The Plug V

thingiverse

"The plug V" (as in Vertical) has been designed to celebrate the Kossel printers and their derivatives (such as the Kossel Clear). The Plug is designed to serve as a lamp and mixes two mathematical parametric functions. The first parametric surface gives the general shape of the lamp. It has been discovered by the French mathematician Jules Tannery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Tannery) and is known as Tannery's pear. If you are curious and read French, have a look to the corresponding publication: https://archive.org/stream/s2bulletindessci16fran#page/n195/mode/2up The second function creates specific Vertical waves on the first surface. It's not a simple sinus function but a succession of half circles (going inside then outside, etc.). Initially designed as 'The Plug H' (with horizontal waves), the waves have been reoriented as the "H" version seems unprintable on an FDM 3D printer because of extreme overhangs. Both the H and V version of this lamp should be soon available on Shapeways:https://www.shapeways.com/designer/treepleks Inside, a 3W GU10 LED lamp illuminates the surface. Instructions The lamp itself is designed to be printed in Vase mode (Slic3r) or Spiralize mode (Cura, expert settings). Don't forget to ask for no solid bottom at all. I printed it at 0.3mm/layer, 0.5mm nozzle, 50mm/s. The underlying mesh becomes increasingly dense as one goes towards the tip, so it's likely you will need to slow down the print when you get close to the tip (at 5cm of the tip, slow down to 50% speed) if you use a Delta with an Arduino. You can use the lamp as such, and put a small LED tea light inside to illuminate it. I wanted to get more light. I bought a GU10 ceramic lamp holder (see eg. http://www.fasttech.com/product/1317700-gu10-fire-proof-ceramic-light-lamp-socket-with) together with a GU10 LED lamp (a 3W lamp to avoid heat) and european barrier connectors (16mm x 16mm x 13mm H for 2 blocks). I designed 2 additional objects to hold the GU10 socket, the connector, and a way to secure the electric wire that goes to the AC wall outlet. There are 2 bases. The one I printed and successfully used needs to be inserted inside the Plug. This is not simple but it can be done. The hole inside the base allows to remove it if needed, to change the LED lamp. The alternate version is untested and provided with the associated OpenScad file. It should be easier to use but it is visible from the outside. Feedback welcome. Either base can receive the GU ceramic lamp holder (secured with two M3 screws). Wires go to a pair of european connectors, inserted in the proper place (the pole with the 2 cubes). Then the other side of the european connector receives an electric wire (pair) with a plug for connection to the AC wall outlet. The last printed object allows to block the wire that goes to the AC wall outlet (for security). All screws are assumed to be M3, typ. 8mm for metal/plastic. To conclude, with a cutter, I removed a small rectangular piece of the lamp, at the bottom, so that the electric wire may go out. I did not model this hole as I was afraid it could be incompatible with Vase/Spiralize mode. I then inserted the base in the lamp (this was definitely non trivial). And I got my lamp ! Electricity is dangerous and can kill you. Do this at your own risk and only if you know what you are doing. Otherwise, just print the lamp itself and use a tea light.