Advanced Laser Cut Project: KONG LAMP
Download the Kong Lamp SVG at Etsy
I really like soldering simple LED lamps into Glowforge creations. Making a laser cut gift is awesome, but making a laser cut gift that lights up is Stupabulous! (That’s stupendous and fabulous at the same time!) Here I share my Stupabulous laser cut lamp designs, so you guys can make your own cool light up art using your Glowforge. The Kong Lamp will really please the fun kaiju enthusiast in your life. This project requires a certain set of skills to pull off. Not only do you need access to a laser cutter, you must be able to solder the electronic parts together to complete the lamp, and possibly adjust the SVG file to fit your electronic parts if need be.
If you have experience soldering electronics, this project is super easy. If you have never soldered electronics before, this is the best project to learn on, because it could not be simpler. The lamp is a single LED connected to a coin cell battery. A switch has been added between the long + leg of the LED and the positive + output of the battery, so you can turn it on and off.
Download the Kong Lamp SVG at Etsy
Download the Kong Lamp SVG at Etsy
The wood is laser engraved and cut, electronics soldered into place, and when the LED lights up, and the switch works, you can glue the wood pieces together. When completed, this nifty retro color changing LED Kong Lamp stands 8″ tall. You will require:
- Access to a Glowforge or other laser cutter that can read SVG files. This design is cut from 1/8 inch plywood. This design uses plywood that has no protective tape, for that distressed burned look around the windows. Giving the building that Kaiju Attack look.
- You must order electronic parts: You will need an on/off switch, a 2032 coin cell battery & holder, and a 3 volt LED. You will also need a few inches of insulated hook up wire to connect it all.
- You need a soldering iron to wire the three electronic parts together before you glue the wood pieces together. Modify the design so your parts fit. Once soldered and working, glue the battery holder in place (from the inside) using hot glue.
- Wood glue or super glue will hold the lamp together. The Kong Lamp has 2 building sides, 2 long rectangles, and a square base. Lay the building without Kong on the table. Push the tabs of the two long rectangles into it. Then, fit the building with Kong on top adjusting your LED and electronics inside. Once you have the four sides glued, then push the tabs on the bottom into the square base so it stands.
- You may need to download Inkscape to edit the SVG depending on the switch you may have. Most switches fit in a round hole, but of varying sizes. Laser cut a piece of scrap wood with different size holes and test fit your electronic parts before you laser cut your final piece. You can copy/paste the correct profiles from your test file into your Kong Lamp file so your parts fit your lamp. If you need to modify the SVG to fit your needs, you must open the SVG using Inkscape (free at inkscape.org) Corel Draw will not work.
- Need a different format? Not using a Glowforge? You can save the SVG as other formats, just open the SVG with Inkscape and Save As any file type you need.
GLOWFORGE SETTINGS FOR KONG LAMP SVG:
- Engrave (Kong & logo) = HD Graphics
- RED = 1st Cut
- BLACK = Last Cut
Of course, you can do whatever you want. Modify the SVG design using Inkscape, and make it yours.
Feel free to make, modify, and sell what you make, but please do not resell the SVG file. Thank you.
Download the Kong Lamp SVG at Etsy
I want to tell you why Kong is King of the monsters. You cry when he dies. I remember being a kid, watching the 1933 classic on TV with my dad, and how upset it made me. They took Kong away from his home, chained him up for entertainment, and tortured him until he went berserk. I felt glad when he broke free and took his wrath out on the city, only to watch him fall to his demise in the end. It really shook me up like no other movie ever had before. I grew up also loving the Toho Godzilla movies. I still to this day hope to wear a giant rubber suit and crush a hand made paper village. It’s a bucket list thing. But none the less, Godzilla never made me cry. It took Kong to get under my skin. Watching a wild free creature fall to greed and mankind’s ugly ways made me think about it all forever. How we put our environment to task. How we seem to be so destructive. The horrors of money. Kong is powerful stuff, and I’m a huge fan. Kong and Oz are the greatest movies ever made. Right?