ECLIPSE - Floating Sphere String Art Lamp

ECLIPSE - a sphere that floats on light

A dark, cratered sphere hangs in mid-air, held only by 588 printed strings. Three crescent blades rise from the base and each one throws a fan of strings at the sphere. Every layer turns a little, so the fans twist into curved sails. From above they read as a pinwheel, and at night a tea light glows through a clear dome under the eclipse and lights up every string.

IMPORTANT: PRINT WITH SUPPORT MATERIAL (FILAMENT 3)

- The 3MF uses 3 filaments: dark, light and Bambu Support for PLA/PETG.

- The support material forms a thin 0.6 mm layer at the two places where the built-in support tower touches the print: under the sphere, and in the middle of the tower.

- With it, the tower pops off and the layer peels off the sphere by hand. Without it, the tower fuses to the sphere and is very hard to remove.

- Load Support for PLA/PETG in your AMS as filament 3. It is already assigned to the same nozzle as the strings, so the print has only 1 filament change.

- Do not swap filament 3 for PLA, and do not turn on slicer supports.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

- ECLIPSE_X2D.3mf: ready to print, 2 plates. Plate 1 is the sculpture, plate 2 is the clip-in light dome.

- ECLIPSE_test_sector_X2D.3mf: one blade and a slice of the sphere with the same strings, tower and support material (about 7 h). Print this first if you have never printed bridged strings.

- STL files for every part, split by filament.

SIZE

- 210 mm tall, base 160 mm wide. Fits any 256 x 256 mm printer.

- About 15 h 10 min for the sculpture plus 20 min for the dome.

- About 292 g dark + 14 g light filament + 6 g Support for PLA/PETG.

WHAT YOU NEED

- Dark PLA (base, blades, sphere, support tower), white or ivory PLA (strings, dome), and Bambu Support for PLA/PETG.

- An AMS or another way to print 3 filaments.

- One LED tea light (see below).

LED TEA LIGHT (where to buy in the US)

- One standard battery LED tea light. Search "LED tea lights flameless" on Amazon, Walmart or Lowe's. Packs of 12 or 24 are cheap.

- Size: 1.5 in (38 mm) wide. The base fits lights up to 39 mm wide, with the body up to 24 mm tall and up to 42 mm (1.65 in) tall including the plastic flame.

- Battery: CR2032 coin cell (usually included).

- Colour: warm white, 2700-3000 K, looks best on the strings.

- Pick a steady light, or one whose flicker can be switched off. Remote-control or timer packs are handy: the light sits under the sculpture.

- Avoid 2-battery tea lights: they are taller and will not fit under the dome.

PRINT SETTINGS (already set in the 3MF)

- Filament 1 dark, filament 2 light, filament 3 Support for PLA/PETG. On dual-nozzle printers the strings and the support material share the direct-drive nozzle.

- Layer height 0.2 mm, Arachne walls, 4 walls, 10% infill.

- Slicer supports OFF. The model has its own two-piece support tower that stands on the plate on a wide foot under the base and cradles the sphere.

- Strings at 20 mm/s, fan 100%, no wipe, 0.8 mm retraction.

- The slicer warns about a "floating cantilever". That is expected: the sphere sits on the built-in tower and every string is anchored at both ends.

AFTER PRINTING

1. Lift the sculpture off the plate. The support tower comes with it.

2. Pull the lower part of the tower (wide foot and column) out from under the base. It pops off at the support-material disc.

3. The upper cradle is now loose under the sphere. Lower it and slide it out between two blades. Peel any support material left on the sphere off by hand.

4. Press the light dome into the round recess in the base. It sits flush with the flat top.

5. Switch on the tea light, put it on the table and set the sculpture over it.

TIPS

- Matte black or dark grey for the frame, white or ivory PLA (matte if you can) for the strings and dome.

- Dry filament gives cleaner strings. Keep the support material dry too.

- Keep the room draft-free while the strings print.

If you like ECLIPSE, please leave a Like and post a Make. It helps me keep designing free models.