From the Loftsmith Workshop

Hexagonal hanging lantern for LED tea lights

A little lantern that gives an LED tea light something pretty to glow through. It has big diamond windows around the sides, rows of tiny cut-outs, and a loop on the lid so you can hang it up. Set the tea light size and the lantern width to match your own.

11 parts · 163 g · 95 × 109 × 176 mm

by Loftsmith Workshop

Red six-sided lantern with diamond windows, a gold lid with a hanging loop and a gold base
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No adjustable sizes

Ask for the sizes you want to tweak, e.g. “make the width adjustable”.

Change it in the Studio

Parts

  • cone-bottom · PLA · Small hub end down, snap tabs pointing up (as in the file)

    Engine base estimate about 24 g, 39 min. Same geometry as cone-top, so you print the same file twice. The three bayonet lugs inside the hub print on the bed.

  • band · PLA · Upright, closed slot ends at the bottom (as in the file)

    Engine base estimate about 64 g, 93 min. Its six corners and both rims have about 1 mm chamfers. The windows have rounded corners and 45-degree bevels and need no support.

  • panel ×6 · PLA (translucent or white) · Flat on the bed

    Engine base estimate about 4 g and 9 min each. Each is 43.2 x 59.0 x 1.2 mm at the defaults. The panels are flat on purpose so they slide down the slots.

  • cone-top · PLA · Small hub end down, snap tabs pointing up

    Engine base estimate about 24 g, 39 min. It is the same part as cone-bottom, turned over when you assemble the lantern.

  • hanger · PLA · Bayonet neck down, loop up (as in the file)

    Engine base estimate about 12 g, 23 min. It is a small faceted cap 31 mm tall including the 14 mm bayonet neck, and its loop has a 6.4 mm cord hole.

  • light-dish · PLA · Tail plate down, cup up (as in the file)

    Engine base estimate about 17 g, 30 min. The cup holds the tea light, and the 12 holes in the bottom plate are for paper tails.

Print settings

Layer height
0.2 mm
Walls
2
Infill
15%
Supports
None
Notes
At the default sliders the whole set (2 cones, band, 6 panels, hanger, light dish) is about 168 g and 4 h 46 min at 2 walls and 15% infill. That is the headline figure and the one the page stats show. The per-part grams and minutes in the parts list are the engine's base estimate per part, which tot

Hardware

  • LED tea light, 36-42 mm diameter · Battery LED only. Set the Tea light diameter slider to your light's diameter; the cup is 1.2 mm wider than the slider value.
  • Cord or ribbon for hanging · Goes through the 6.4 mm hole in the hanger loop.
  • 12 × Tissue or crepe paper strips · Optional tails. Thread them through the 12 holes in the light-dish plate and knot or glue them. Tissue can also be glued to the inside of the panels for colour.

Assembly

  1. Stand cone-bottom on its small hub end, with the three snap tabs pointing up.
  2. Lower the band onto it, with the closed slot ends down, so the tabs line up with the three pockets inside the band. Press until all three click.
  3. Drop the six panels into the slots from the top. Each panel rests on its slot floor.
  4. Turn the second cone over (this is cone-top) and press it onto the top of the band until its three tabs click. Its rim now holds the top edges of the panels.
  5. Hanger: push its neck into the top hub, turn it about 30 degrees until it stops, then pull up so each lug seats in its notch. Thread a cord through the loop.
  6. Optional tails: thread paper strips through the 12 holes in the light-dish plate and knot or glue them.
  7. Switch on the tea light, set it in the light-dish cup, push the dish up into the bottom hub, turn it about 30 degrees until it stops and let go. It drops 1.5 mm into the locked notch.
  8. To change the light: push the dish up, turn it back and pull it down. The cones pull off the band by hand, so the lantern comes apart for flat storage between seasons.

Good to know

  • Use a battery LED light only, never a candle or open flame. PLA softens at about 55 °C, and paper panels and tails burn.
  • This is for indoor use. PLA warps in sun or heat.
  • The loop, bayonet and snap joints are only checked for the lantern's own weight (about 249 g solid estimate including a 15 g light). Do not hang anything else from it.
  • Fits are engine estimates and have not been tested on a printed part: 0.6 mm all round in the cup, a slot 0.4 mm wider than the panel, and 0.15 mm beside the snap tabs. If the panels bind, sand their edges, or print the band one panel-thickness step thicker than the panels.
  • The PLA snap tabs are sized for 1.44% strain. They are fine for assembling and taking apart a few times a year, but repeated snapping can crack them.
  • The panels are deliberately flat sheets with 3 mm rounded corners so they slide down the slots. Loose tissue paper will flop in the 1.6-2.0 mm slots, so back it with a printed panel or stiff card of the same size.
  • At the narrowest width with the largest tea light, there is no room for the lozenge cut-outs in the cones and they print plain.
I printed this Remix

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