Some time ago, I got myself new lamps for my workbench. Unfortunately and due to a mishap shortly after installing the lamps, one of the joints broke in half. Since the lamp was basically new, I just could not put the lamp in the trash so I left it broken for a few months as a future project.
This week, when I was organizing my workspace, I stumbled over the still broken lamp and I decided that it was finally time to fix her.
First I thought about my design requirements for this project:
- must be durable
- must not alter the lamp any further
- should be easy to manufacture/install
- should be easily adjustable
When I started to model the joint in CAD I had the Idea that in fact a great solution could be fixing the joint by creating an entirely new joint, with a different axis of rotation. And to make it adjustable the joint could be equipped with interlocking teeth and a big screw running through the center doubling as the new axis of rotation.
Here is what I came up with
The fix consists of 6 different parts that can be 3d printed with no support structures. Only 8 threaded inserts and 8 M4x15 screws are required for the assembly to be complete. The two halves clamp one tube each, and can then locked against each other with the large screw. This design matches all my requirements and is aesthetically pleasing as well.
The printing was trivial and only minor work needed to be done afterwards, such as inserting the threaded inserts (The 8 brass colored parts).
The assembly was straight forward and can be done in minutes
Now the lamp is usable again, with the broken part not hidden away but visible to highlight the importance of fixing appliances and not immediately throwing things out if thy get damaged.
I published all the files for this project under public domain. They are available at printables.com
If you also need to repair something with a custom part, feel free to leave me a note using this email address.
