Lamp Prototyping Blog

A1 - Mitre Cut Wood:

Mitre cutting involves cutting the wood into the length pieces you need and then cutting a 45 degree wedge out of the ends of those pieces. This means that the wood can be put together as a square or rectangle with the ends resting against eachother, it is perfect if you don't want visible joints and would prefer to use glue on those joints.

This section covers me cutting the wood, mitre sawing the ends and glueing the pieces together into a square.

A2 - 3mm Rebate:

This step is important to fit the top of the box into the box seamlessly. The material i planned on using was 3mm clear acrylic. In order to fit this acrylic well i rebated the wooden box. This means i cut a notch into the edge of the wood 3mm deep to fit in this acrylic top. For this i used a tracksaw to cut the inner diameter of the rebate and then cut across the middle material using a chisel. I then used sandpaper and a file to clean up the corners to fit the top perfectly.

A3 - Drill holes for switches and wires:

Before the box got too complex i decided to drill the holes for the switches and the wires. I knew i wanted a secondary switch to toggle the rotation of the lamp and a main switch to turn the whole light off and on. For these holes i had to measure the width of the switches i was using before i cut so that they fit right. To power the lamp i also needed a smaller hole for 2 wires to fit through. Having this planned out i decided to put one switch hole directly on the front, and the secondary switch and power input on the back and therefore out of sight. This image on the right shows the back of the box with power input and secondary switch.

A4 - Rebate ring for rotation plate :

This extra rebate is just for 4 smaller sections within the original rebate. I designed my mechanism to have a magnetic rotation plate, to hold this plate in place i used an extra circular rebate on the wood base sides. I used a chisel for this rebate as i couldnt cut a curve accurately with a saw. 

A5 - Stain and Polish:

To give the final finishes to the wood box I cleaned and sanded any excess glue off the wood . Then I used a dark oak shaded wood stain. I then mixed some dark shellac flakes with methanol and let it dissolve for 2 days to make french polish. I used this all of this french polish on over multiple coats to let the colour and polish sink in fully. I then finally finished the wood using wax polish for a shiny satin finish. 

This process completely changed the colour and look of the wood and gave it a much healthier and more pleasing aesthetic.

B1 - Cut Rotation Plate:

The first step to build the rotation mechanism is to cut the rotation plate from acrylic at a circle which is the same size as the bottom holding ring in the shade. This rotation plate will attract the magnets and therefore spin the base of the shade when it is rotated with the pulley system which i will develop afterwords .

To cut an accurate circle the best tool at my disposal was a laser cutter. I wanted to use clear acrylic for the plate and the laser cutter can do cut acrylic with ease and accuracy. This image shows the rotation plate with the sticker cover still on the acrylic to preserve it and stop dust getting on it. The plate is also cut with an additional hole in the middle for the bearing hub and LED strip (shown later on) to come through.

B2 - Fit Magnets in rotation plate:

Having 3mm acrylic was ideal as the magnet's are 2mm in depth so i could drill 2mm deep while retaining a 1mm layer to hold the magnets in place. Using the same rotary table and drilling mill setup as the magnet holes in Shade A4 in Manufacturing 1  I was able to cut the the holes equidistant to the magnet holes in the base of the shade. I then bored the hole in the center and used the same 2 part epoxy glue to fix the magnets in place .The image on the right shows the final Rotation plate with the sticker taken off.

B5 - Mount motor to wood base (A):

I mounted the motor to the base using a metal bracket, I cut holes in this bracket for the machine screws that attach the motor and deburred these holes with a wide drill. This bracket and deburring process can be seen in the top image.

On the edge of the bracket I made slots instead of holes to allow me to adjust the distance from the middle before tightening the screws in and stopping movement. This is so that i could test the distance and make the pulley as taut as possible. 

After testing I fixed the motor to the side of the interior of the base using wood screws tightly so that the motor wouldn't get pulled in by the pulley system. 

The middle image shows the bracket and motor and the bottom image shows testing the motor distance before screwing it in.