Lithophane Light Box For Standard LED Nightlight

thingiverse

Very easy to print, orient each piece so that the flat sides are at the bottom and print without supports. Will fit a flat lithophane that is 100mm by 123mm in size, with a thickness of 2mm to 3mm. I personally print mine at 2.5mm, and they fit snugly. I know that's an odd size, it happened to be the starting point for my first lithophane, and I just went with it. I might create variations for curved lithophanes or different sizes if there is enough interest, but I'm happy with this one as it stands. You can customize the height to suit your needs by adjusting the z-axis of the base and back in your slicer based on the fact that it currently fits 123mm perfectly and reaches a total height of 125mm. However, the bottom will change thickness when you do this. I find it easier to make lithophanes that size than to mess with the z-axis. You can create one by opening Paint3D in Windows or an equivalent program. Make a canvas that is 1000px by 1230px and fill it with black using a shape or fill tool. Orient your photo on the canvas so that it fits inside with black around the border, and your lithophane will have a frame. Save as a photo and open in Cura with your preferred settings, making sure the size is 100mm by 123mm. Every time I do this in Cura, it wants to shrink it slightly, so I just change the one closest to 100mm to 100mm, and the other changes automatically to 123mm. You will now have a nice lithophane with a frame around it that fits perfectly in this box. I've tried using the customizer but couldn't get it working. Honestly, I'm happy with the one I have. See my username above for further information on this topic. I've uploaded the SCAD files if someone wants to work with them. You can make this out of any material you prefer, but the back needs to be shiny for it to work correctly. So either use a shiny metallic filament or paint the side that faces the lithophane with some shiny metallic paint. You can also wrap it in aluminum foil if that's your preference. Foil works well, but I think the color is warmer when using shiny gold silk filament. It looks very nice when printed with wood PLA and stained. You may need to touch up the sides of your lithophane with sandpaper to make everything fit together. It is a tight fit, so if you can't get the top on, take a little off each side with sandpaper until it goes on with minimal effort. Once it's all put together, it's solid and nothing rattles. Here is a link to the nightlights I used - they are very inexpensive. You can get a four-pack of them on Amazon for around $8 US. This isn't an affiliate link, and I make nothing if you use these nightlights. I'm pretty sure most of them are the same size, but if you want to be sure, check this one out. Incandescent nightlight would probably be a bad idea due to the heat - make sure you get an LED one. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NOU620K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Follow me on Instagram if you want, @jimthesatisfactory or don't, whatever.