Bat Hanging Lamp - xTool Projects
I have my eyes on this xTool Butterfly Hanging Lamp but never get around to making it, it is because I was not able to cut clear acrylic and also the size that I can cut my M1 is limited.

Now I will attempt to restyle it into a "Bat Hanging Lamp", it is just in time for Halloween.
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Step 1: Idea & Sketch
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A picture is worth a thousand words, so I typically sketch out my idea first, with the original photo as a reference, I change the wing of the butterfly to the wing of a bat, and it looks exactly what I had in mind. So next step will be figuring out how to make it.

Step 2: Create Design File
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My first step is to figure out how the original lamp was done.

Since there is no instruction in the post, I downloaded and studied the XCS file of the Butterfly Hanging Lamp, and found the structure of the lamp is quite simple:

There is a round disk in the center and that is where the lamp fixture was housed, 
and the hanging ropes were fed through the top of the round disk, 
and L-shaped hooks were added to the wings to connect to the center.

The original design (Photo 1) requires 3mm,10mm, and 18mm basswood, as well as 15mm acrylic, and I am only able to cut 3mm basswood with M1, so I have to make some modifications to build the lamp as close as possible to the original design.

Begin with “Wing”:
The main element of the lamp is the wing, so getting the style of the wing right is essential, after a little googling, I found the wing that I liked and loaded it to Silhouette Studio, with the “Trace” feature, I converted the wing to a vector format . Since I am using wood, I decided to do the details of the wing with cut-out, then add the hook, and it will be used to attach to the center structure. (Photos 2 & 3). 

"Center Round Disk":

For the center structure, I decided to build a top-closed, bottom-opened round box with living hinges for the side wall (Photo 4).

Round Disk Top: For the top of the box, there will be finger joint tabs around the edge, drilled holes for the hanging ropes, and 6 cut-out slots for the hook of 6 wings (Photo 5).  

Round Disk Bottom: The bottom of the box will be just a ring, with finger joint tabs around the edge as well (Photo 6).

LED Light Holder: I also created a layer to hold the LED tea light (Photo 7). The LED light will be upside down, so the light will shine downward.

The designs will be exported to SVG format and ready to test out.

**After the first try, I ended up adding two extra pieces for the Center Round Disk:
1. Round Disk Cover - A plain circle for the top of the round disk, one reason is for a cleaner look, and also will help to hold the hook of the wings in place. (Photo 8)

2. Round Disk Filler - a circle with slots for the hook of the wings (Photo 9)

and of course, both circles will have holes for the ropes at the same location

Step 3: Laser Cutting
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Setting 1
Process Method
Laser Cut
Process Material
3mm Basswood Plywood
Power(%) or Cut Pressure(g)
100
Pass
1
Speed(mm/s)
4

Upload the SVG to xTool Creative Space, turn on the M1, Air Purifier, and Air Assist, connect to the software, load the 3mm basswood, and cut out all the pieces.

Step 4: Color & Assembly
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I did not do it during my test, but I soon realized that painting the wood ahead would be a lot cleaner. So go ahead and paint the wood with the desired color, then cut all the pieces out. Of course, painting them afterward will also work. 

Assembly:

  1. Put together the round box first, attach the Round Disk Top and Bottom to the sidewall (Photo 1)
  2. Glue the Round Disk Filler onto the Round Disk top, make sure all the holes and slots are lined up
  3. Insert and glue the wings into the slots
  4. Glue the Round Disk cover on the top, making sure the rope holes are lined up, and make sure to clamp down tightly till the glue dries completely
  5. Feed the ropes through the holes, adjust them to the length you like, making sure the lamp will hang straight
  6. Install the LED light to the LED Light Holder, then glue the holder to the Round Disk Bottom

 

Design Files
Bat Hanging Lamp.xcs
halloween
lamp
LED light
wing
hanging lamp
DerivativeCreation
xtool project
@xtool project
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