Warp Core Table Lamp

thingiverse

This is really a "Make" post, but it's posted as a "Remix" because minor changes were made to two parts and Thingiverse won't let me attach the revised STLs on a "Make" post. Only those (2) parts are included here. Please refer to the original thing for all other components. This was a challenging project. The parts are large, with some taking 4-6 hours EACH to print. Silver ABS was used for the structure, and white (Natural) HIPS for the lights. Initially, transparent ABS was tried for the lights, but had significant problems with shrinkage causing the lowest ring of the light to be distorted during the print. Moving to the white HIPS mostly resolved that issue. Transparent PETG also printed perfectly, but didn't like the "shiny" or "wet" appearance of the PETG for this project. The Natural HIPS does a good job of light transmission and looks more authentic than the transparent ABS or PETG. See it in action at: https://youtu.be/F7alNxlbV9E A re-design was done to the warp core plug. The original was too small (gaps around it), and the brace that connects the two halves was too long which prevented it from being fully inserted into its receptacle. So, a new model was made that is larger, but with a shorter connecting brace. It is now just large enough that (with a little sanding) it is a press-fit and no glue is required. A minor re-design was done to the core "window" lights (MARC_Lights). The original was narrow and left some gaps unless perfectly centered, and had to be glued in place (difficult when working on the inside of the warp chamber, what with all that radiation). The lights were made taller to eliminate gaps, and a "tab" was added at one end. The tab fits into the narrow opening of the MARC, closest to the Warp Plug. This allows the part to "snap in" tight, and no glue is required. These parts should be printed WITH SUPPORT (a very small amount at each end) due to the overhangs created by the width increase and added tab. The big missing feature of the entire original design is some kind of mechanical alignment between major pieces, but didn't attempt a re-design for that. All components just "stack" flush on top of one another, without any kind of tab/slot or post/hole features to stabilize or align the parts. I hope someone with the time and skill will consider re-designing the major pieces to have "holes" in the horizontal mating surfaces that match to the ends of the "post" support beams, allowing the whole assembly to fit together and self-align. Thanks to the original designer, ThePlanetMike, for the idea and the time spent on the original design -- and for sharing with nerds of the world! Print Settings Printer Brand: LulzBot Printer: Mini Rafts: No Supports: Yes Resolution: .25 layer, .5 nozzle Infill: 25% on supports, 15% on others Notes: The Warp Core Lights, Warp Core Supports, and Reactor Plug can be printed without support. At least with ABS, I needed a little support for overhangs on the Warp Reactor, Base, Matter Injector, and Reactor Core lights in order to get clean prints. I also had a minor problem with the "Light_Positioner" components. These are intended to keep the LED tubes together in a "bundle", but found the holes for the LED tubes to be too large. Rather than a re-design, I used the "horizontal size compensation" feature in the Simplify3D slicer to "inflate" the part by 1mm. This made the internal holes smaller, so the LED tubes were a tight fit and stayed in place without gluing. It also made the external diameter larger, but it was still small enough to fit inside the other components easily. How I Designed This