Vega - The LED-lit Christmas Star

Description

With Creative Tools 3D-printable Vega Xmas Star we want to honor the winners of The Nobel Prize in Physics 2014.

Without the hard and tenacious work of Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura, today we wouldn't have efficient LED lights or HD flatscreen television sets, computers and mobile devices.

The 3D-files for Creative Tools 3D-printable Vega Xmas Star are therefore designed to enclose a standard and commonly available LED light strip.

FEATURES

Modular five-pointed star made of 5 identical parts
Short segments of 1.75 mm filament hold the parts together (no glue required!)
Ventilation holes provide cooling airflow
Wall-mount included for horizontal or vertical attachment
Wall-mount allows cable rotation adjustment to easily align star parallel to wall or window.
Adapted for LED strips 8 x 3 x 1000 mm (12 V, 0.5 A).
STL-files

We provide the star tips as follows:

Single tip: Vega_The_LED-lit_Christmas_Star_v04.stl
Build plate for Replicator 2 (4 tips in one print): Vega_-The_LED-lit_Christmas_Star(Build_plate_-Replicator_2-4pcs).stl
Build plate size 200 x 200 mm (3 tips in one print): Vega-The_LED-lit_Christmas_Star(Build_plate_-RepRap.s_200x200mm-3pcs).stl
Joint assembly view: Vega-The_LED-lit_Christmas_Star(assembly_-Joint).stl
Fully assembled star with five tips: Vega-The_LED-lit_Christmas_Star(assembly).stl
Mount for hanging star on horizontal surface: Cable_wall_mount_(horizontal).stl
Mount for hanging star on vertical surface: Cable_wall_mount_(vertical).stl
Demonstration of wall mount positions and assembly: Cable_wall_mount_(assembly).stl
DISCLAIMER

We have successfully used this star with standard low-power LED strips for indoor use. Please refer to the your LED light source manual and follow all safety instructions.

PRINT SETTINGS

We recommend 3D-print operators to use transparent PLA plastic filament. Two (2) shells/perimeters are sufficient for strength. For faster prints “rough” resolution at 0.3 or 0.4 can be used and there is no need for infill. You can print at zero (0) percent infill. Turn off support structures. The top section of the star segments are closed automatically via “bridging”. These settings are for filament-based FFF-3D-printers only.

MATERIAL CONSUMPTION

Roughly 70 grams of filament in total. Since the design does not need support structures, no material is wasted.

MAKE IT IN COLOUR!

You can 3D-print in different plastic filament colours. The modular tips of the star also allow for variations in colour per tip. Colour variations can also be achieved by using LED light strips with an RGB colour control.

About this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2014/

Instructions

Refer to the following STL-files for a 3D-visualisation of the assembled star.

Vega_-The_LED-lit_Christmas_Star(assembly_-Joint).stl
Vega-The_LED-lit_Christmas_Star(assembly).stl
Cable_wall_mount_(assembly).stl
Steps

3D-print all parts with 2 shells/perimeters and no infill.
You can choose to 3D-print one tip at a time or use the ready-made supplied build plates with 3 and 4 tips.
Use a rough resolutions of 0.3 or 0.4 mm to decrease print time. Fine layer resolution is not relevant for this (and most) 3D-printed objects.
We recommend transparent clear PLA plastic. Use any colour if you prefer a certain hue for your star.
Place all five 3D-printed tips on a flat table surface and orient them the same way as they where on the 3D-printers build plate.
Make sure all the male-female joints fit together and are correctly aligned.
Insert the loose end of the LED strip into the tip of one star segment. Push it all the way through until it comes out of the other end of the segment.
While all five segments are still loose and separate from each other on the table, continue to thread the LED strip through each segment until you reach the same tip where you started. This tip will be the one from which the star hangs.
Attach two segments and make sure the male-female joint fits snuggly. Then insert two pieces of left-over 1.75 mm filament, preferably of the same colour as your 3D-printed star tips.
Make sure two filament pieces are pushed all the way through to the bottom of the holes.
Use a sharp knife and make a small cut flush with the top surface of the star.
Bend the remaining part of the filament until it brakes.
Repeat this for the remaining parts until the star is completely assembled.
DO NOT try to cut the filament completely with a knife. You will hurt yourself! Just make an indentation and then bend the filament. It will snap easily.
Use your preferred wall-mount attachment for the cable to hang the star in place.
Leave the star hanging for some time for the cable to "untwist" and find it final resting position. Then gently and slowly twist the rotational part of the wall-mount to make sure the star rests parallell to your wall or window.
Don't remove the adhesive protection film from the LED-strip. This makes the strip slide easily through the star.