From the Loftsmith Workshop

Hinged string light bulb cover for G40, S14, C7, C9 bulbs

Gives a plain string-light bulb a faceted shell with little diamond cut-outs, so the glow comes through in sparkles. The two halves swing on a small hinge and close around the bulb. Set your bulb's width, length and neck to match.

2 parts · 19 g · 71 × 118 × 42 mm

Remix of Print-in-place hinged box

by Loftsmith Workshop

Two hinged faceted shells with diamond cut-outs, open, beside a dark bulb on a bar
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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

  • cover-front · PETG · Upright as modelled: flat lantern floor on the bed, roof up. Carries the hinge pin and the snap catch.

    Prints as one object with cover-back (shared print group). PETG because string lights live outdoors and near warm bulb bases; PLA softens around 55 °C and breaks down in sun.

  • cover-back · PETG · Upright, printed swung 150° open beside cover-front on the same hinge axis.

    Carries the snap arm with its thumb lip. Free it after printing by swinging it gently through its full travel a few times.

Print settings

Layer height
0.2 mm
Walls
2 (the engine's default stats line); the 1.6 mm shell walls are 4 lines of 0.4 mm either way
Infill
15 %
Supports
None. The roof is 50° from horizontal, the window tops are pointed and the hinge knuckles meet on 55° cones.
Notes
About 19 g and 41 min per cover in PETG at 2 walls / 15 % infill on a Bambu A1 at the default sliders (40 mm bulb); the engine reports the same 19 g / 41 min at 3–4 walls and 20–25 % infill, since the parts are almost all wall. Footprint as printed is 71 x 118 mm, so it fits a 180 mm bed. Print both

Assembly

  1. Measure one bulb: its widest diameter, its length from the socket face to the tip, and its diameter just below the socket. Set Bulb diameter, Bulb length and Neck diameter to match, and pick Bulb shape: round for G-globes and S14 pears, cone for C7/C9.
  2. Print both halves together as one object in PETG, standing upright, no supports.
  3. Free the hinge by swinging the back half gently through its full travel a few times.
  4. With the lights switched off, hold the front half against the bulb so the glass shoulder sits under the roof opening and the neck passes through it.
  5. Swing the back half round the bulb until the arm on the back seam clicks over the catch.
  6. To take it off, lift the thumb lip at the end of the arm about 1 mm outward and swing the back half open.

Good to know

  • LED bulbs only. Do not use on incandescent bulbs; their heat will soften or melt a printed cover.
  • The fit is computed against a simplified bulb shape: a round globe or pear drawn as a sphere with a cone up to the neck, or a C7/C9 cone. Real bulbs vary, so print one cover and check that the rim sits on the glass and clears the socket before printing a full string.
  • The hinge clearance (0.4 mm) and the snap (0.8 mm hook, about 5 N to click at the default size) are design estimates from the engine, not printed results. If the hinge fuses, raise Hinge clearance; if the latch feels loose, test it on one cover before printing more.
  • The cover hangs on the bulb, so it only works on bulbs that point downward from the cord, as on hanging festoon and café strings.
  • On small round bulbs the 50° roof limits the sideways air gap to about 0.3 × the bulb radius. The air-gap check reports the limit when this happens.
  • It does not change the string's wiring or weather sealing. Use PETG or ASA outdoors; PLA softens around 55 °C and degrades in sunlight.
  • Wind, rain and long-term UV exposure have not been tested.
I printed this Remix

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