Solar Yard Lamp Stake

thingiverse

My cheap solar light from Lowe's illuminates my front steps for a few hours each evening. Over time, one became uprooted and I lost its ground-stabilizing spike. To solve this problem, I designed and printed a replacement part using my Printrbot Simple 3D printer. The new spike has flattened sites that make it easy to print without supports, and it fits perfectly snug. As the material used is PLA - a bio-based plastic, I'm curious about its biodegradation rate. To test this, I will bury the spike in the soil and observe its degradation over time. During printing, I experimented with fan speed and feed rate to gain better control of their impact on print quality, resulting in a few cracks and curling.