In this Instructables I will walk you through the steps to make your
very own Levitating Planter! After great feedback, I decided to make a second version of my levitating planter that is even simpler to make. I also tried making a new design on the planter, and I think it turned out pretty great!

I also made one with a 3D printed base.

Let me show you how I made it:

Step 1: Watch the Video

I made a youtube video where you can see how i built it:)

Step 2: Get the Parts

First of all, you need to gather all the parts used in this project.

Here is a list of the materials and tools I used:

ALIEXPRESS:

Materials:

Magnetic Levitation Module

PLA (or other type of filament for 3D printing the planter, I used PLA)

3,5 x 10mm Pan screws

12mm Plywood Sheet

Tools:

3D printer

CNC machine

Screwdriver

AMAZON:

Materials:
Magnetic Levitation Module

PLA (or other type of filament for 3D printing the planter, I used PLA)

3,5 x 10mm Pan screws

12mm Plywood Sheet

Tools:

3D printer

CNC machine

Screwdriver

Step 3: Testing

I recommend that you test everything before you assemble it, so
connect or solder power cables to the module and slowly lower the magnet in the middle of the magnetic base. You should feel the planter trying to push out to the sides, but find a spot in the middle where it holds still. Continue to lower it until the planter supports it self. It's now floating!

NB! Use a soft material like the pacakging it came with, or some cardboard and place it on top of the base! If you can't balance the magnet in the middle (it could be hard the first few times) it could fall down and break! These are fragile magnets, and they are also super strong, so be careful.

Step 4: Design

I used the last levitating planter base I made as an inspiration, but did some changes to it. I wanted the base to be smaller, so I made it a lot thinner, but kept the other dimensions the same (145mm x 145mm). I also rounded the corners, which I think made it look even better.

For the planter I wanted to try something new. I really like geometric figures, and after some googling, I found a really cool shape called "rhombicosidodecahedron". So, I downloaded the shape into Fusion 360 and added a hole in the top to fit the plant and the magnet. If the magnet doesn't fit, you could try sanding the inside, or scale it up or down in your slicer. You could also just edit the Fusion 360 file linked below to fit the magnet you have.

You can download all the STL and FUSION files for free from my site:

Ananords.com

You can get the STL files on Thingiverse:

Thingiverse.com

Step 5: Remove the Tabs

The levitating base comes with led lights, which is not needed in this
project. It's fortuantly really easy to remove them. Just use a plier and break them off like you can see in the pictures.

Step 6: Printing, Cutting and Assembling

After you have printed out the planter (I recommend 0.15 in layer
hight with 5% infil) Take the magnet and drop it into the planter. It should be a snug fit, so it stays in place, but I recommend using some drops of super glue to really secure it. Then, take the "lid" and place it in the planter, so the plant doesn't fall all the way down when you put it in.

For the base, I used the CNC machine at my local makerspace. I used Fusion 360 to make the toolpaths, which worked great. The CNC machine I used can't cut that deep, so I used a 12mm plywood plate and cut it in two parts that I later glued together. After the glue had dried, I used a belt sander to smooth out the sides, so you can't see that it's two parts glued together. I predrilled the holes, and used M3.5 x 10mm pan scews to secure the levitation module to the base.

The last step is to solder on the power cable. Red to plus (VDD), and black to minus (GND). You could also just plug it in without soldering, but then you have a connector outside of the base, so I found it better to just solder it on.

Step 7: Add Your Plant

But no planter is complete without a plant! I designed it to fit the
small succulents and cactuses that they have in Ikea, but every other small plant is going to work perfect too. Remember to not make it too heavy though. Except from that, you are free to choose whatever plant you want.