Gandalf The White Staff with Lights

thingiverse

I borrowed jamundsen's design and hollowed it out so you can fit it over a 1" wide copper pipe, drop a light in the middle, and wire it up. I built a battery case for the bottom that holds 8 AA batteries and picked up a bulb from superbrightleds.com. Print Settings: Rafts: Don't worry about them. No exceptions Supports: Leave this one blank too Notes: I printed with white PLA at .3mm resolution, three perimeter shells, and probably around 10% infill. Because of so many thin pieces, the infill really doesn't make much difference. Looking back, I probably should've reduced layer height, but that's because I'm super picky about finish. I'd also recommend printing in black then painting it white. As you'll see in the video, light shines through the white PLA, making uneven paint and production issues clear. I printed without supports - but that resulted in some saggy surfaces on the Top section. Right now, I use slic3r, which doesn't allow for a lot of customization when it comes to support materials. Post-Printing: After printing, the top, bottom, and connector pieces can be put together. There are three holes between top and bottom designed for a 1/8" dowel rod. The connector piece makes sure that top and bottom line up smoothly. Super glue will hold them together really well. At first, I used a strong epoxy resin - but it left lumps that were really hard to remove. After attaching the pieces, I coated in XTC-3D epoxy, then spray painted white. In hindsight, I recommend applying multiple coats to keep light from passing through. The battery pack can be printed and attached with three other pieces using epoxy. I used a Plastic Repair Epoxy which gave it strength and some flexibility. This design is meant for being fitted over a 1" copper pipe. It fits really tightly so that it doesn't need glue, and after painting the pipe, the fit will be REALLY tight. I used this bulb: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature-wedge-base/194-led-bulb-19-smd-led-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/1563/3624/ And this socket: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/empty-bases-sockets/t325-wedge-base-socket-wired/1150/2737/ And this switch: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/installation-supplies/mini-onoff-toggle-switch-wired/1356/3109/ I wired them all together with doorbell wire, running it down to either end of the battery pack.