Quick And Dirty Light Arch

There are a lot of very cool light arches out there that could stand as their own art installations, unfortunately, I needed a work light that could be moved around, bent, placed on uneven surfaces, and just generally abused and I didn't want to use half a roll of filament to print it.

You can pretty much make this arch with stuff you have lying around, with the only slightly uncommon item being the 25mm metal band used for the arch, which should be available in just about any hardware store.

You will need:

• 2x Bases printed with at least 2 walls, recommended 3 for stronger screw holes

• 2x Lids, either 2 blank lids or one blank and one with the switch depending on how you want to do the wiring

• 25mm metal band of any length you want, you can make this thing huge

• LED strip to match your metal band

• Strong double-sided foam tape to stick the LEDs to the band. I recommend automotive trim tape as its strong, thin, and tends to last a while

• 8 self-tapping screws for the two bases. Screws should be about 2.5mm in diameter

• Something to weigh down the bases. I used 11x11x5cm paving blocks but you could pour cement or plaster of Paris into the bases, just note that whatever you use should be heavy and fit well as it's the ballast that holds the band upright

Optional stuff:

• Switch, if you want to use one. The switch I used was about 12x27mm but you could change the size of the mounting hole. If you do run the wiring internally you will have to drill a hole in the case for the cable

• You can stick a length of white masking tape over the LEDs to diffuse the light, used 2 layers of the stuff because my LEDs were quite bright