In this STEAM engineering project, students design and make a small laser-cut table lamp using LaserMaker. The lesson connects box structure design, finger joints, Quick Box Making, decorative cutouts, cutting setup, and hands-on assembly.

1. Lesson Overview

1.1 Project Goal

Students will design a small table lamp by generating a finger-joint box template, adding decorative lampshade patterns, creating a base and wire holes, setting cutting parameters, and assembling the laser-cut parts into a simple lamp structure.

1.2 Recommended Classroom Use

2. Learning Objectives

2.1 What Students Will Learn

2.2 STEAM Skills Developed

2.3 Responsible Making

Students may study existing lamp designs for inspiration, but their final work should include their own improvements and creative choices. Any electrical components should be handled according to school safety rules and under appropriate adult supervision.

3. Real-World Context: Why Design a Table Lamp?

A table lamp is a common lighting product used for reading, studying, desk work, and home decoration. It can also create a warm atmosphere in a bedroom, study area, or living space.

In this lesson, students study simple lampshade structures and use LaserMaker to design a cuboid lamp body. The lampshade panels can include decorative cutouts or etched patterns so light can pass through in an interesting way.

4. Design and Engineering Considerations

Before drawing in LaserMaker, students should analyze the table lamp as both a box structure and a lighting object.

5. Lesson Procedure

5.1 Measure and Sketch the Table Lamp

Students should decide the lamp size and record the length, width, and height before creating the digital layout. The lamp size should match the intended use, material size, and classroom equipment setup.

After measuring, students should sketch the lampshade shape, decorative pattern, base shape, screw holes, wire hole, and assembly direction.

5.2 Generate the Lampshade with Quick Box Making

There are two ways to create the lampshade. Students can manually draw the panels and finger joints, or they can use LaserMaker Quick Box Making to generate the box template more efficiently.

In the source workflow, students open Quick Box Creation and enter 150 mm for box width, 200 mm for box height, and 150 mm for box depth. The groove size is set to 25 mm, the material thickness is 3 mm by default, and the laser compensation is changed to 0.12 mm. After clicking Create Box, the lampshade frame is added to the drawing area.

5.3 Add Decorative Lampshade Patterns

Delete the default panel labels such as front, back, left, right, up, and down. Then open Select Gallery and add a decorative pattern to the lampshade faces. In the source workflow, a forest deer pattern is dragged onto the four side panels.

5.4 Draw the Table Lamp Base

Use the Rectangle Tool and Ellipse Tool to draw the base shape. In the source workflow, students draw a 31.43 mm by 15 mm rectangle and align it with the protruding area on the left side of the lampshade template. Then they draw a 30.19 mm circle and align one quarter of the circle with the small rectangle.

Use Difference Set to remove part of the rectangle with the circle, creating one base foot. Copy the foot, flip it horizontally, and align it with the other side of the lampshade. Then use Union Tool to combine the feet with the lampshade base structure. The remaining base shapes can be copied from the finished version.

5.5 Add Screw Holes and a Wire Hole

Use the Ellipse Tool to draw two 3 mm circles on the bottom panel. In the source workflow, the horizontal distance between the two circles is 99 mm, based on the length of the LED strip used in the sample lamp.

Then draw a 4 mm circle below the right screw hole as the wire outlet. These holes help support the internal lamp installation plan.

After completing the box template, decorative patterns, base shapes, and holes, review the full table lamp drawing before setting the cutting process.

5.6 Set Cutting Parameters

Select the table lamp objects and open the black cutting process layer. In the source workflow, the material is set to basswood plywood, the process is set to cutting, and the processing thickness is set to 3 mm.

The source project uses cutting as the main process. If the pattern design is adapted, teachers may also guide students to compare cutting, tracing, or engraving effects on sample material before final production.

5.7 Test, Debug, and Improve

6. Finished Project

After the final settings are confirmed, students can cut the lamp parts, assemble the finger-joint panels, and add the planned lamp components under teacher guidance. The finished result is a small decorative table lamp structure.

7. Extension Challenge

After completing the basic table lamp, students can design a more decorative carved lamp. They can experiment with different panel patterns, hollow designs, and light-transmission effects while keeping the box structure stable.

8. Inspiration Gallery

The following lighting examples can be used for classroom discussion and design inspiration. Encourage students to compare panel structure, light-transmission patterns, finger-joint design, material choice, and finished visual effect.

9. Equipment Note for Teachers

This project is suitable for classroom laser cutters that support cutting of sheet materials for box structures and decorative panels. For schools, makerspaces, and beginner STEAM labs, projects like small table lamps, finger-joint boxes, decorative lampshades, and product prototypes can be completed with a classroom laser cutter such as the Thunder Laser Bolt Series.

Teachers can choose the machine and material setup based on classroom space, project size, material thickness, decorative cutout density, and learning goals. The same Quick Box Making workflow can also be adapted for other CO2 laser machines when students move on to larger lampshades, boxes, or more advanced engineering challenges.