USB Campfire Lamp – Wood Logs and Translucent Flames

Bring a little campfire glow to your desk with this approximately 8-inch tabletop lamp. It combines a one-piece wood-look log base, removable translucent flames and a USB flickering LED.

Completed build

The lamp has been printed and assembled. The finished photos show the translucent flame fitted to the wood-look log base, the USB light illuminated, the removable flame, the secured bottom cover and the inline power switch. The alternate mount height has not been confirmed by this build.

Two mount heights

Both the short and tall breakout-board mounts are included in the complete project and as separate downloads. The short mount is 25 mm tall. The tall mount is 63.1 mm tall and raises the board an extra 1.5 inches (38.1 mm). Both use the same footprint, screw holes and board-gripping slots.

Choose the height that places your USB flame unit where you want it, and check clearance before assembly. You only need to print one mount. Both are separate objects on the cover-and-mount plate, so disable or remove the unused one before slicing. Other USB flame units may need different clearances; compatibility has not been confirmed.

Filaments

Logs: ELEGOO Wood PLA in Walnut Wood.

Flames: ELEGOO PLA Plus in Translucent.

Bottom cover and board mount: planned ELEGOO PETG in Black. The saved project uses the PETG Rapid preset for these parts.

Print settings

The project is set up for the Flashforge AD5X with a 0.4 mm nozzle and 0.20 mm layers. Bed glue was used.

Logs: 4 walls, 15% gyroid infill, 210°C nozzle for the first layer and 215°C after that, with a 55°C bed.

Flames: 3 walls, 5% honeycomb infill, 215°C nozzle for the first layer and 210°C after that, with a 60°C bed.

Cover and either mount: 2 walls, 35% honeycomb infill, 250°C nozzle and 80°C bed using the saved PETG Rapid preset.

Automatic tree supports are enabled. Inspect the slice before printing. The saved settings are included in the downloads; the completed build is shown in the photos; alternate mount configurations have not been validated. Reslice the complete project before printing, since its embedded preview images are from an earlier version.

Wood PLA speed and flow settings

Outer walls: 40 mm/s. Inner walls, sparse infill, internal solid infill, top surfaces, gap infill, supports and support interfaces: 60 mm/s.

First layer: 50 mm/s. First-layer infill: 80 mm/s. Travel: 500 mm/s. External bridges: 25 mm/s. Internal bridges: 50 mm/s. Small perimeters: 25 mm/s.

Maximum volumetric speed: 4 mm³/s. Flow ratio: 0.98. Retraction: 1.2 mm at 35 mm/s, with a 35 mm/s deretraction speed. Flow and cooling limits can reduce actual printing speeds. The detailed wood PLA settings download includes all saved speed, acceleration, jerk, fan, cooling, support and filament values, including the log-specific overrides.

Electronics and hardware

One USB-A female breakout board:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256810159117557.html

One USB cable with an inline on/off switch:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256808434067569.html

One USB flickering candle, in the Transparent-B option:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256812310018036.html

Six M3 countersunk screws are used: four for the bottom cover and two for the board mount. The measured screw-head diameter is 5.6 mm. Choose screw lengths to suit your parts; screw length is not specified here. The mount also uses two M3 nuts. Two small cable ties are included in the assembly plan for strain relief; their purchase has not been confirmed.

The bottom cover has six 90° countersinks with 6.4 mm openings and 3.4 mm through-holes, designed to let the screw heads sit flush underneath. The finished bottom-cover photo shows the installed screw heads. Do not put washers under the countersunk heads. The downloadable materials list includes the known design dimensions; purchased product variants and dimensions should be checked against your own parts.

Assembly

Remove supports and gently check the flame's locking tabs. Fit the breakout board into your chosen mount, then attach the mount to the bottom cover using two M3 screws and nuts.

With power disconnected, install the USB LED, insulate the connections and secure the cable jacket with strain relief. Check that everything has clearance, then attach the cover with four M3 screws. Insert the flame tabs and turn clockwise about 30° to the stop. A more detailed assembly guide is included in the downloads.

Use the intended 5 V USB LED. Never use a real flame, candle or mains wiring inside the lamp. Supervise the initial test and check for excessive heat or softened plastic. Long-term thermal performance has not been verified. Carry the lamp by the logs.

About the design

This project was created entirely in our design chats using ChatGPT-assisted parametric CAD.

If you enjoy the project and would like to support future designs, you can buy me a coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/jtm1816

Thank you!