October 17, 2025
Description
This is my DIY Minecraft Ore Lamp, a project which includes 3D printing, electronics and concrete molding.
I saw a lot of 3d printed ore lamps, but I didn't really like the look of the layer lines, so I thought why not print the molds and pour concrete, like basically stone. I know that there is a model on cults for like 7€, but I didn't feel like spending money because I still needed 4 more sides and different Dimensions than the pre-made one provided.
The Lamp is around 200x200x200mm big, sadly quite heavy with the concrete at around 5kg (you probably could get away with pouring smaller slabs, my sides are around 12.5mm thick which is probably overkill for a lamp), and the lighting is based of a ESP32 running the great open-source LED controlling programm WLED, and a old RGB LED board I got from an old USB-Disco ball thingy. Between the LED and the ESP sits per RGB channel a small mosfet module since the esp can't supply the current the LED needs.
Powering the whole Lamp is a small USB-C PD trigger module, meaning the Lamp can be powered from every USBC Source, doesnt matter if from just a 5v power supply or a 100W one.
For the concrete, I used Estrich-Beton (at least that's what it's called in Germany), at around 150-160ml water per KG of Concrete, but doing it again I'd add more water to make less bubbles appeare. The molds are printed with normal Supports, but settings the spacing between supports and model to 0mm, as the support uses less filament as making a “whole” model with a bottom layer.
Of course, just following the small directions I gave here won't result in a perfect first try, you probably still have to experiment a bit but it's worth it in the end and if anyone want's to build it or needs different files as the non-negative molds, feel free to reach out and ask specific questions about anything considering this build :)
License:
Creative Commons — Attribution — Noncommercial