Light and shadow box - one piece version

At last, here it is. It took us hours of design and testing, but it's finally here, and we can share it with you! A modified version of our wireless, wall-hanging and compact light box.

It all began back in August when we saw the amazing work done by "The Crafty Maker" and became subscribers. The shadow boxes were what caught our attention the most. Honestly, we didn't know much about them. After some internet searching, we found that they were quite popular in paper cutting and laser cutting, so we knew we had to contribute to their popularity within 3D printing.

We loved the idea because it aligns perfectly with our style and allows that touch of creativity we like to add to our designs. So, we decided to start designing our own plates. The results were so good that the next step was to add lights to the boxes.

Taking "The Crafty Maker's" concept as a starting point, we decided to design a box with a set of requirements:

compact able to house battery-powered lights that it could be wall-mounted that it could accommodate 6 plates (the optimal number for us) easy to print and assemble compatible with other maker's plates

We believe it's a good idea to try to unify the existing light and shadow box designs and those yet to come! We would love for other makers to design and create works within this theme.

For example, our box accommodates plate designs created by "The Crafty Maker," and our plate designs fit in his boxes. This way, those of you who like light and shadow boxes will have twice as many possibilities to make them.

So, we started from scratch on a design that took us quite some time to finish and be satisfied with.

Here, we share with you a modified version of the light box that consist of 3 printed pieces:

Box structure Bottom cover Backplate for the lights

If you want early access to our full box version, you can have it supporting us on patreon.

We've included a short video here that explains how to assemble it (the video is for the full version but it will be useful here too):

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cygxqd8rk0e/

For the assembly process, please keep the following in mind:

The box structure has a front and a back. The back is slightly triangular since it accommodates the backplate for the lights. The bottom cover should be placed carefully. The box structure has two small rails for sliding it. We recommend pressing the battery firmly against the inside of the box before putting on the bottom cover. The backplate is designed to be slid in from the top in the full version. Since this is not possible in this simplified version, we recommend bending it slightly and inserting it from the sides. If you need a video of the process, feel free to ask. Once the lights are in place, the excess cord can be tucked into the lower part of the slot for the sixth plate if it's not being used. If it is being used, simply place it behind the lights.

For the lights, we have used the following:

https://www.amazon.es/dp/B07FQSMFRN?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=quimicafeina-21&linkCode=ur2&linkId=b685b4faadf8106fa635bce67e6397f8&camp=3638&creative=24630

Printing settings:

Nozzle diameter: 0.4 mm Layer height: 0.25 mm Perimeters: 2 Top and bottom solid layers: 4 Prints with tree supports (an image is attached): This part is the most critical. We propose that the box be printed vertically because if it's printed lying down, removing the supports for the teeth can be a real challenge. The issues we encountered when printing it vertically are that the structure can bend slightly due to PLA shrinkage as it reaches the top. If this happens, the upper distance may be reduced, and as a result, the plates may not fit properly. Because of that, we have slightly scaled up the original model of the box in the X-axis to overcome these setbacks. Even if the distance at the top is reduced slightly, you can still comfortably accommodate the plates without any problems. We have tested it and it works fine. Anyway, we don't have this problem on the full version that can be printed with no supports.

And last but not least, we hope you enjoy making the lightbox as much as we have enjoyed designing it. We have many ideas we want to bring to life with different themes for the boxes, and we'll be offering many of them for free for those of you who want to print them.

You can already find several designs in the "light and shadow boxes" section on our profile.

Happy printing!

All Quimicafeina designs are protected by Copyright Law. By downloading, you have no right to sell any digital files or reproductions from those files.

To get access to all of our designs or for a commercial license to sell the physical prints of the files, you can support us on patreon.