Improved Lithophane Cube

thingiverse

This is an update to my original lithophane cube. It's designed to accept a 3dp.rocks generated 100x100 Lithophane with a 4mm border and default thickness settings. Also included is a 100x150 version (taller). ***Changes*** The original design was tailored for 12v LED strips, featuring an octagonal center pylon with each flat face designed to accept a cut part of the LED strip. However, cutting them and soldering/wiring them all together can be a real pain! Spiraling them up the pylon would be much better, so the octagonal design is not ideal. Additionally, the old design had a hollowed-out base to accept the 12v adapter, but that required substantial supports. Based on feedback from the community, the new design features a flat-bottomed base and interchangeable round pylons (just superglue them or hot glue the one you prefer in), allowing an LED strip to spiral around it. I recommend using a 5v USB LED strip rather than the 12v so no barrel adapter is needed. The inner diameter of the pillars and the hole in the base is 30mm. Note: The adhesive on most LED strips is rather weak, so you may need to use alternative means to adhere it to the pillar, such as epoxy (probably best), superglue, or clear tape. I've found both low-temp and high-temp hot glue will soften from the heat of the LEDs and fail. Clear packing tape holds up fine, but yellows significantly over time. If the pillar softens due to the heat (PLA), allow it to go through several cycles of warming and cooling back down to room temperature, and it should stop over time. As with the original, the top and pillars have recesses so that magnets (5mm x 2mm) can be superglued in, but this is optional and not required. ***Resources*** Lithophane Generator used: http://3dp.rocks/lithophane/ ***Make sure you switch to "positive image" under image settings every time*** An example of the 5V USB strip that can be found on eBay is in the images; please note this is just an example, and I am not affiliated with this or any other seller. ***Edit 11/23/2019*** I've added a version without the bottom hole and a version without the side hole. Anyone who wants to customize their enclosure or add a remix, I've added a link where you can download the Fusion360 archive and import it into Fusion360 to make edits. The link is: https://a360.co/37A5r0r, and the password is 123456. The download option is in the upper right-hand corner.