Introduction: Moresque Lampe
Hey everyone, this is my first instructable, and i would like to share with you, how to make this Moresque inspired Lamp.
As the most of the instructables stuff, this project is :
- Easy to make, no special skills needed.
- Looks good
- Costs virtually nothing ! ( will looks great with cardboard )
and the i tried to make something original
searching on the internet i found this website : http://www.storeystreet.com/smlglobe.html
selling this nice looking lamp, so i wanted to make something similar ! ..
For those who are lucky enough to have a laser cutter, there is an advantage, for me, i cannot afford one, so i will use the traditional way !
The lamp can be made with any material, cardboard, aluminum, plastic, plywood .. you choose your material and color, the principle is the same.
For me i will use plywood with a 3 mm thickness for this project.
This is my first instructable i will try to do my best explaining things, if something is unclear bear with me, and feel free to ask :-)
Step 1: The Design
So what way my inspiration ? ...... Traveling to southern spain and morocco, you will be amazed by the old mosaic, i was always fascinated by these , drawing them all the times, a quick search on the internet i found the patterns ( just search in google for : "arabic patterns" or something like this )
this website was too informativ too :
http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/~csk/projects/starpatterns/
( pic's from google !)
I won't go in details into the design of the lamp since it is not an instructables of how to design the lamp, but I used 3ds max to model the sphere and texture it .. to see how it is going to turn out, when it is done, i tried to copy the model on paper, and some adjustments, here and there it worked out
Step 2: What Do You Need ?
Made by thick paper :
- you will need some sheets of paper
- scissors
- glue
Made by plywood
- some plywood sheets ( no thick than 3 mm )
- alots of Brads ( no less than 288 !! )
- material to saw your patterns
AND of cours the patterns ! ( you will finde them in *.AI and *.PDF format )
Attachments
Step 3: Cutting the Patterns !
well . .you can cut them the traditional way, just print the patterns and glue it the wood and use a drill and a saw. or if you own a cnc machine or a laser cutter - i am not that lucky :) - it will make the job much more easier.
If you are using carton or paper well, print them and use your scissors :)
Once CUT ... we preceed
Step 4: Connecting Things Together
before connecting the pieces together i put then i a sink of water fr 10 min, just so they bend easely. but if you are using very thin plywood ( 1 mm - 1,5 mm ) you dont need that !
then to connect them
IMPORTANT :
make sure to connect the stars to the triangles first in such manner that the shorteste "arm" of the star ( the black dot in the picture ) shoud connect to the middle arm of the triangle .. just look at the picture :)
And the use the brads to secure them in place togheter or use the glue if you are using paper.
then finish by cutting the sticking part of the brads.
Step 5: Keep Connecting !
for making the "skeleton" of the lamp, you need :
8 square patterns in a row ( will be bend at the end to make a circle,
the patterns are connected together with the part we made from the earlier step ( you will need 8 of these in total - 4 at the top of the "skeleton " and 4 and the buttom of the skeleton )
just look at the images
and finish the step , by connecting the end of the "skeleton" to make a circle.
Step 6: Keep Connecting !
connect all the pieces together, to finish the lamp, and secure it wit the bradsm or the glue if you are using paper.
Step 7:
The finished Lamp .... enjoy :)
and a picture of a new model, wich follows the same principle ( wrking on it )

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69 Comments
12 years ago on Introduction
Absolutely lovely.
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
Thank you .. i am working on a new design ( i will make an instructuble when it finished ;)
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
Hello
Do you have a pattern for this one?
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
New design looks great! I look forward to the next ible. Would you please go into more detail about making the pattern into a sphere? What type of modeling software and are there open sources avaiilible online?
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
The guys on that website, used a c++ script to do that, but there is no reference to the script. i cant really say if you can finde an open source on the net, but surely there is !
Another walkaroud - much easier - is just use a 3D modelling program, i use 3ds max, model a sphere and texture it with the pattern .. and voila. its done
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
Beautiful project, beautifully executed.
"Model a sphere, texture it with a pattern, and viola it's done" is a very quick leap.
Could you elaborate a little? A cubic projection? a UV map? Does 3Ds have a way to to do a dodechedral or icosohedral map?
I missed the link to "the guys on that website" could you share the link that you found via google too?
Thanks!
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
hey ,.. sorry for that ... the website i was talking about is :
http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/~csk/projects/starpatterns/
and about 3D texturing, you will need to use a UV map, and i guess a 3Ds max can do abicosohedral map .. how i am not sure
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
Thanks for the "http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/~csk/projects/starpatterns/" link! That 's a nice lead.
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
This work reminds me a great deal of some crochet and tatting patterns. They are designed using 'motifs' assembled to create the 3D form needed to cover an area of the body or in some cases a teapot or something similar. Like your forms, they draw on organic or natural shapes, especially stars, snowflakes, pineapples, and flowers, and rely also on geometric shapes.
10 years ago on Step 7
I love the new one in your last page as it looks good as a half sphere. When will you be posting the new pattern. I am presently making your design but would love this one above my kitchen table.
Look forward to the new design.
10 years ago on Step 7
This is really cool. I'm also curious about the awesome black cutout art in the background. Did you make that as well? (And have you thought about doing an instructable for it? :) )
11 years ago on Step 7
Absolutely gorgeous lighting fixture you've made! Way too hard for me to try, but
so intricate and beautiful. You sure could sell these! How do you change the bulb? By undoing a brad to reach in?
12 years ago on Introduction
How many pieces in total are there (broken down by piece type)?
I'm a little confused. You refer to "Stars", "Triangles" and what I'll call "Connectors".
I looked at the pdf and I see there are 24 stars, 12 triangles and 16 Connectors.
When I look at the photos, you say there is 8 of these connectors that make up the center "skeleton". Attached to that are Stars and triangles. The photo looks like there are 5 additional connectors used to form the upper bowl shape.
If I saw that correctly, then there should be a total of 18 Connectors, right?
(8 for the skeleton, 4 to connect the loop of Stars and Triangles and then 1 connector to close the bowl shape. Which would mean I would need another 5 for the lower bowl shape)
Can you please help me out and explain.
12 years ago on Step 7
Absolutely Fantastic!! thank you so much for sharing, I'm excited to try to make one of my own.
12 years ago on Introduction
Any suggestions for scaling up the size? I was thinking of making mine ~20"+ big.
12 years ago on Step 7
soooooo beautiful....
thanks 4 the instructions
12 years ago on Introduction
i m thinking to make a super big one
12 years ago on Step 7
In my college dorm we have these really ugly square lights on the ceiling. After seeing this, I have decided to make only half of the lamp and put it over the light for instant beauty. Thanks for the wonderful instructions!
12 years ago on Introduction
wooo..wooo..nice art of lamp
12 years ago on Introduction
Could you please describe how you were able to cut out the smaller internal section using your hacksaw, I cant figure out how you would get the blade in there. Many thanks