A TINY YET WORKING CLASSIC BANKER'S LAMP

Recreating anything into a tiny object is always a fun and a challenge depending on what you are trying to recreate. I always try to make something fun and add a bit of function to it too. And for that reason, I am making a tiny classic banker's lamp that works too!

Although this instructables is limited to the steps that I took to make it, this concept can be used to make the same thing in many other ways.

This tiny classic banker's lamp is made using a MSLA 3D printer and other components that were sitting in my workshop.

Supplies

3D printer (ideally resin based printer since the parts are quite small)
x1 white 2 pin thought hole LED
x2 394 watch battery
x2 CAT5 (or equivalent) cable
Acrylic paint
Super glue
Hot glue
Aluminum foil
400grit sandpaper
Flush cutter

Step 1: DESIGNING THE LAMP

Since I wanted to recreate a classic bankers lamp while making sure that it can be 3D printed and wired, I designed it in parts to make sure they can be printed and assembled easily.

The design was done in another CAD program but I have uploaded it to Fusion360 so that it can be viewed in 3D in the window below:

All the STL files have been included.

Step 2: 3D PRINTING THE LAMP

All the STLs included in the previous section were printed using a mSLA printer. They can probably be printed using a well tuned FDM printer thought but since I have a mSLA printer, I used it.

WARNING: While using any resin based printer, practice safe procedures. There are great videos and discussions on the internet about resin printers and how to safely use them.

After the prints were done, they were washed using IPA (making sure all the channels for wire are clean too) and cured using UV light.

Step 3: PREPARING TO PAINT THE PARTS

The parts will be painted using acrylic paint and in order for the paint to adhere to the surface properly, it needs to be primed.

But before priming, I used a flush cutter to remove any leftover support from the parts.

Afterwards, I used a 400grit sand paper to take out any other imperfections on the surface and prepare the surface for priming. The surface was also cleaned after sanding to remove any surface dust.

Once the surface was ready to be primed, I applied couple of thin coats of primer, making sure that the primer doesn't get into the channel for the wires and left it to dry overnight. When sanding resin prints, I always wear masks because sanding creates a lot of fine dusts that you don't want in your lungs!

Once the surface is ready to be painted, I used hot glue to attach toothpicks to the prints so that it's easy to hold them while they are being painted.

Step 4: PAINTING THE PARTS

In order to maintain the classic look for the lamp, green, white and golden acrylic paints are used.

The lamp shed was painted green (outside) and white (inside).

Rest of the parts were painted in copper as the base layer and then couple of coats of golden.

Afterwards, they were left to dry before moving to the next step.

The faces that are going to be concealed were left unpainted.

This would have been an ideal project to use airbrush but since I don't have it, regular paint brushes were used.

Step 5: ASSEMBLING THE LAMP

At first, I cut the legs of the lamp shorter so that it can fit within the lamp. Make sure you remember the polarity (long leg is positive and short leg is negative)

Afterwards, I grabbed get two long leads of cat5 wire (at least 5 inches) and solder them to the legs of the LED. Put some heat shrink.

Then I passed the two sets of wires through the two holes of the lamp shade.

To attach the LED to the lamp shade, I used a bead of hot glue.

Then I passed the two cables through the left and the right arms. This can get tricky because the space is so little and there are some tight turns. When needed, I used some WD40 to lubricate the wires so that I can put them through easily.

Afterwards, I passed the wires through rest of the parts.

Then I did a quick test fit to make sure all the parts line up.

When everything looked good, I put a dab of superglue on all the joints and let it set for few minutes before moving forward to the next step.

Step 6: POWERING IT UP

To provide power, I used two 394 watch batteries because they are small enough to incorporate into the base and provides the correct voltage to power up the LED.

I stripped and cut the wires as shown in the picture below.

Then I put in the batteries based on the correct polarity.

Then I used a piece of aluminum foil and put it inside the bottom cover. This is going to act as the connection between the two faces of the battery and complete the circuit. I had to tweak the thickness of the foil to make a solid connection between the batteries.

And voila! When I mounted the bottom cover to the base, the light turns on! IT WORKED!!!

In order to turn off the light, the bottom cover needs to be taken off. I am sure I could have implemented a better mechanism to turn the light on and off but since this is a speed challenge, I did not want to overly complicate it.

Hope you like this instructable and get inspired to make something similar on your own! Happy making and stay safe :)