Lola Sign Light

Bit of a niche one this!

Back in November I designed some decorative stars using little battery operated 20 LED light sets. But I accidentally bought a 25 LED set by mistake, and it had too many LEDs to fit! Rather than waste it, I decided to use it to make a name sign for my granddaughter (bet ya can't guess what her name is!!). I decided to go big with it, and this is the result.

It slides together easily, and is all retained in place with hollow locking pins that slide in (but still allow the cables to be routed to each individual letter). It's fairly solid, as is, but I made sure to use plenty of cynoacrylate glue too, because I wanted it to be strong enough for rough handling by a lively four year old.

After experimenting with a few small test pieces, I found I had issues with "elephant's foot" interfering with the joining of the parts. To counter this I chamfered the the backs of the letters on the print files. This reduced the "elephant's foot" enough so that it was no longer an issue.

I've also attached a picture showing how I provided strain relief for the wire after the filling plug was fitted. As you can see, I made a loose loop secured with a cable tie. I then passed another cable tie through the loop and locked it. This stops the loop being pulled out, and means the cable can only go so far before being stopped.

PRINTING

Everything was designed to make printing simple: The back of each letter sits straight onto on the print bed, as does the outside face of the letter fronts. This means these prominent surfaces have the best finish, and support isn't needed at all.

Print one of each letter and its associated front - remembering you need TWO "L" fronts! You will need 25 light beads, and one of each of the locking tubes and the cable hole plug.

Two of the locking tubes need rotating so that the lip is printed straight onto the print bed. The lip of the "O2" locking pin has to be printed other way up, and supported, as it can't sit on the bed where it's curved to fit the inside of the letter "O". It took me a couple of goes to get this to print correctly. This was a bit of a pain, but it's a quick print, and it's actually quite simple; just put the lip at the top on this one piece, and DON'T use tree support - it's not up to the job!

The light beads can be a bit tricky if your bed adhesion isn't as good as it should be. The stl file is for just one bead, but I did them in batches of five using the multiple print function of my slicer. I did have a mishap on one batch where just one bead came adrift, but it got stuck to the nozzle, leaving me with a large splodge of PLA on the print head, and nothing but spaghetti on the print bed!

ASSEMBLY

Assemble all of the letter bodies or shells in the correct order. They only fit together one way so you can't get this wrong. I used plenty of CA glue on the interlocking parts for extra strength.

You can put the locking tubes in at this stage - if you prefer - or else you can wait and do it after you feed the LED wire through to each letter (the tubes are slotted to allow either technique). I chose to do the tubes afterwards because I have bananas for fingers! Whichever you choose, glue them in.

Once this is all done, and all the CA glue has dried, you need to feed the LED wire through the entry hole in the letter "A", and then onwards through the holes connecting to the next letter along until you reach the first "L".

I found it helpful to fit the LEDs with the batteries fitted and switched on as it helps with getting the best depth for the LEDs.

Starting at the top of the first "L", you need to glue the LEDs into the letter face (or lens) and make sure they are secure. Then glue the light beads to the front panel of this piece.

Don't glue the front panel down until all LEDs and light beads for that letter are secure. You can then put CA glue onto the ledge on the letter frame and push the front panel into place. You may need to use clamps (or some sort of weights etc) to hold the front panel down, as the springiness in the LED's wire will try to push it back off the letter body.

Next is the letter "O". You'll need to experiment to get the best cable route to ensure that there's enough wire on the last LED to reach its position on the following letter with enough slack. I had to skip holes and double back in a couple of places to make it all work out, but it does work. Don't worry; it's not rocket science! When you're happy with your route, glue the LEDs in and the light beads.

When they've dried, glue the lens in like you did with the first letter - Don't forget to clamp!

Now follow the same system for the second letter "L", clamping again till it's properly stuck.

Finally you reach the last letter. Once again, plan the cable route, then glue the LED's and light beads as you did before. Don't glue the face in until you fit (and glue) the cable exit plug and the strain-relief cable ties. You can't fit these afterwards! Once completed, you can glue the letter's face on. Don't forget to clamp, because this one is extra springy thanks to the sheer quantity of LED wires.

FINISHED. YAAAYYY!

I think that's everything covered. So I hope this is of use to somebody out there. But even if it isn't, it's the largest thing I've printed so far, and this gives me my opportunity to show it off to the world!

Category: Signs & Logos