Guy Designs, 3D Prints His Own TNG Warp Core Table Lamp

warp_core_lamp

Ever wanted to capture the blue glow and pulsating hum of the Enterprise D warp core in your own living room? Using computer aided design and 3D printing, Star Trek fan ThePlanetMike has made it so by designing his own table lamp based on HD screen captures of Star Trek The Next Generation episodes and lighting it up with simple blue LED lights available on Amazon.


The pulsating warp core lamp in all its assembled glory

Building it from scratch
Using some 21st century technology, thingiverse user ThePlanetMike can teach you how to bring a little of the 24th century into your home.

I carefully modeled the Warp Core Table Lamp from HD screen captures of the Warp Core on Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was designed to print in modular pieces without support. Print your Warp Core Table Lamp to be as tall as you’d like! This lamp adds a hypnotic sci-fi touch to any room. Geordi would love it.

ThePlanetMike has created all of the necessary files to print one of these babies on your own 3D printer, plus instructions on how to wire it up using off-the-shelf LEDs. Each part is modular meaning you can build the thing as tall as physically possible (a challenge?). Some builders have gone as far as adding the red side energy conduits.

warp_core_cad-1

Lamps of all sizes
One 3D printer, Alex Roberts, decided on a smaller version of ThePlanetMike’s lamp and scaled it down to 25% (pictured in the cover photo, above). Inside his mini warp core lamp are some Neopixel LED strips powered by a 5V Adafruit Trinket mini-controller. If you’re a maker, definitely check out Alex’s blog where he gives a detailed description of the wiring and the code he used to power his warp core.


The mini warp core wired up and glowing

 


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Now, if only we could print a 3D Trek movie (or tv series ;-) in time or the 50th Anniversary …

It was blue? I remember it as orange for some reason.

Gotta wonder if you’ll be able to go to the mall one day soon, snap a few pictures and print up your purchases at home. Bye bye Macy’s!

@2. Lemingsworth Bint

The TNG warp core was all blue like this one. The warp core on the Enterprise E from the TNG movies was blue on the top half and orange on the bottom half, so you’re not totally crazy!

@ 1. Optimistic Doodle,

“Now, if only we could print a 3D Trek movie (or tv series ;-) in time or the 50th Anniversary …”

LOL

Very cool. I hope that Bad Robot takes notes on how cool and futuristic a warp core used to look 28 years ago. Now in the new movies, the warp core looks like a 21st century laser-based inertial confinement fusion research device. Cool for the 21st century, but definitely does NOT look like 23rd century tech.

But, yeah, this lamp is nice.

7 – Oh sure, you try to get to the warp core after you have to pass through a brewery and see how sober you are and what your warp core looks like!

TNG warp core was just a modification of the TMP warp core anyways. So I agree with you Mad Mann, where was the smooth, clean lines of the 23rd century in the new Star Trek?

@7

But then again, the whole ‘mains thing behind a glass door” from ST2 looks a lot less believable to me than the presentation of the engine core towards the end of STID.

This is cool!

Whoop-dee-friggin’ doo. Some guy wastes a few grand on building a TNG warp core lamp? This is all that’s going on in the Trek world right now?

@11. Red Dead Ryan,

Yeah, not much is happening in Trek land now.

==========================

Q: Any word on Star Trek 3?

Quinto: I don’t know anything. I haven’t read a script. Justin Lin is directing, I read that. I’m waiting for them to get it together and give us a call, which I’m sure will be real soon.

Q: What about changing directors?

Quinto: I’m totally open to the change. I think we all are, but I’m sure there’ll be a period of adjustment for everybody. There’s a very commanding presence on a set and certainly on a set that we’ve built. It’s going to be a different landscape that I think all of us are capable of and eager to navigate with Justin. I look forward to meeting him at one point and connecting with him. They’re just getting their creative ducks in a row. He’s aligning with the writers and everybody’s just calibrating and it’s all in process.

http://www.nylon.com/articles/zachary-quinto-interview
==========================

More importantly, where can I get a 3D printer? I have several meshes I wouldn’t mind printing up, especially an Enterprise that takes cues from TOS, TMP and JJ’s Enterprise.

@Read Dead Ryan

Agreed. What’s next? Is somebody going to 3D print the old Mr. Spock lunch boxes from the 1970’s?

LOL

@9 Well I originally felt the way you did, but then I had a thought. The entire ship can’t be run off the ultra high voltage EPS grid. I have a theory that the mains, are actually conventional AC power, and without the mains the controls for the warp engines won’t work.

My theory is that there are three main power distribution means, the EPS Grid, the mains AC, and localized DC for computers and sensitive equipment.

@16: This isn’t an article, it’s at best a blog post. An article has substance and content of value. This is on par with sending someone a text message because the time is 17:01.

I was never impressed with this warp core. Looks like something out of Dr. Who…or the Victorian era. But, yeah, nice job on making the lamp!! I like it…

#16 Kayla, don’t worry, SOME of us around here appreciate your efforts. Some others just want to whine and moan about something, no matter what, and thus, they whine about articles like this.

If you don’t post something every day, people whine and complain.
If you post something not exactly their style, people whine and complain.

Talk about a no-win scenario!

Thanks for the neat story, Kayla. Don’t let the whiners wear you down!

16. Kayla Iacovino –

“Maybe we should just stop posting articles all together!”

What you et al do here is so appreciated Kayla. Keep on keeping on. Please!

Cool! Now I only need two nacelles in addition to this, and my house is spaceworthy! ;-)

It stunk as a warp core, especially in light of the amazing core designed for TMP. Replacing that amazing core effect with cheap blinking florescent rings wasn’t the most ingenious move, but I’ll admit it makes a pretty cool table lamp.

16:Right on Kayla. Thanks for posting and for your and the others efforts to keep things going. Some people are just classless whiners. LLAP

@captain spock

That’s a relief.

I am looking forward to the new writing team and new director on this one, and am glad that we won’t get a third movie with the older cast. That ship has sailed.

I continue to be amazed at the many different labors of love that fans come up with. From fan fiction to recreations of the Bridge in somebody’s basement to costumes to Enterprises made of legos or gingerbread, the creativity that Trek love inspires is truly wonderful.

#25 Prodigal Son “I am looking forward to the new writing team and new director on this one, and am glad that we won’t get a third movie with the older cast. That ship has sailed.”

Okaaay…you do know this IS the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, right? Remember that little show that starred Shatner in the 60’s? An anniversary is all about ships that have already sailed. Shatner’s inclusion is perfectly fitting for the 50th anniversary.
How some can think the inclusion of ANY member of the original cast, in a 50th anniversary film, is some sort of power play to wrestle the reins out of the hands of the “new guys” is beyond me!

@ star trackie.

We already had the original Spock in the last two movies. And let’s face it, Nimoy didn’t come across all that convincing in the last one. And Shatner has been doing comedy now for far too long to be taken seriously, not to mention that he doesn’t really look as much like Kirk anymore. Didn’t you see that embarrassing version of Kirk he did on the Academy Awards 2 years ago?

Besides if you will fully read captain spock’s link above, you will note that Shatner is already working on a 50th Anniversary Trek special..so there you go, he and others should participate in a couple of retrospectives for next year. That is what there role should be.

@16: It is NOT your fault that there isn’t anything else to report! Don’t stop post articles. Such a neat invention WOULD be very interesting if it wasn’t the top news on Star Trek at the moment. And that IS a nuisance, but again, NOT YOUR FAULT…

There should be four TV series in the making, annual movies shot back to back, two animated movies a year, a web-based TOS continuation NOT by fans etc…

Given all the activities in other franchises such as DC, Marvel, Star Wars etc., it’s becoming increasingly difficult to accept CBS’s inability or unwillingness to give us what we want… new Trek on TV or at least on the web and more than one dumbed-down action flick every 3-4 years!

It is THEIR JOB to give YOU something two write about! It is THEIR fault and that’s why some of us are p*ssed! Not at you, but at THEM! It’s been more than 10 years now since the end of ENT… For more than a decade we’ve been waiting patiently for something worthwhile to happen…

Right, if they don’t want our money, I am happy to patronize other franchises! None of us are going to live another 100 years, and obviously it takes that long to bring Trek back to TV… A DECADE! A DECADE of our lifetime, wasted because those sleepwalking suits aren’t able to get their game together! I’m done waiting… I’m done hoping! Now or never! I’ll give them another 10 days to give us series 6 or I’ll be done…

# 24. captain spock – February 16, 2015

” Shatner not in newtrek3 ” — captain spock

Difficult to know how accurate newsreportings canpossibly be when they get it wrong claiming Leonard Nimoy played “Dr.” Spock?

But assuming they were able to be fairly accurate in quoting Shatner, then it seems to be true that Orci is definitely NOT involved with writing this Paramount approved story.

# 24. captain spock – February 16, 2015

” Shatner not in newtrek3 ” — captain spock

Difficult to know how accurate news reporting can possibly be when they get it wrong claiming Leonard Nimoy played “Dr.” Spock?

But a$$uming they were able to be fairly accurate in quoting Shatner, then it seems to be true that Orci is definitely NOT involved with writing this Paramount approved story.

28 Prodigal Son “And Shatner has been doing comedy now for far too long to be taken seriously, not to mention that he doesn’t really look as much like Kirk anymore.”

Wow, that’s your basis for not including an original cast member in a 50th anniversary film?

Never mind.

@ smike

Wow, that’s quite a tirade of entitlement?

I think another 5 years is about right before they start a new Trek series. And at that point, with hopefully two more successful movies behind them, the series can go to a new level of audience on HBO or Showtime.

Please, no more Voyagers or Enterprises on secondary networks. I want steak, not hamburger.

@ star trackie

Yes, just those MINOR factors that:

(1) he won’t we taken seriously, and

(2) he doesn’t look the part of Captain Kirk anymore.

Just MINOR stuff like that. :-)

PS: You did see how rather embarrassing he looked and performed as Kirk at the Academy Awards 2 years ago, didn’t you?

I sense a presence I haven’t felt since….

# 35. Red Dead Ryan – February 16, 2015

” I sense a presence I haven’t felt since….” — Red Dead Ryan

Yes, when you reflect on it, I think he’s undead, JM.

prodigal sin nothing is pathetic as mj. shat’s cool.

@ B Krarmer

It’s Prodigal “Son,” not “Sin” :-)

It’s my favorite Rembrandt painting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4eA1PfdFTs

Hope you enjoy it.

Neat. But wasn’t it pulsing up rather than down?

ps whatever.

Sweet! :-)

ps ps A step up from the disco spock cartoon namesake bs. The prodigal repented, mj never will as proven ad infinitum. byebye

Wow – love it! Cool use of technology. I bet Diamond Select Toys will be watching to make sure no one’s posting maker files for phasers and tricorders.

I predict within 3 years, we’ll see someone on Kickstarter looking to 3-D print a scale model of the Enterprise, with cutaway rooms as detailed as this warp engine core. Very cool.

Can’t wait to see someone make a design for a iPhone case in the form of the TOS communicator. Hey, if they can make a batmobile case that’s this cool, a communicator should be easy:

http://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/batmobile-tumbler-iphone-case

@ John in Canada

That would be sweet, my friend,

I have me an Interstellar iphone 6 case that is pretty cool — it has the Endurance flying past Saturn on it.

We have free 3D printer services at one of our library branches and people really use them (first they have to take an orientation as well as a couple of classes). And NASA wants to put a 3D printer “food processor” up in space for the astronauts.

http://www.universetoday.com/102328/nasa-looks-at-3-d-food-printer-for-star-trek-like-replicator/

Eventually, like handheld tablets, they’ll move from novelty to necessity.

16. Kayla

Perhaps Red Dead Ryan should be banned like his old buddy, ‘MJ – The Grand Return’. We have more than enough Negative Nellies on this site. Time for more positive vibes, I say!

Important safety tip in regards to your new warp core lamp: Do NOT drop it… It would be bad.

# 48. Scutter9000 – February 19, 2015

” Important safety tip in regards to your new warp core lamp: Do NOT drop it… It would be bad.” — Scutter9000

You could try using the handy remote core ejector; in which case, you might save the lamp but destroy your home…decisions…decisions…