# Lamp Parts



## madmatt41 (Feb 1, 2022)

I didn't get the best picture of this or in-progress pictures like I should have, but this is for an old articulating arm lamp. You can see the broken plastic part it's replacing. It holds the actual lamp head to the arm and allows it to swivel. I don't know where the lamp came from, but I'm guessing because some plastic part on it seems to snap at least once a year, it was probably dug out of the garbage somewhere. I had it on my drill press, but since my new-to-me drill press has a built-in light, I decided to repair it with the lathe, then use it on the lathe. 

I drilled and tapped the block and just put threads on the cylindrical pieces to screw them in. So far, it has worked like a charm, and I think the lampshade is the only plastic part left.


----------



## markba633csi (Feb 2, 2022)

Nice job!  I always wondered if people that design flimsy little parts like that go to a special school for flimsy part design? Landfill University?
-M


----------



## ConValSam (Feb 2, 2022)

Looks great.  Would you post a picture of the whole lamp? Fun to see the part in action!


----------



## madmatt41 (Mar 3, 2022)

Took forever, sorry. You can see it in place here above my lathe.


----------



## hudstr (Mar 14, 2022)

I just had the same part break. I 3dprinted as close to a replica as I could, not for any particular reason other than I didn't want to change the design. The design to hold in the actual lamp part is a bit strange, there is a nut that goes over a smooth shaft, then a pin gets pushed through the shaft to hold the nut from falling off(and the entire lamp part). The nut also has a ramp on that face so you can turn it to increase the pressure, making the joint stiffer I guess. The first one i printed snapped when i tried to assemble it because I printed it mostly hollow. The second one was solid and seems to work fine.


----------



## brino (Mar 14, 2022)

@hudstr 

If that lamp is incandescent or even fluorescent, there just might be enough heat for that elbow to "droop" over time.
Of course, it depends on the filament you used too....

When the visor mount broke in my sons car we initially replaced it with a PLA version. It worked great until one warm sunny day he found the visor on the dash.

We eventually reprinted it with another filament and it has survived more than a full year now.
(I want to say HIPS, but I'm not 100% sure......)

Brian


----------



## hudstr (Mar 14, 2022)

I've got an led bulb in it and i printed it out of petg which theoretically should hold up better but we'll have to wait and see. I'd love to be able to print fancy materials like polycarbonate and nylon but I don't have an enclosure and I already have warping and adhesion issues so I'd just be throwing away money with all the failures I'd have.


----------

