Edge-Lit Night Lamp

In this guide, I'll show you how I built a sleek professional looking edge-lit night lamp from scratch.

I'm planning to sell these locally through my wife company so I custom designed all the parts including the 3D printed base, the circuit board as well as the CNC engraved acrylic panel on top.

Keep in mind that this will not be a detailed tutorial for each of the steps as they have their own challenges but an overview of what is required in creating a product like this.

All of the files are available for free to my Patreon members here.

You can also by some ready made bases:

1. Sign Base Light - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oDgXI0O
2. Battery Operated Acrylic Sign Base - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oDOgEby

And some acrylic blanks:

1. Pre-Cut Blanks - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_om6iBXk
2. Acrylic Plate - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_ooaEnZ0

Machines:

1. CNC Router - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_olyit0W
2. 3D Printer - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_omNmMQW

I designed a custom circuit board that would power the LED strip inside and connect to the power supply.

Using Altium Designer, I laid out all the pads for the LED strip and the barrel jack and I also added some logos to the board for nicer look. If you are interested in this step I have another video of the process.

When the design was finalized, I sent it off to be manufactured by my friends at PCBWay. They offer services for PCB manufacturing, PCB assembly, 3D printing, CNC machining and a lot more for any project you might need. At the moment, they are celebrating their 11th Anniversary with a special sale that you don't want to miss!

I started by sketching out the lamp's foundation in Fusion. The goal was to create a simple but elegant base that would hold all the components neatly.

I made sure to include a special slot for the acrylic panel on top and left enough room inside for the circuit board. The design has smooth rounded edges for a polished look.

Once I was happy with the 3D model, I saved it in the right format for printing.

With the design ready, I prepared it for 3D printing.

I positioned the model flat on its top in the slicing software to ensure that there are no supports required. I used black PLA to reduce the attention that the base will attract when looking at the light.

The printing took about one hour, and the result was a solid, clean-looking base ready for assembly.

The acrylic top piece needed some special attention.

I created simple vector designs on my computer - one with a racing car and another with my channel logo.

These designs would be engraved into the clear acrylic.

I took the files to a CNC machine, where they were carefully carved into the material.

Assembly was straightforward and I started by soldering the LED strip and connector to the PCB.

Then, I secured the circuit board inside the 3D printed base with a couple of screws.

The acrylic panel slid neatly into its slot on top.

When I plugged in the power supply, the LEDs lit up beautifully, making the engraved designs glow with a soft, even light.

With everything assembled, I tested the lamp to make sure all components worked properly.

The light spread evenly through the acrylic, highlighting the engraved patterns exactly as I'd hoped.

The final product looked professional and worked perfectly - a custom night light ready for display.

If you liked this project, you might like my other ones here on Instructables, or on my YouTube channel. Feel free to subscribe!

Thanks for reading!