Spiral Led Lamp

I did find a USB LED strip of 50cm for a bargain price and decided to do something with it. I ended up with this lamp.

Used a proximity switch that I had lying around and added a 2nd USB cord that I also had lying around.

Spraypainted the base with chrome spray for a luxurious look.

The controller of the LED strip is integrated and connected to the Spiral in one of the uprights. I covered the buttons with the spray paint. The rest is spraypainted to allow the controller to blend into the design.

Video

Printing

I printed the base with FDM in PLA white.
Nozzle 0.4, layerheight 0.2 and infil 30%, no support.

I did a testprint with the same settings for the Spiral, but was not that satisfied with the result. (use support for bed only!).
Since I own a Resin printer, I decided to use it for the Spiral. Used my Photon Mono SE for it.

Although I chose to use my resin printer for the Spiral, it can be printed with an FDM printer (PLA/PETG). It just might require a little more attention for a smooth finish.

Parts

I used a (waterproof) USB led strip, from a local store.
It is 50cm and has an intergrated controler built-in between the strip and the cord.
You can use other led strips*, the inner length of the Spiral is about 50cm.
Use only the waterproof version! For those without a protective layer of the LEDs, the LEDs can break off during mounting!

* see added bases.

For the proximity sensor I used below pictured sensor. There are 2 versions, I used the multi-mode one. With the use of the led-strip, the dimming function does not work, but the on-off switching worked well. To be sure you can use the on-off limited function one. They are widely available on aliexpress or amazon and cost about a dollar.

For the USB cable I used a silver one, once ordered at aliexpress.
The silver fits well with the chrome sprayed base.

Assembly

To assemble the lamp, you first need to get the LED strip in the Spiral. Do not remove the protective strip from the adhesive layer!
Because no support can be used on the inside of the Spiral (don't do this!) the inside is a bit rough. This makes fitting the LED strip somewhat difficult, despite the fact that it has more than enough space around it. There is a lot of friction due to the length of 50 cm.

It took some figuring out, but after trying different ways, here's the best solution:

• Use a tyrap of sufficient length (be aware that it can curl up internally) or glue several in a row, which is what I did. Provide a length of 60-70cm. Push it all the way through until the end sticks out the other side. You can give the tip a slight bend so it moves easier thrue the Spiral.
• Drill a small hole in the end of the protruding tyrap.
• Attach a fishing line with sufficient length (±150cm!) to the tyrap
• Gently pull the tyrap back so that the fishing line is sticking out on both sides and cut the tyrap from the fishing line.
• Drill a small hole in the end of the led strip.
• Attach the fishing line to the LED strip with a noose so that you pull on the perimeter of the LED strip.
• Now grease the LED strip with vaseline or other lubricant. This is really necessary!
• Now pull the LED strip through the Spiral using the fishing line. You will notice that this becomes increasingly difficult and at the end the LED strip moves more slowly. Continue to apply a constant pulling force until the LED strip is completely in the Spiral.
• Cut the fishing line loose, but leave enough length so that you can still position the LED strip.

Place the beginning of the Spiral (where the LED strip goes in) on the leg of the base with the hole for the wiring. Glue it with enough glue.

Now place the other end in the recess on the leg of the base that does not have a hole in it. You can tension the LED strip by pulling the fishing line. Glue it including fishing line.

When the glue has hardened, cut away the last bit of fishing line.

Feed the connecting wire of the LED strip through the hole in the base. (cut off any USB plug).

Connect the LED strip to the sensor by soldering. Note the + and -.

Connect the USB connection cable to the input side of the sensor by soldering (also applies here: cut off any micro-USB or USB-c plug)

Now place the sensor through the hole and lay the cabling through the existing channels. Secure by gluing if necessary.

New Bases for other controllers

Second Base

I added a second base with the proximity sensor cutout, but without the controller cutout. So you can use a standard LED strip. In the base at the bottom an extra recess / cut out to e.g. to fit a bluetooth or RF controller. The leg of the base through which the connecting wires must run have a hole of Ø6, which is enough to feed the connection wires of the LED strip through.

File is called: [ Base (proximity & controller bottom).stl ]

For printing use support for the cut-out!

If you add a separate LED controller using the proximity switch, be sure to place the controller AFTER the proximity switch!

Secure the controller with a little drop of glue.

Third Base

I added a third base with the same modification as above, but without a recess in the base for a proximity switch. (the cleanest model).
The cut-out for the controller is bigger, so you can also fit a WIFI controller. Please measure the wifi controller first, before printing, since I had none here to check.
If it's the right measurement let me know, if it's wrong also, so I can make a modification.

File is called: [ Base (cut-out controller bottom).stl ]

For printing use support for the cut-out!

Secure the controller with a little drop of glue.

Different controllers

To give an idea for different controllers you can use see image below.
Please note that you have to solder them to a cable for the leds and to a USB cable for the power supply. Because most controllers are also suitable for higher voltages, you can also use a different power source.

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If there are any other wishes or ideas, please let me know and I will look what I can do.

If you like this model or other models available for free by me, you can show your appreciation by giving a small tip. Designing these models requires many hours of work, multiple proto prints and materials. By supporting me I can continue to make my designs available for free.