DIY Acrylic Desk Lamp

A few days ago, I was working on a project using acrylic sheets. I don't own a workshop and I'm no expert in acrylic cutting so I figured out a makeshift method to cut the acrylic into the required length (using brute force). As you might expect, it wasn't successful on the first attempt. I had a couple of weirdly shaped pieces of the acrylic left that I was about to throw away, but then I got an idea. I needed a desk lamp anyway so why not make one? After finding some inspiration from a youtube channel called DIY perks, I built this lamp. So in this Instructable, I will show you how simple it was to make this DIY acrylic desk lamp. Let's jump right in!

Supplies

Acrylic sheets: Buy on Amazon

MDF / Cardboard

Wood Veneer (optional): Buy on Amazon

Glue

Warm white LED light strip: Buy on Amazon

Copper wires

9 or 12 Volt DC power supply: Buy on Amazon

Electric tape

Step 1: Make the Base

I wanted to keep the build cheap and made of as many recycled materials as possible. For this reason, I've used cardboard for the base. If you want to make it more sturdy, I'd suggest you use MDF. I didn't have access to tools to cut MDF so cardboard it is.

Cut the base in a hexagon shape with two long parallel sides as shown in the first image. If you are using cardboard like me, you need to cut multiple such hexagons and stack them on top of each other to give it some thickness and strength. Then cut a similar shape from the veneer and stick it on top to give it a nice appearance. You can use anything instead of a veneer. I've used a wood-colored material which I don't know the name of. It was lying around from a previous build so I decided to use it.

To cover the sides, use black fabric or paper. Then cut out two slots through all the layers of the base to fit the Acrylic sheets in. Make sure the slots are the same thickness and width as that of your acrylic sheets. You can see the underside of my base is not so great looking. Well, I didn't cover it since it will not be visible anyway. The two red strips are the LED lights which I'll explain how to attach in the next steps.

Step 2: Attach the Acrylic Sheets

This should be very easy if you have cut the slots in the base to the right dimensions. You can also use plexiglass instead of acrylic sheets. With glass, you will need to be extra careful since the sharp edges can cut your fingers.

Just apply some adhesive to the sides of the slots and push the Acrylic sheets into them. Now the Acrylic sheets should be able t stand upright on their own. If they are wobbly, you need to make the base thicker by adding more cardboard layers.

Step 3: Lights and Wiring

Once you have the Acrylic attached, you can flip the lamp upside down and stick two small strips of warm white LED lights. While cutting the LED strips to length, make sure you only make the cuts on the copper linings (there should be a scissors symbol). The place to make cuts is usually found after every three or four LEDs. Solder wires to the copper linings at the place where you made the cuts. You need to connect the two strips in parallel (positive wire to positive and negative wire to negative).

Then you can stick the strips onto the slots on the underside of the base. Make sure they are directly underneath the acrylic sheets.

To power the LED strips, usually a 12V power supply is used. But I suggest you use a 9V power supply as this will increase the life of the LEDs. With 9V, the brightness of the LEDs will be slightly lower than full, but it is worth the extra life. I didn't have a 9V power supply, so I used a 12V power adapter from an old WiFi router.

That's all, we're done! I told you it will be easy to make.

Step 4: Final Thoughts

The lamp looks amazing, especially with the warm white light. Luckily I got a good-looking shape when I cut the Acrylic. The light scatters beautifully because of the scratches on the surface. I was worried the scratches would ruin the appearance, but to my surprise, they have made it better. You can come up with creative ways to arrange your Acrylic or plexiglass to make them look good. The light is good enough as a bedside reading light. It looks good on a desk too.

If you make one too, I'd love to see how it came out :)