What is a Prusa I3 MK3S+? 3D-print fans know this of course. For everyone else: This is the latest version of a very good 3D printer designed by Josef Prusa and his team in Czech Republic.

Hello, a very short blog post this week. I always have my glasses lying around somewhere. So it was time to design a 3D printed holder for my glasses.

I was asked by a good friend if I could make 3D printed atoms on my printers to create molecule structures. I said to him: There must be plenty of kits for sale everywhere on line. The issue he has is that the existing kits are not really representative and most of the are kits with sticks and spheres, or some of them have spheres with one or more flat surfaces. He wanted just spheres with some kind of connection.

IKEA hacks. Some of you have heard of them. Hack sounds bad, but this isn’t bad at all. We’re not hacking into a computer or server. We are improving their design according to our own wishes. Look it up online; ‘IKEA Hack’. You will find a lot of interesting things, made by creative minds. This is the Ikea Melodi 28cm lamp Hack, improving a boring hanging lamp.

I am renovating my kitchen and I needed a new ceiling lamp. The old one was probably hanging in my kitchen for 45+ years. I couldn’t really find what I wanted, or it was too expensive.

So I bought the cheapest IKEA lamp — the IKEA Melodi — and it was discounted too. I had it for 8€. But then you really buy the most boring lamp you can imagine.

Let’s hack the lamp and make it a bit less boring! This requires some imagination, 3D design software, and a 3D printer. I designed a few rings for the lamp itself and for the ceiling fixtures. A few small bits and pieces later I came to my definite design.

Needed to drill 8 holes (6mm diameter) in the lampshade, put all the pieces together and ready we are.

Are you interested in printing this ‘hack’ yourself? Click here to download the zip file. This file contains all the STL files you need, as well for the Melodi and the extra ceiling fixture. You might need this depending on your situation.

The design I made wasn’t possible to print the big ring in one piece due to limitations of my 3D printer, so I created 4 quarters.

The parts you need to print:

Be careful with the pins, they are very delicate, but all should be fine. Print a few extra in case they break. First put the outer pins in the ring and then seal it by pushing the inner pin from the inside of the ring. As finishing touch put the 4 clips on the joints of the 4 quarters.

The optional parts for the extra ceiling fixture:

Convert the .stl files to Gcodes with your favourite Slicer and your desired filament settings.

Have fun creating this hack in the color of your choice. Until next time,
ロナルド

2020, the year I was almost completely unemployed! But something magic happened. I discovered Matt Denton’s YouTube Channel. What the bleep was this guy doing? He was printing #megaLego. The most interesting item he designed was a Lego Inspired 3D printed clock. How amazing is this! I have a 3D printer, I had it already since 2018, but not really found a good purpose for it. I designed and printed stuff for in and around my house, but that was it.