My Stoopid Stuff
  • Home
  • Projects
  • Blog
  • Lec'tronics
  • Links
  • CNC
  • Quick Recipes
  • 3D Printer Tips

Lithophanes!

12/4/2021

0 Comments

 
Lithophanes (or "Lithopanes" as I have been known to incorrectly call them :-) are super easy to make, thanks to some cool web based tools which allow uploading an image, setting some parameters and they spit out a STL ready to slice.  I have never gotten into printing lithophanes until recently, since I thought they wouldn't look good, however, seeing some of the really good ones that are occasionally posted to reddit or thingiverse changed my mind on that.  People are getting amazing results with 0.1mm resolution prints.  There are many cool designs for illuminating lithophanes, but I could not find what I was looking for.

Recently I saw some GE LED "CoverLite" night lights, and thought they may be ideal as a lithophane light source.  I ordered some to test, and after removing the cover from the LED, I'm sure they will work now.  I'm working on a Star Wars themed lithophane to help celebrate a close relative's new baby, and it will be based off a GE CoverLite source. 

I'm printing the lithophane now, using an image that is 1300x864 pixels.  That size is just what I arbitrarily cropped the image to, and then designed the holder around the STL that was created (so if I use this again, I will need to start with the same size image if I want it to fit). 

I used these settings (see pics below) on https://3dp.rocks/lithophane/, and it created a lithophane that is an outward facing arc about 70mm tall and 94mm wide (tip to tip, not along the arc).  The first test lithophane which was generated looked great when I tried printing it, unfortunately I had used a wrong setting, thinking I could make a lithophane with a flat front face, however it would take way too much light for that to work, so I am using the design facing out for my next attempt.  One thing that was suggested in a video (sorry I lost the link otherwise I would credit the person), they said to set the "Image Setting" slider to "Positive Image", otherwise it would look like a negative image when backlit (I believe).    

These 3 images below are from https://3dp.rocks/lithophane/:
I'm still testing these settings however, and I need to print the holder and see if it will work, but I'm hopeful.  If it all works out, I may try a Christmas ornament or maybe a small desk lamp with some other pics of the new baby.  If it works out well enough to give it as a gift, I will post it up to Thingiverse or Prusa Printers with instructions on how to get a compatible lithophane to fit the holder.
I'm using some TacBears white PLA which is almost a milkjug white and I thought pretty much only good for lithophanes.  I would not recommend that filamaent otherwise, but it so far has been OK (I did have one clog on the 2nd test print though).  For the holder, I'm gonna use some Polymaker Glitter (Dark Blue) PLA which I got on a Cyber Monday sale for $23.99.

Update 12/9/2021: The test print is done and looks good, but I made some changes to help with fit, and need to test those changes before I can post it up.  Pics here.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Stoopid Me

    Welcome to my Stoopid corner of teh Internet.  It's mostly gonna be 3D printing stuff, but I also post some recipes, projects, and the occasional rant here as well.  More Stoopid stuff is updated regularly.

    I recently joined the Amazon Associate program, so some of the links on this site are Amazon affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.  This will help to support this site, and pay for more Stoopid Stuff.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    November 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

      Contact Form (Name is optional)

    Submit
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.