Lamp Two in progress
(carbon fiber, epoxy glue, fishing wire, steel bolts, light socket, paper)
A motivation for coming back to the states was that I had an urge to create a lamp using the composites skills learned at SailGP. I drew the lamp up on Rhino, first.
The initial iteration was to drape a fabric shade over the light bulb at the top of the spine. A wire would pull down, one end beginning on the side of the shade, traveling down around two pulleys at the base, and up to the opposite side of the shade. Two of these wires, perpendicular to one another, would be affixed. An LED would be used as the bulb as not to heat the fabric.
By only creating a 0/90-degree laminate, the material will be very flexible in the diagonal direction. This means that the lamp spine will not buckle under linear compression by the wires, but it will easily twist laterally, creating the illusion that the lamp is looking off to the side somewhere. Furthermore, with composites one may tailor the part’s thickness: I ended up laying two layers for the spine as a base and then I added another layer on the lower third of it, and another layer still on the lower sixth. This tailored the spine to be strong at the base and light, flowing at the top. The same gradiating was done for the rear leg.
Below is a CAD rendering and some linework.
Below clockwise: sanding the mold (to within a couple millimeters of the CAD dimensions), putting Teflon over the mold so that the part releases, vacuum bagging* miscillaneous parts, vacuum bagging the main spine, assembling the spine and back leg.
Much of the time was spent sanding and grinding, both the molds and then the carbon parts, down to the exact dimensions.
*Vacuum bagging is a complex composites technique. The mold is created, covered in Teflon tape. Cut the carbon to size from a template and wet it with epoxy. Then a series of specialty fabrics go over the composite. This is to absorb the perfect amount of epoxy so that the composite is the ideal fibre to epoxy ratio - light yet strong.
In the end, the original shade design did not work. The shade slipped off the smooth bulb easily. If the wires were tensioned to such a degree that the shade held, it would be pulled far down, warped from being a wide hat into a tall hood. I also ditched the big arms because they distracted from the elegance and the build quality of the spine.
Below top row: an iteration of the shade, a piece of A4 paper fastened to a carbon frame. If the paper gets crumpled, or if the user would like a different color or texture of paper, they can easily switch out the paper as they please.
This simple, cheap A4 paper shade is in keeping with the general philosophy of the design. The idea that the user may dissasemble, modify, and repair the lamp, e.g using as many bolts as possible instead of glue. Ultimately this is what composites represent - a fabric and a glue - a deconstructed material that speaks to basic human nature of making things.
Below middle & bottom row: Without the shade. Sadly the shade’s bolt hole behind the bulb remains (maybe the user can play with that, too). These photos show the spine leaning and twisting, peering at something. IBottom right: experimenting, adding some more life with the cord.
Below first two photos: these show the spine unloaded, and loaded under compression. The material is wavering under the load, the buckling of the girder is visible. It displays every load and strain.
The rest of the photos are details, exhibiting the user-centricity and fine margins. Below bottom row: a simple light socket is used and it pops in and out of the spine easily. This required precision and measurement to get it to fit tightly, but the end result is supremely simple and easy to use.
Coming next is the final iteration that I will market along with a comic that shows the user how to assemble the lamp.
