Magnemite Lamp Project

Our group of 5 were tasked to design a simple product with a viable market that's suitable for mass manufacturing. We brainstormed numerous products and eventually decided to move forward with a Magnemite themed desk lamp. Through this project I learned a lot about urethane casting, documentation (ECM, Risk Management, FMEA, Specifications, BOM, Cost Model, Process Plan, Control Plan, SOP, Packaging), mass manufacturing processes and simulation.

Ideation

Each member of the team generated ideas for the design of the product presented them in a sketch format. The group consensus was to move on with idea number 2, a bendable desk light. After some reiteration on the details, the design involved silicone mold making and urethane casting the 2 piece front and back casing of the Magnemite lamp shade with a twist on securing mechanism. Other parts such as the light bulb, the bendable gooseneck, the lamp base and the eye sticker would be purchased OTS.

Casting

We decided to use urethane casting as the method to produce the front and back casings of our design. As an example to how to we casted the front casing, we first SLA printed a front casing with vents and pouring spout attached. Then, we used Moldstar 16 to create a two part silicone mold using that 3D print in a rigid container which is cured in a pressure pot at 40 psi to remove aesthetic defects created by air bubbles. Then, we mixed Smooth-Cast Onyx SLOW with some white dye, poured the mixture into the mold to cast the front casing and also cured it in the pressure pot. To enhance the heat resistance properties of the casing, we baked the case with the mold in an oven for a couple hours and then removed the casing from the mold. Though months of iterative design and testing, were able finally able to achieve a grey, smooth surface. 

The photos below shows our iterative casting results and progression through the EVT, DVT and PVT stages and the molds we made for casting.

Post Processing, Spray Painting, Final Assembly

After casting the front and back casing, we post process the casings by cutting away the vents carefully and sanding the parts using low to high grit sand paper. We then taped and spray painted the horseshoe ends of the magnemite casings. You can see the final products fully assembled in the photos below.