3d printed lighting Archives - Perfect 3D Printing Filament

Twist Light Reinvents the Lighting Industry

What started out as an exploration into the flexible properties of different materials soon became a revolutionary product for Boston-based industrial designer Evan Gant. His design, the Twist Light, is a pendant light that transforms to adjust the brightness with a simple twist. At the start of his design process, Gant was making prototypes simply out of paper towel rolls. Then, seeing the product’s potential, he moved into using 3D printing to prototype the Twist Light.

“I started out trying to find a way to get some of my ideas out of my sketchbook and into a physical form,” Gant told Shapeways. “My first project was a printed ring for my wife as an anniversary present. Then I made a few items to use around the house before I decided to start selling some of my projects.”

From Paper Towel Rolls to 3D Printing

While using paper towel rolls was of help in the very beginning stages of the design process, Gant has now seen the many benefits to prototyping with 3D printing. In fact, he notes that using companies like Shapeways over traditional manufacturing methods — like injection molding — has proved to have many more benefits than expected.

Array pendant light made by Evan Gant, shop owner of OliveBird

Array by OliveBird

“It gives me an opportunity to try ideas out and get them in people’s hands rather than committing to a larger scale production. I also love that I can test out people’s interest in an idea and see what feedback I get from selling/sharing the ideas. It is very easy to make changes, or even scrap the idea and move on without feeling like I am too invested. My favorite part of the design process is iterating and seeing the reaction to ideas. In a traditional process (like injection molding), a large portion of your time is spent optimizing from a mold, finding a vender that will make you parts, doing quality control, etc. You often need to make a lot of compromises to your design in the end.”

Choosing 3D Printing Over Desktop Printing

On the flip side, Gant notes the benefits of using Shapeways over other 3D printing methods like desktop printing, saying, “I love having access to the variety of printing methods. I can switch between materials, colors build volumes, etc. If I had a home machine, I would have to stock the materials, maintain the machine and probably deal with a small build volume, or have a very expensive machine. Also, most of the affordable home machines are FDM, which is a great process but has limitations in terms of surface finish and level of detail.”

Twist pendant light made by Evan Gant, shop owner of OliveBird

Twist by OliveBird

The Twist Light is now in its 4th iteration and only getting better. Gant explains the constant need for it to be dimensionally accurate, as well as for it to have good aesthetics.

“Given that I would like to sell the ideas with no secondary finishes, I need the parts to look good when they come out of the printer, which is why I really like the durable and flexible plastics. It is cleaner than an FDM while being flexible and durable (obviously), and the cost per square inch is reasonable.”

As he moves forward with his product, Gant is excited to see it come to fruition. He applauds Shapeways for our customer service and low costs, among other benefits.

“I think that Shapeways is a very customer friendly service, easy to understand the costs and build limitations. The best part for me is the ease of which I can turn ideas around into something I can sell, which I can use to fund my next project. I have appreciated Shapeways sharing my projects in the past and driving more sales.”

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The post Twist Light Reinvents the Lighting Industry appeared first on Shapeways Magazine.

LRC Workshop Explores Potential of Using 3D Printing in the Lighting Industry

The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, headquartered in Troy, NY, is dedicated to the study of lighting and education in associated applications. This is a multi-faceted realm, including everything from how light affects human health, to issues in transportation, and advances in big industry like aerospace and construction. Recently, scientists there have been exploring the uses of new technology for commercial lighting—and how it can affect businesses. A recent discovery workshop, offered in cooperation with Carbon Group Global, brought together a wide range of companies to discuss the potential for 3D printing in lighting and related industries.

Participating companies included:

Acuity Brands Lighting
Current by GE
Desktop Metal
DSM
Eaton Corp.
Finelite
Focal Point
Henkel
HP
Hubbell Lighting
Lumileds
Stratasys
Tempo Lighting
Ultimaker
Carbon Group Global

“We are thrilled to host such a pioneering effort with industry leaders who have a shared vision of adopting 3D printing in the lighting and construction industries,” said LRC Director of Research Nadarajah Narendran, Ph.D., chief architect of the workshop.

According to a recent press release by LRC, this group plans to begin development on an ‘industry roadmap’ that will integrate 3D printing into multiple different areas, along with lighting, but with a strong focus on both building and construction

”We are steadily embarking on the fourth Industrial Revolution, which is enabling capabilities like additive manufacturing to be adopted rapidly, thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence, machine learning and enhanced connectivity,” said industry veteran Govi Rao, leader of the workshop.

Customization is one of the most obvious benefits for 3D printing in the lighting industry, along with the ability to create affordable prototypes and parts that can be made quickly on-site and on demand. LRC and the associated businesses working with them now see the future of 3D printing in lighting positively affecting everyone involved in the supply chain, along with translating further into accompanying applications like heat sinks, electrical traces, and optics.

“We are excited that the lighting industry is taking a proactive approach to integrate 3D printing into their operations. I am extremely optimistic about the possibilities enabled by 3D printing, specifically for the various stakeholders in the lighting value chain,” said Hugo da Silva, VP of Additive Manufacturing at DSM, a pioneer in 3D printing materials for more than 25 years.

3D printing has steadily been making its entry into construction, both residential and commercial, with massive forays also into the development and expansion of materials like concrete. Lighting is an industry that allows designers to bring forth style, color, and a wide range of fixtures in different shapes and materials, making it ripe for further exploration into 3D printing and other technologies appealing to commercial companies and DIY’ers, from pendant lighting to impressive installations. Find out more about current projects at progressive companies like the Lighting Research Company here.

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[Source / Images: Press release from Lighting Research Center]

Gantri Designers Continue Elevating Style with 3D Printed Lamps

While you may not think that a technology so often used by hobbyists to make small plastic toys could be responsible for the creation of elegant housewares, you would definitely be wrong. In 2017, London School of Economics graduate Ian Yang founded California-based housewares company Gantri, which is dedicated to selling beautiful 3D printed lamps made by designers from all around the world.

Yang told House Beautiful, “We believe that designs are more than objects—they represent the personal stories, inspirations and lives of the designer. We feature each designer because it provides context for how they arrived at their design and creates a human connection between the consumer and the designer—something that is sorely missing from the design world today.”

Konus

Each of the modern, stylish 3D printed lamps featured on Gantri are “a labor of love,” with their own unique backstories: the Lago lamp by Heitor Lobo Campos in Brazil was inspired by the texture of water, and the Konus lamp by Raphael Pangilinan was actually developed twenty years ago when the designer was a teenager in the Philippines.

“I didn’t have a lot of money, so I improvised using driftwood or pieces of metal. I first made Konus using bamboo, eventually moving on to hand-woven abacá fiber,” Pangilinan explained on the Gantri website. “I never manufactured it on a large scale because it would have taken forever.”

But thanks to Gantri’s 3D printing technology, the designer was able to take his modern lamp to the next level by producing it on a larger scale and selling it.

“I was especially fascinated by 3D printing, because even though it was mostly used by hobbyists at the time, I saw so much potential for it as a cost-effective, sustainable way to bring high-quality designs to life. So I started tinkering and researching for ways to make luxury 3D printed products, and that’s how the idea for Gantri was born,” Yang said.

The company’s technology is a little different than standard 3D printing. The company wanted a more efficient way to make better prints, so it got to work modifying existing 3D printing hardware to fit its needs.

Gantri also finishes its own lamps by hand-sanding each one, then protecting it from any potential scratches and UV damage by finishing it with a soft-touch matte paint, which is actually used most often on yachts; the matte also adds a little warmth to the lamp.

But neither of these two steps would be possible without the first – the company actually developed its own biodegradable 3D printing materials, which were designed specifically for use in its 3D printed lighting.

Yang said, “We worked with ColorFabb, a materials company in the Netherlands, to create two custom blends of corn-based PLA.

“We wanted to control the precise feel of our parts for our high-end customers. We’re comparing ourselves to traditional luxury goods after all!”

In addition, the company’s technology has managed to take the entire product development process and streamline it down from the typical 18-24 month timeline to just 14 weeks, which means that designers can bring their lamp designs to life and sell them much more quickly.

One of the coolest features Gantri offers is its new augmented reality view tool, which just launched in September and makes lamp shopping way easier.

“Visualize any of our lights in your space with augmented reality, right from your phone,” the Gantri website reads.

While browsing the Gantri website on Safari, any customer with an iPhone or iPad running iOS 12 can use the device’s camera to get a good visual of how a particular product would look in their home, without needing to download any additional apps.

Gantri is also planning on introducing some new lighting categories for its customers to browse, as well as unveiling an improved Create Hub, so more designers can make their lamps a reality this year.

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Gantri’s Artistic Lamps Illuminate the Possibilities of 3D Printing

From left to right, the Zeppelin (by L.A.–based Chris Granneberg), the Float (by Milan-based Viviana Degrandi), and the Model TL2 (a Gantri original)

There’s nothing like a good lamp to really tie a room together, and 3D printing has opened up the floodgates for the creation of some very cool lamps. Ian Yang, founder of Gantri, loves 3D printed lamps – so much so that he started a company dedicated to them. Gantri is officially a housewares company, but lighting and lamps are a focal point, and they’re all 3D printed by designers from around the world. The company launched last year with a collection of 30 3D printed lamps, all for less than $200.

The hard part is deciding which lamp you want to accent your home – they’re all fascinating to look at. There’s Iceberg by Hannah Fink, which looks, you guessed it, just like an iceberg. Or you can go with Arco by Arielle Pollock, which resembles a large crystal stood on its end. If you want a more traditional look, there’s the elegant Paris by Javier Martinez, or if lanterns are your thing, you might like 7th Order by HEWN. No matter your taste, you’re likely to find something that suits you and your decor – and you’re supporting independent designers.

3D printing, as Gantri illustrates, allows for some pretty intricate, neat designs, and it also helps designers get their designs off the ground much more quickly. Traditional manufacturing processes usually require 18 to 24 months to launch a new product, but Gantri, using 3D printing, can have a product ready in about 12 to 14 weeks.

Yang studied at the London School of Economics before moving to San Francisco and joining an open-access studio where he began learning about 3D printing, laser cutting, and other advanced manufacturing techniques. He was especially taken with 3D printing, and within two years he had launched Gantri, which is dedicated to using the technology to create unique and affordable functional art.

Sopp Table Light by Kiyv, Ukraine–based architect Max Voytenko

While 3D printing opens up new possibilities for lighting design, and makes it quicker and cheaper than traditional production techniques, it’s still quite a challenge. When asked why he decided to start with lighting, Yang replied:

“Because it’s so hard to do! It’s a perfect example of the problem we’re trying to solve.”

Gantri’s designers hail from all over the world; there are artists from North America, Brazil, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and the Ukraine. Each brings a distinctive vision to the table; you won’t find anything like most of these lamps at IKEA. All of Gantri’s lamps are 3D printed from sustainable PLA and are available in shades of white, gray and black. There’s something surreal and futuristic-looking about many of them, which perfectly illustrates the futuristic technology from which they were made. Put a Gantri lamp in your home, and you definitely will have a conversation-starter.

Currently, the design submission process is invite-only, but Yang wants to open it up in the future.

“We attract designers who really want to build their design brands,” he said. “One day we want to support everybody.”

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[Source: Architectural Digest/Images: Gantri]