New toys

This is an in-house prototype of the Kelvin Slider LED Lamp.

Materials: acrylic, birch veneer, europly, and steel hardware. Laser-etched.

This was done as an in-house project for a future production model. This prototype was being worked on for the IDEO quickie event on March 26, 2008

This particular lamp features both a cool and warm white Lamina Ceramics LED.

The lamp form is made from a piece of acrylic etched with a a wood pattern using a CO2 laser.

The etching is then back painted in order for the pattern to “pop” through the clear acrylic layer.

The form is then heated in order to be bent into shape.

I started out with a plastic travel mug. I happened to have a portable speaker for a iPod that fit perfectly.

I used a piece of silicone from another project to help to tighten up the fit.
Other than that, this was a super simple project.

I went to the TAP plastics to ask about fabrication. They told me that they
couldn’t do bends that were smooth and gradual; and what I was asking would
take about 2 hours @ $85/hr so…

I bought a piece of scrap acrylic (6″x 32″) from the cut bin for about $5,

Then I went next store and bought a Band It birch veneer from Discount Builder’s Supply for $19

I head home and began this:
First I used a heat gun to bend the acrylic into the shape you see. I didn’t take
much heat in order to get it soft.

The veneer I bought already had a paper backer with heat activated glue. All it
took was an iron (with a piece of foil to protect it) and a lot of pressure to get it
to stick to acrylic.

After that, I slapped on an Ikea LED strip light and took some vanity shots.

This is the form for a project that I am working on that will involve a recycled PETG panel and some high powered LED light engines with color selectable light temperature, on the cheap and analog no less. They have light output that can compete with 50w Halogen bulbs. So stay tuned for more.

P.S. Mouser.com order is coming Friday with parts!