[Matt] was looking for a project for his senior industrial design studio at Wentworth Institute of Technology. He ended up designing a clever lamp that can be flat packed. [Matt] started by drawing out designs on paper. He really liked the idea of combining curves with straight lines, but he wanted to translate his two-dimensional drawings into a three-dimensional shape.
Having access to a laser cutter made the job much easier than it could have been and allowed [Matt] to go through many designs for the lamp frame. The two main pieces were cut from acrylic and include mounting pegs for the elastic bands. The two plastic pieces are designed to slot together, forming a sort of diamond shape.
The final version of the lamp required that the elastic bands had holes punched in them for mounting. The holes were placed over the small pegs to keep the bands in place. [Matt] used 3/4″ industrial elastic bands for this project. He then used a 120V 15W candelabra light bulb to illuminate the lamp. The final design is not only beautiful, but it can be flat packed and manufactured inexpensively.
If you want more inspiration for artistically designed lamps check out this one that uses the corrugation in cardboards as a shade pattern.
[via reddit]
Well done! A piece of art!
Elastic bands tends to leave a mess after a long while. It either dries up flakes or melts into a gooey mess.
That’s why he should have used Sour Apple Laffy Taffy instead of rubber bands.
I recently had that with an enclosure with a rubberized coating, after many years it suddenly turned into a sticky unpleasant goo.
And I recall having that before. And it’s funny because it happens rather suddenly after quite a few years.
Now I need to find how to get rid of the rubber but leave the plastic onto which it is applied nice and intact, which isn’t as easy as it sounds, I tried various compounds and it either is bad for the underlying plastic or it doesn’t do anything to the goo.
I’m trying to find a concise way to query a search engine so I get some relevant ideas.
Looks very nice. What does it look like when folded?
Flat. Very, very flat.
The chnese already invented flat lights thousands of years ago of course https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_lantern
This is very cool!
string drawings for the 21st century!
groovy man!
The final version of the lamp required that the elastic bands had holes punched in them for mounting.
Why did it require holes to be punched? Was there no better or easier way to do this?
Why not use LEDs instead of a 15W bulb?
>Why did it require holes to be punched? Was there no better or easier way to do this?
At first I thought you meant his prototype version that has holes on the outer edges, but it looks to be how he chose to terminate each section, two holes on the front and back edges, figure out a better mechanism and you could do away with that requirement, but it makes sense why. With any sort of full bar clamp, have fun holding 9 rubber bands under tension all in the right position then screwing it together.
This is a really amazing design and use of materials. :)
Great open documentation. AND showcase of construction and assembly!
The rubber bands seem to give a nice warm glow, I don’t know if I’m seeing some opaque diffusion of light through them or reflection of fresh new rubber bands but it looks awesome.
Thrift store raid? Some empty picture frames? and Flat Braided Wire or maybe a roll of Decorative Metallic Ribbon? Maybe even cloth elastic used for underwear (spray paint something glossy after assembly for a nice finish).
Nice, and pleasing design to the eye.
I’m rather worried though on the longevity of the elastic bands.
Rubber tends to deteriorate with time, and accelerated by light and heat.