From the Loftsmith Workshop

Light-up snow globe base for 50-120 mm DIY glass globes

A glowing stand for the glass globe you've built yourself. The flared base has little diamond cut-outs that let candlelight spill out, and a round opening at the top where the neck sits. Change the globe and neck sizes to match your glass.

3 parts · 79 g · 111 × 111 × 72 mm

by Loftsmith Workshop

Red flared base with ribbed sides, small diamond cut-outs and a round opening at the top
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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

  • base · PLA · Upright, foot down

    111 x 111 x 72 mm at defaults, about 72 g and 104 min (2 walls, 15% infill). No supports. The bayonet grooves, reflector cone and diamond windows all have 45-degree or steeper ceilings.

  • light cup · PLA · Floor down

    About 5 g, 12 min. Holds a 38 mm LED tea light with 0.8 mm of play. The slot in the floor gives access to the light's switch and doubles as a thumb or coin grip for twisting.

  • neck gasket · TPU 95A · Upright

    About 2 g, 7 min. A soft ring that centres and cushions the glass neck in the socket. Print slowly.

Print settings

Layer height
0.2 mm
Walls
2 (the page's default figures); 3 walls make all three parts about 99 g and 2 h 33 min in total
Infill
15%
Supports
None
Notes
At the defaults all three parts come to about 81 g and 2 h 6 min (2 walls, 15% infill), and the 111 mm base fits a 180 mm bed. Print the base and light cup in PLA, and the gasket in TPU 95A so it grips the glass softly. PETG works for the base and cup if the globe will sit somewhere warm. The foot w

Hardware

  • LED tea light, 38 mm diameter, 16-40 mm tall to the tip of the plastic flame · Measure from the bottom of the light to the flame tip and set the Tea light height slider to that value (default 35 mm). Battery LED only; never use a real candle.
  • Fillable glass snow globe, 50-120 mm, with a neck stopper · Measure the neck's outside diameter (with its stopper fitted) using calipers, and set the Neck outside diameter slider to that value.

Assembly

  1. Measure your globe's neck (with its stopper fitted) using calipers, then its neck length below the ball and your tea light's height to the flame tip. Set the sliders before printing.
  2. Press the TPU gasket into the socket at the top of the base until it sits on the socket floor.
  3. Drop the LED tea light into the light cup, flame up.
  4. Hold the base on its side or upside down. Line the cup's three lugs up with the entry slots in the bay, push the cup in, and twist it 40 degrees until it drops 2 mm into its locked pockets.
  5. Make sure the globe's stopper is sealed and dry. Then lower the globe straight down so the neck goes into the gasket and the ball settles into the seat.
  6. To switch the light or change its battery, lift the whole globe and base off the table, push the cup up 2 mm, twist it back 40 degrees and pull it out. You can also reach the switch through the slot in the cup's floor.

Good to know

  • The light reaches the water through the globe's stopper. A clear or white stopper lets it through, but a dark rubber stopper blocks most of it. The diamond windows still make the base itself glow.
  • Keep water away from the light bay. The socket opens down into the bay, so a leaking stopper would drip onto the tea light. Check the seal before you seat the globe.
  • LED tea lights only. Never put a real candle in it. PLA softens at around 55 °C.
  • Fits tea lights 38 mm across and 16-40 mm tall to the flame tip, with 1.5 mm of headroom above the setting you choose. Set the Tea light height slider to your light; one taller than the setting will press into the reflector cone.
  • The neck socket depends on your caliper reading. The gasket is modelled 0.1 mm over that size, because printed holes usually come out 0.1-0.2 mm small. If it is too tight or too loose, change the Gasket clearance slider. This fit has not been test-printed.
  • The tip check assumes 2 mm thick glass and counts only the filled globe, not the base. It covers a full globe on a level surface, not knocks or a child pulling on it.
  • The twist lock is held by gravity and a 2 mm drop into its pockets. Clearances were checked in the engine, but the lock has not been test-printed.
  • On small globes (50-60 mm) the base is about as tall as the globe or taller, because the 38 mm tea light bay sets its minimum size.
I printed this Remix

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