Introduction: Upcycled DVD Tower Night Lamp

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About: Hello, my name is Eddie. I'm one of those people that can't leave well enough alone so I'll inevitably take things apart and modify them to suit my needs. As evidenced from my Instructables, I've been into …

I always liked the way light shines through DVD and CD discs and I thought that an old stack of discs would make a cool lamp. However, simply lighting up a bunch of CDs would not look very exciting.

So, I came up with the idea for a rocket shaped lamp using the disc tower as its core. It looks amazing in real life and it is perfect as a child's night light.

I used both a laser cutter and 3D printer from work but you don't really need either of those things. You can use a scroll saw for the wings and an upcycled plastic bowl for the rocket bell.

Enjoy!

Step 1: Collect Materials & Tools

Parts:

Core - Bunch of old CDs and DVDs. Most of us throw these out not but I'm sure you have some laying around

Wings - I initially made them out of cardboard and later out of acrylic. I'm sure they would look good out of wood

Base - Plastic bowl, or in my case a 3D-Printed "rocket engine bell"

Clear Acryclic Rod

Light Engine - Any LCD light source should work but I used a 3-LED light engine made to work with a clear lucite rod. I've also thought about using a CCFL lamp or a thin fluorescent tube, I'll try those out later.

Tools:

Scroll Saw or Laser Cutter

3D Printer (Optional)

Step 2: Cut Out Rocket Wings

I used Adobe Illustrator to trace out the shape of the wings. I then used an Epilog laser cutter to first make the wings out of cardboard and then out of some pieces of white acrylic I had around. I'm sure it would look cool made out of wood too.

Step 3: Design & Print Rocket Engine Bell

I know most people don't necessarily have a 3D printer but they are common enough now that you'll likely know someone who does!

I designed the rocket bell in SolidWorks but of course any 3D software will work.

Step 4: Test Assembly

I only had a small amount of white acrylic to work with so I cut out the wings out of cardboard first. Make sure to use the thick stuff!

Step 5: Final Prototype

Overall, I think it came out pretty good. I have some small issues to take care of like securely locking all the pieces together but all in all not too shabby.

I may decide to use colored LEDs for the base to make it look more like the rocket is ignited.