Wishblade -> quasiCrystalSSD_cutlines_letter.GSD
Craft Robo Pro -> quasiCrystalSSD_cutlines_12x12.GSD
Cricut -> quasiCrystalSSD_cutlines_letter.svg
The files should work using other cutting devices. You're encouraged to post a comment on what you used and how it worked out. If you need a different file type for your device, please leave a comment, we may be able to help.
The Cricut should import the provided SVG files as instructed here .
Most cutting software provides a feature to make dashed lines for folding. Set the red lines to be dashed, as they are the fold lines. If you can adjust the dash length, a suggested setting is 0.1 inch cut followed by a 0.9 inch space. Otherwise choose a setting with dot-like dashes that aren't too close together (otherwise it will take a long time to cut out).
Cut 12 panels out and remove the little pieces of paper from the holes. If you can, try setting up your cutter to do 2 passes of the cut lines as it will make the holes easier to remove (skip the fold lines on the second pass if possible) . If you can’t, you might be able to send just the cut lines a second time if your cutting machine returned to exactly the same place as it started. If it did not, you might have an "advance page after cutting" feature set, try to disable it in your software settings.
Now punch out the holes in the pattern. You may be able to remove most of the holes just by flicking the panel. For the more stubborn pieces, try bending the panel to get them to stick out so you can pluck them easier. Pull them out from the back side of the panel so that if you happen to tear off a thin layer of paper from the lattice, it won’t show once the lantern is built. Set aside the punched holes for the last step.
Do a final inspection to make sure you have 12 well-cut panels.
Craft Robo, Xyron Wishblade -> quasiCrystalSSD_cutlines_letter.GSD
Craft Robo Pro -> quasiCrystalSSD_cutlines_12x12.GSD
Cricut -> quasiCrystalSSD_cutlines_letter.svg
The files should work using other cutting devices. You're encouraged to post a comment on what you used and how it worked out. If you need a different file type for your device, please leave a comment, we may be able to help.
The Cricut should import the provided SVG files as instructed here .
Most cutting software provides a feature to make dashed lines for folding. Set the red lines to be dashed, as they are the fold lines. If you can adjust the dash length, a suggested setting is 0.1 inch cut followed by a 0.9 inch space. Otherwise choose a setting with dot-like dashes that aren't too close together (otherwise it will take a long time to cut out).
Cut 12 panels out and remove the little pieces of paper from the holes. If you can, try setting up your cutter to do 2 passes of the cut lines as it will make the holes easier to remove (skip the fold lines on the second pass if possible) . If you can’t, you might be able to send just the cut lines a second time if your cutting machine returned to exactly the same place as it started. If it did not, you might have an "advance page after cutting" feature set, try to disable it in your software settings.
Now punch out the holes in the pattern. You may be able to remove most of the holes just by flicking the panel. For the more stubborn pieces, try bending the panel to get them to stick out so you can pluck them easier. Pull them out from the back side of the panel so that if you happen to tear off a thin layer of paper from the lattice, it won’t show once the lantern is built. Set aside the punched holes for the last step.
Do a final inspection to make sure you have 12 well-cut panels.
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