3D Printed Gyroid Diamond Lamp

I find infill patterns to be more and more interesting and beautiful in slicer software over time but unfortunately it's often hidden within the perimeters of a closed 3D printed part. I wanted to use an infill pattern to create a lamp above the eating table since it still needed one. In particular the gyroid pattern is pretty cool in the way it's build up.

Supplies

For this lamp I used my Prusa MK3s but of course any up and running FDM machine will do the job.

Ingredients:

• white PLA (Or any material or color that you fancy)
• LED light bulb (A halogen light could be getting too hot I think)
• a light fixture
• a fancy lamp cord
• six m3 bolts and nuts
• callipers

Step 1: Design of the Lamp in Fusion 360

I designed the lamp to be fitting to my selected light fixture and having the right tolerances. Yours might be very different so I uploaded the Fusion file as well to be easily adjustable.

I started off by modelling the lamp fixture and the light bulb itself to correctly model the lamp around it. Use calipers for the correct measurements to create a push to fit connection. When the fixture and light bulb were in, I modeled an upper base plate with six sunken m3 bolt holes.

Secondly, a separate body is modeled beneath the base plate to form the base for the lampshade. This plate is fitted with six fittings for m3 nuts. Always measure the nuts you're using for a nice push fit. Otherwise the nuts might turn when turning the bolts later on. All corners of the plates got a fillet applied.

Afterwards, I created a thin extrude on the edge of the second plate. It's drafted/tapered in a 30 degree angle over a distance of 70 mm.

To close down the lampshade, another tapered thin extrude feature is created on the last one. It's angled in the opposite angle to close down the shade. A couple of fillets are added to smooth the rough shapes out.

Next up I created a little cap to hide the black fixture inside of the lampshade.

Above the base plate I created something similar to cap off the top of the fixture. The hole for the cord is just big enough for a tight fit.

Lastly I also modeled a cover plate for the ceiling. The cord can run through it and I left some cutouts at the back to leave some space for double sided adhesive tape.

The model is now finished and ready for printing. Again, I uploaded the fusion file as well to be able to adjust it for your own particular light fixture.

Step 2: Printing the Models

The effect the porous / open structured lampshade is created by an added modifier in the slicer software PrusaSlicer.

All parts are printed in PLA with any setting that works for you on your particular printer. The lampshade is only printed with perimeters, tops and bottoms in the 'base section'. That creates a solid base to add in the nuts that can be assembled on the other base plate. I printed the shade with the gyroid infill structure set on 10%.

The shade model is printed with the base on the build plate. Add a modifier by right clicking the model and adding a modifier in a box or cylinder shape. Move the modifier up in the Z-axis to only affect the angled surfaces of this model. Make sure that the insert for the nuts are not affected by this modifier.

Right click on the modifier itself and click 'Layers and Perimeters' from the drop down menu. This adds an option to modify the perimeters, top and bottom layers for the specified area. Set them all to 0. This will still make use of the infill structure that is set but will ignore all perimeters to create open structured sides of the shade.

Print all the rest of the models like you prefer and move on to assembly!

Step 3: Assembling the Parts

With all the printed parts ready, it's time for assembling!

The fixture I used has two screwable parts that clamp on the base plate. I added the cover on the lower part of the fixture and assembled the light bulb.

The shade itself has 6 places for the m3 nuts inside of them. I have put them in after printing but it could be difficult if the tolerance is tight. Pausing during printing the shade is also a perfect way to insert the nuts in a more accessible way.

Bolt the base to the shade from the top. Cut a electricity cord to length, strip the ends and connect them to your fixture. Make sure the wires are correctly and safely connected. I added my custom cover to hide the connections and carry the load of the lamp to the cord instead to the wires.

Lastly the other end of the cord is connected to a power source, the cord is ran through the ceiling cover and it is taped directly to the ceiling with some quality adhesion tape.

Step 4: Result and Afterthoughts

Turn on the light on and enjoy the result!

The lampshade creates some nice shadows on the ceiling and the nearby walls. The assembly turned out nice and simple. Might try a different color or infill pattern next time.