3D Printed Treetop Star

Solar botics
December 9, 2014

Initially inspired by the Moravian Star on Instructables and the fact that we now carry all kinds of 3D printing filament, we decided to make one of our own glowy holiday star. We have used this thing as source files to create a similar treetop decoration of our own.

After some trial and error (due to the Slicer not cooperating)...

...we printed a whole forest of perfect wintery spiky star-ends.

And, well, we just had to have someone live there for a bit. In this case, a snowman:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our  addressable 5mm LEDs were well suited to light this contraption. We drilled a hole in the bottom of each spike..

..to fit the LED's domed part:

   

And then wired everything up. It wasn't pretty but the WS2812 LED that we used made it much easier than a conventional RGB LED: rather than 3 separate channels, the WS2812 LED only has a data in and data out. Chain them all together and they work like a charm!

 

 

And here's the final product, ready to light up our office with wonderful glowing lights!

 

 

 

MORE POSTS

October 17, 2008
Austin Maker Faire 2008

It's that wonderful time of year when you can see your breath in the air while you wait at the bus stop. Frost decorates the blades of grass, motorists spend five minutes scraping ice off the windshield  before departing and there are hints of snow when you look up at the hills. So what's a […]

July 29, 2011
Closed August 1st, New SparkFun Fun

So, like, it's that magical time of year where we of Albertaville, Canada get a long weekend. We don't even have a reason anymore. We just figure that we ought to have one, so we come up with a name that sounds semi-official and run with it. "Quick, we need to figure out what to […]

July 24, 2015
Friday New Product: Kossel Pro, SketchBo...

Today we have two superstars - the Kossel Pro 3D Printer and the SketchBoard. Both are relatively new add-ons to the Solarbotics website. Initially created as a Kickstarter project and designed around the OpenBeam aluminum extrusion system, Kossel Pro is now available for purchase. It comes with a spool of 1.75mm PLA filament (random color) […]

September 29, 2005
Attention Solarbotics Customers:

For those who have used or are planning on using our Express (1-2 business day) shipping option to the United States: In recent years, Purolator, the Canadian shipping company who handles the Express shipments, had all parcels destined for the United States delivered by Airborne Express. This past year, Airborne Express was purchased by DHL. […]

Solarbotics Ltd Logo
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!

Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.

Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.