DIY Levitating Planter V2! - 3D Printed Version

In this Instructables I will walk you through the steps to make your
very own Levitating Planter! After great feedback, I decided to make a second version of my levitating planter that is even simpler to make, and uses a 3D printed base. I also tried making a new design on the planter, and I think it turned out pretty great!

I also made one with a wooden base.

Let me show you how I made it:

Step 1: Watch the Video:

I made a youtube video where you can see how i built it:)

Step 2: Gather the Parts

First of all, you need to gather all the parts used in this project.

Here is a list of the materials and tools I used: (Affiliate links)

ALIEXPRESS

Materials:

Magnetic Levitation Module

PLA (or other type of filament for 3D printing the base and planter, I used PLA)

4x M3 Bolts 12mm

4x M3 Nuts

Tools:

3D printer (mininum 150x150x150mm Build Area)

Screwdriver

AMAZON:

Materials:

Magnetic Levitation Module

PLA (or other type of filament for 3D printing the planter, I used PLA)

4x M3 Bolts 12mm

4x M3 Nuts

Tools:

3D printer (mininum 150x150x150mm Build Area)

Screwdriver

Step 3: Testing the Parts

I recommend that you test everything before you assemble it, so connect or solder power cables to the module and slowly lower the magnet in the middle of the magnetic
base. You should feel the planter trying to push out to the sides, but find a spot in the middle where it holds still. Continue to lower it until the planter supports it self. It's now floating!

NB! Use a soft material like the pacakging it came with, or some cardboard and place it on top of the base! If you can't balance the magnet in the middle (it could be hard the first few times) it could fall down and break! These are fragile magnets, and they are also super strong, so be careful.

Step 4: Design It!

I used the last levitating planter base I made as an inspiration, but did some changes to it. I wanted the base to be smaller, so I made it a lot thinner, but kept the other dimensions the same (145mm x 145mm). I also rounded the corners, which I think made it look even better.

For the planter I wanted to try something new. I really like geometric figures, and after some googling, I found a really cool shape called "rhombicosidodecahedron". So, I downloaded the shape into Fusion 360 and added a hole in the top to fit the plant and the magnet. If the magnet doesn't fit, you could try sanding the inside, or scale it up or down in your slicer. You could also just edit the Fusion 360 file linked below to fit the magnet you have.

You can download all the STL and FUSION files for free from my site:

Ananords.com

You can get the STL files on Thingiverse:

Thingiverse.com

Step 5: Remove the Tabs:

The levitating base comes with led lights, which is not needed in this project. It's fortuantly really easy to remove them. Just use a plier and break them off like you can see in the pictures.

Step 6: Printing and Assembling

First you have to print out all of the parts (I recommend 0.15 in layer
hight with 5% infill for the Planter and 0.2 with 10% infill for the base parts). The filament I used is White PLA for the planter, and marble pla for the base, both from Add:North. Take the magnet and drop it into the planter. It should be a snug fit, so it stays in place, but I recommend using some drops of super glue to really secure it. Then, take the "lid" and place it in the planter, so the plant doesn't fall all the way down when you put it in.

I used 4 M3 10mm bolts and 4 M3 nuts to secure the base module to the 3D printed base. It's super simple to assemble it. Just insert the nuts, drop the magnetic base into the base and align the holes, and screw it in place!

The last step is to solder on the power cable. Just thread the power cable through the hole and solder it to plus and minus below the connector. I have also designed a version of the base with a slot instead of a hole, if you don't want to solder.

Step 7: Add Your Plant

But no planter is complete without a plant! I designed it to fit the small succulents and cactuses that they have in Ikea, but every other small plant is going to work perfect too.

Remember to not make it too heavy though. Except from that, you are free to choose whatever plant you want.