Moon Lamp

Reading time ~2 minutes

Disclaimer. The moon is not my model, I got it from moononournation over at Thingiverse. The rest of the project is all made by me.


Bill of Materials

  1. 1 m of white sleeved cable
  2. 12 mm 230V latch button
  3. 220lm LED 230V - warm white
  4. E27 socket
  5. EU style plug
  6. "Lüsterklemmen" - insulating screw joints

bom


The hard Part
I bought a 150x150x150mm (LxBxH). For the moon lamp I just needed a 55 mm high wood stock - I don't have a bandsaw or something comparable, so I had to break out the japanese handsaw. The saw is very flexible, which caused the cut to become kinda uneven.

wood_prepare mill_surface_2


Milling

  1. Facing the top: My small hobby mill was not large enough, so I had to mount the stock in a way which allowed me to face off the first half and flip it around 180° and repeat the facing operation.

mill_surface

  1. Center hole:
    The first cut was with a two flute 20 mm end mill, which had to be enlarged with a custom-made boring bar with an HSS insert.

hole_boring_2 hole_boring hole_boring_3 hole_borin_fineshed

Once I reached the correct diameter to fit the E27 socket, a quick fitment check was made, and I flipped the part around to machine the underside.

light_mount_installed

  1. Underside:
    The underside had some requirements which needed to be fulfilled - host the power button, and route the cables.
    After some testing, I knew how to place the cables and button, so I milled the channels and pockets.

mill_1 underside_routed_1 knob_fitment knob_fitment_2


Electronics

  1. Preparing the cable and plug:
    The sleeved cable started to fray on the end. To prevent further fraying some heat was necessary followed by wrapping the end in electric tape.
    The plug was just 3 screws, so nothing too difficult. My amateur wiring skills passed the check, so I continued to finish the wood base with some radii.

cable_1 bulb_socket lighting_test

Wood stain
I got just some generic stain which I found in my local hardware store and gave the wood base 3 coats with a thick soft brush. After 24 hours, I finished the base off with 3 coats of clear coat.
Don't get irritated by the spotty stain, this picture is with only one coat of wood stain.

pre_stained stained

Finishing
The last step was to implement some sort of cable strain relieve, which I drew in my CAD of choice - Fusion360, and printed on my FDM Printer.

cable_relieve

Money shot
The white balance is a bit off. The moon is much more yellow than it seems.

moneyshot_2 moneyshot_1