Voronoi Tea Light Shade (OpenSCAD)

I created a tea light shade, to experiment with InkScape Voronoi extension.

The shade can be lift to access the candle.

I'm not sure it's a good idea to put a candle in a PLA box. The plastic might melt. I will have to experiment with it.

WARNING: Please, use aled candle light. If you really want to experiment with a real candle, do not leave it unattended.

[2017-07-19]: Increased the clearance to fit the box on the base. It was too tight.

[2017-07-29]: Fix the OpenSCAD file to work better with the Thingiverse Customizer tool.

Print Settings

Printer Brand:

Prusa

Printer:

Rafts:

No

Supports:

Resolution:

0.1mm

Infill:

Notes:

Base:

The base is upside down. There is quite large bridging over the candle hole. My printer handled it pretty well. If you have issues with bridging, you might want to enable supports for that hole.

Box:

The shade box has very little surface contact with the bed. I gave it a try without brim or raft. It worked without problem. Although, the box was a 15 hours print at 0.1mm layer height. You might want to use brim to avoid issues. I also noticed some strange over-extrusion patterns inside the box. I believe those could be reduce by printing it at a 45 degree angle, which would use both X and Y motors to print the lines (using an i3 printer). That's what my printer do to print surfaces.

How I Designed This

I made the Voronoi patterns using InkScape and dnewman's extension: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:25036

1. In InkScape, make a new document 100mm x 100mm.
2. Draw a small dot using the ellipse tool.
3. Copy / Paste the dot at random location in the document.
4. Create the Voronoi pattern:
   • Select all
   • Extensions > Generate from Path > Voronoi Diagram...
5. Select and delete all the dots.
6. Select the Voronoi pattern, ungroup it (Object > Ungroup).
7. Change the stroke size. I choose 5mm.
8. Make polygons from the lines (Path > Stroke to path)
9. Merge the polygons (Path > Union)
10. Remove excess
    • Create a square using the square tool
    • Select the square and change its properties at the top (X: 0, Y:0, W: 100mm, H: 100mm)
    • Select all (Ctrl+A), trim (Path > Intersect)
11. Export as OpenSCAD file using dnewman extension (Extensions > Generate from Path > Paths to OpenSCAD...)
12. Open the generated file and extract the polygons.

Category: Decor