3D Printing an Aquarium LED Fixture
As previously mentioned, I have become interested in Aquarium Lighting, so I found some LED fixtures and decides to design a sheet metal fixture with plastic end caps and snap on feet. After much research, I decided it would be least expensive to use the online services Ponoko and Shapeways to 3D print the plastic parts, and then use Ponoko to laser cut the sheet metal.
So, first I sketched up a design and modeled it in SketchUp, and then rendered it in KeyShot. Once complete, I exported as STL files and sent them to the various online services. I actually tried several different plastics and even a sintered aluminum. I was very happy with the quality of all the parts. I carefully bent the sheet metal along the "dotted vent lines" and press fitted the endcaps. There was no need for fasteners as the press fit was extremely tight.
Here are some pictures of the finished and painted unit. The endcaps ended up costing around $25 each. The feet were about $4 each and the sheet metal was just under $50.
And here are some pics of the unit (not painted) on the tank.
1 comment
Nov 08, 2011
Floyd Wray said...
Really stunning stuff.
