I've previously made lamps like this by gluing a test-tube into a lamp base with two part resin, but it was always tricky keeping the tube straight and fully pressed in against air pressure while waiting for the glue to cure.
This approach uses a simple 3D adaptor to make it easy to fit the tube over the electronics, while providing extra insulation that extends down into the base and allowing pressure equalisation if something fails in the tube. (Noting that there's always a possibility of broken glass if something fails as with traditional lamps.)
The circuitry is a simple classic capacitive dropper, and I ended up managing to fit in about 26 RGB slow colour changing straw-hat style LEDs. Note that it's better to use the slow change RGB LEDs instead of the fast flashing ones as there will be a high open circuit voltage across a flashing LED while it's not lit and that might damage it. You could also use standard LEDs for continuous illumination. The light only uses about 1W of power, so it's more for decorative use than room lighting.
Here's the text file that you should hopefully be able to copy and paste into openSCAD.
//Test tube lamp to base adaptor. Big Clive 4th Jan 2020.
difference(){
union(){
//We start by adding solid objects to make the overall shape.
//Larger upper cylindrical section that goes into base.
//25mm (12.5mm radius) to fit existing lamp base.
translate([0, 0, 0])
cylinder(h = 10, r1 = 12.5,r2 = 12.5);
//Smaller cylindrical section that goes into lower base area.
translate([0, 0, -10])
cylinder(h = 8, r1 = 10.5,r2 = 10.5);
//Slight taper section between two cylindrical sections.
//(Mainly for support during printing.)
translate([0, 0, -2])
cylinder(h = 2, r1 = 10.5,r2 = 12.5);
// Squashed sphere to create rounded rim.
translate([0, 0, 12])
scale([1, 1, 0.33])
sphere(r=15);
}
//Now we're removing bits from the solid object.
//18.5mm (9.25mm radius) hole through middle for test tube.
translate([0, 0, -14])
cylinder(h = 50, r1 = 9.25,r2 = 9.25);
//Slight inner recess at top to hide oozed glue.
translate([0, 0, 9])
cylinder(h = 10, r1 = 10.5,r2 = 10.5);
}
openSCAD is a script based CAD system that lets you build printable objects based on adding and subtracting just a few solid objects like cubes, cylinders and spheres. It sounds simple, but in reality it can create very complex objects, and because the file is a simple script you can change parameters easily to tweak a model to your own requirements.
Half of the script above is comments I've added to make it easier to understand.
An excellent starting guide for openSCAD:-
cubehero.com/2013/11/19/know-...
The main openSCAD website for downloading the free software is here:-
www.openscad.org/
There's a version of openSCAD that can run in a browser, but it's not compatible with the file above.
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www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm
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12 янв 2020
