Bottle Rocket Lamp

by Christian Knuell

24K63315

Intro: Bottle Rocket Lamp

The bottle rocket lamp is a quite simple project you can finish in one day.

Materials:

  • Plywood about 620 x 400 x 15mm (I've used beech plywood)
  • Bottle made of frosted glass (clear glass will not distribute the light evenly)
  • LED spot (don't use incandescent bulbs - they generate too much heat, burn your wood and may burst the bottle)
  • 4 dowel pins
  • Some wire to connect the LED spot
  • Sanding paper
  • Some walnut oil ( or clear varnish) for finishing

Machinery:

  • CNC router (however you can also do this with manual tools - it is not too difficult)
  • Manual router with edge rounding bit

STEP 1: Vectorize the Bottle and LED Lamp

The main difficulty is to get a reasonably accurate CAD drawing of the bottle:

  • Take a picture of the bottle:
    • Make sure your camera is not just looking but also positioned at the center of the bottle. If the camera is out of center your picture will be distorted.
    • Take the picture from as far away as reasonably possible - this will also minimize distortions.
  • Vectorize the image:
    • Import the image e.g. with LibreCAD: File -> Import -> Insert image
    • Lock the image layer
    • Add a new layer for the drawing
    • Draw the bottle shape using lines and arcs
    • Finally resize the drawing to the correct dimensions
  • You can do the same with the LED lamp - however as it is quite small and relatively simple I've just measured it with a caliper.

STEP 2: Draw the Rocket

  • Once you have the bottle and LED lamp you can draw your rocket around it.
    • Be careful: you need to take 0.5x material thickness away from the side fin or you'll end up with a much too large bottle hole.
    • You should also make the side fins a little shorter than the main body - the tip will not look nice if they are equally long.
  • Add 2 slots for the wire so it won't hinder assembly.
  • Add 4 holes for dowel pins to keep everything together.

STEP 3: CAM and Milling

I've used my CAM software Estlcam to create the CNC Program for the machine:

STEP 4: Drill the Dowel Pin Holes for the Rocket Fins

  • After the parts have been milled we need to drill some holes for the dowel pins.
    • You can mark the hole positions with dowel centers - this is more precise and reliable than measuring and marking with a pencil.
  • Don't drill too deep at the top!

STEP 5: Round the Edges

The parts are a bit slim to use the router correctly and I unfortunately don't have a router table.

So I just improvised a bit and clamped the router upside down to my machine to use it as router table.


STEP 6: Sanding and Oiling

Sand the parts and apply some walnut oil or clear varnish.

I prefer walnut oil as it makes the wood a little darker and highlights the grain...

STEP 7: Insert LED Spot

Solder wires to the LED spot, put it into the rocket and press the wires into the slots.

STEP 8: Final Assembly

  • Fill the bottle with water
    • Add something to make it a little bit cloudy - I've used grapefruit lemonade. This will help to distribute the light evenly. Clear water will concentrate the light at the top of the bottle, too dark water will concentrate it at the bottom. You'll need to experiment a bit until you're satisfied with the result.

  • Insert dowel pins and add the fins.

  • Do not glue the parts together - the dowel pins should be enough to hold everything in place. If you glue you can't change the light or bottle anymore.

15 Comments

buck2217 8 years ago

that is really attractive

Bubbler 9 years ago

Good bottle not god. LOL

Bubbler 9 years ago

I think this a great idea for just presenting a god bottle of wine without the lamp bit. Well done.

Raitis 9 years ago

Love the looks of this and the fact that it's close to the projects I like to take on (interdisciplinary)!

Did the bottle have that matte finish originally or you blasted/sanded it yourself?

rasterweb 9 years ago

Great idea to sandblast it. That would allow you to use any bottle you like.

Christian Knuell 9 years ago

I went to a supermarket with a rather large wine selection where I found this nice matte bottle - it cost less than 4 Euro if I remember correctly...

Raitis 9 years ago

The thing is, they sometimes have non-matte bottlenecks where they are hidden under the foil. I fell for that once! Maybe just a lack of luck though.

kenbob 9 years ago

A well executed, clever, and well documented design! I love this thing, it is like a physical Pun. great instructable!

ncarrasquillo 9 years ago

great idea and love the look. one way to assemble it stronger is to glue the dowel in the main base and then assemble. then you could use a bery small screw in the side of the other end of the dowel?

Christian Knuell 9 years ago

The dowels itself are OK - you just need to make sure the holes have the correct diameter (don't wobble the part or machine during drilling). It requires quite a bit force to assemble and disassemble.

longwinters 9 years ago

I absolutely love this project, google Atomic Camper and you'll know why, well plus 1950s rockets are always cool.

Fission Chips 9 years ago

Whoa! This looks really cool, and I'll bet it works really well, too. Great job, and thanks for your awesome pictures!