Shoji Lamp

Description

Final Product

Process

Light Screen Studies

Before starting the lamps I had made 3 different light screens that had its own unique design. At first I sketched out 10 potential designs but I chose 3 designs I like the best and moved on with them. I sketched out a more detailed sketch of each light screen and ended up with the 3 above. These light screens had inspired me in different ways. Light screen study 1 had inspired me to use circles in my lamp. Light screen study 2 had inspired me to use triangles. Light screen study 3 had inspired me to use white paper with basswood sticks.

Shoji Lamp

The first thing I did was sketch the structural elements of the lamp in front view giving rough dimensions according to the proportions of the sketch. I then made a draft of the structural element with the actual dimensions using a T-square and the table. The next step for me was to create a sketch of the design of the light screens being inspired by the 3 light screens I had created before this project. As I was struggling to come up with the dimensions of some basswood sticks, I made a 3D model of the light screen in Fusion 360. After this I made a cutlist of the materials I would need, which were all basswood sticks. Using a miter box and a pull saw I cut out all my pieces by referring to my cutlist which included 8 pieces of 1/16” chipboard I cut using the laser cutter. Using a combo square and white glue I glued my frames together and glued 8 ¼”x5 ¼” bristol paper to the back of the frames. The next step was to glue the basswood sticks and chipboard I cut according to my planned design. My design intention was to have the light screens be mirrored by the light screen it is attached to on the long side and so I assembled 2 sets of light screens each set having a pair of identical light screens. After I finished assembling my light screens I used white glue to connect my light screens with the light screens being perpendicular to each other. While connecting my light screens I glued two ¼” basswood sticks that were 5” long in between the light screens on the top to provide support beams for the light bulb to rest on. These sticks were placed 1 ¾” away from the inner edge of the lamp and ran parallel to each other. After attaching my last light screen to the lamp, I made sure 2 supporting sticks in the middle were firm so that the light bulb could rest under it. 

Skills Gained

Lessons

One of the main lessons I took away from this project was to never underestimate what you have to do. In this case, I underestimated the difficulty of having a basswood stick placed at an angle and I had trouble coming up with a solution. Because the dimensions of a triangle have to work a certain way, I needed dimensions that made sense but also dimensions that weren’t crazy like 43.64 degrees. Next time I will see if the dimensions of a certain design will work with dimensions I am familiar with and are able to work with. Although working with the design of the lamp was difficult, I just went along with it. That is also something I learned, just go with the flow. 

Reflections

The main thing I would change is to have a design that would have the design be on the inside out. This is to make it so when the light of the lamp is on, you can see the shadows of the designs on the screen. I would have changed only 2 of the screens that are parallel to each other so that the mirror effect is still present but the regular screen shows a mirrored version as a shadow. 

One of the biggest challenges I encountered was working with triangles and basswood sticks. I had underestimated the math that was required to place the basswood sticks at an angle being connected to the “square” sticks. I overcame this by making a 3D model of the light screen in Fusion 360. This helped a lot as the software was essentially telling me the measurements of the pieces that were placed at an angle that would make my design work.