According to Wikipedia "A lithophane is a thin plaque of translucent material, normally porcelain], which has been moulded to varying thickness, such that when lit from behind the different thicknesses show as different shades, forming an image. Only when lit from behind does the image display properly. They were invented in the 19th century and became very popular, typically for lampshades, nightlights, or to be hung on windows. They could also be given stands, to be placed in front of a light source"
I'd seen some of these on Thingiverse, so I decided I'd see if I could FDM print one The first attempt failed, it came off the build plate, they're thin & don't have much contact area, so I tweaked various settings, and
Four hours of printing,thinking that any moment, it's going to come adrift!
This is what it looks like under normal light................
And against my living room light
And against my emergency LED lantern
Emilia Clarke from Game of Thrones.
I'm trying to create my own, using a free program from the internet, not quite as simple as I thought - my first attempt was too thin & had holes in it! - another attempt being made.
I first saw a lithophane in the bottom of a George V Coronation Teacup from 1910. It was one of several that my maternal grandmother had - all chipped & some missing their handles. On her death, one in pretty good condition passed to my mother. Sadly my mother developed dementia, and she was obsessed with 'tidying' things up. A couple of Clarice Cliff ceramics - and the teacups were disposed of - no idea where......................... The saddest thing we found was that all the family photo albums had been tidied. The albums, with carefully annotated pictures ( in white ink ) had all the pictures removed & put in a tin box the albums discarded. We have all the family photos, going back to the 1890's - several hundred - but no idea of dates, or who any of the people are. All those generations have passed & now they're just nameless
Dave
I'd seen some of these on Thingiverse, so I decided I'd see if I could FDM print one The first attempt failed, it came off the build plate, they're thin & don't have much contact area, so I tweaked various settings, and
Four hours of printing,thinking that any moment, it's going to come adrift!
This is what it looks like under normal light................
And against my living room light
And against my emergency LED lantern
Emilia Clarke from Game of Thrones.
I'm trying to create my own, using a free program from the internet, not quite as simple as I thought - my first attempt was too thin & had holes in it! - another attempt being made.
I first saw a lithophane in the bottom of a George V Coronation Teacup from 1910. It was one of several that my maternal grandmother had - all chipped & some missing their handles. On her death, one in pretty good condition passed to my mother. Sadly my mother developed dementia, and she was obsessed with 'tidying' things up. A couple of Clarice Cliff ceramics - and the teacups were disposed of - no idea where......................... The saddest thing we found was that all the family photo albums had been tidied. The albums, with carefully annotated pictures ( in white ink ) had all the pictures removed & put in a tin box the albums discarded. We have all the family photos, going back to the 1890's - several hundred - but no idea of dates, or who any of the people are. All those generations have passed & now they're just nameless
Dave
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