I recently purchased my very own Creality Ender 3 Pro FDM printer and have been testing it out in a variety of ways. After having explored additive manufacturing for a few years, I learned about an extremely cool product that can be printed as an aesthetic piece, but which also requires pushing an FDM printer to its printing limits. 

Lithophanes are really awesome prints that produce an image upon shining a light through them. The images are created through varying the thickness of the printed material, so that varying densities within the print allow for different intensities of light to pass through. This is why it is extremely important to have an accurate print for a clearer picture. 

Theres a website online that will take any image you upload and convert it into an STL of a lithophane for that image. Check out the website at http://3dp.rocks/lithophane/.  

​The images on the left show my Ender 3 in its different stages of construction. This was a semi-assembled printer and was very easy to put together. I'm extremely happy with it, and it has proven to print in excellent quality so far. I used this for the lithophanes and they all came out with exceptional precision. 

Below on the left is the image I used on my second attempt at a lithophane. On the right is the STL that was created from 3dp.rocks, uploaded into Cura. After watching some videos and testing it out once before, I adjusted the curve and size of the lithophane so it would be just right for its purposes. This one was meant to be a standing piece to go on my brother's desk as a birthday gift. 

​On the right are the print settings I used in Cura, adjusted to create a fine and precise lithophane. Layer thickness was reduced to .16mm, speed was reduced to 40mm/s, and infill was increased to 100% for the lithophane to work. I also changed the wall line count from 3 to 1, so that there would just be 1 sort of shell layer, with the remaining infill being part of the lithophane print. 

I used white PLA for this print, with the printing temp at around 200C. These lithophanes can only be printed in white or transparent polymers for the full color to translate into the image, however they could work with colored filaments as well. 

Below shows the results of this print.

This print took a massive 14hrs 34min to print, but was well worth it for the excellent finish.

I put the STL file into my CAD software and designed a type of base for the lithophane to stand in, thinking that I would make an area for a light to be placed. The stand can be seen in the image above, and the lithophane is shown sitting in the stand on the left. The tolerances worked out just well enough for a firm press-fit.

Finally, I wanted to set up a little lamp or lightbulb to place behind the lithophane so that the image could be turned on and off easily with a switch. I went to the hardware store and bought some wire, a switch, a plug to go into the wall, and a little bulb holder. I wired it all up as shown below and attached it to the back of this print. 

I'm really happy with how this turned out, although there are plenty of improvements to be made. I would have liked to print a cover and some walls to hide the bulb from the sides and top, as well as find a better bulb attachment that can be better integrated. The wiring also seemed a little dangerous and cheap, so it would be better to find a more sophisticated switch and plug for this. 

Below is the first lithophane that I made from a family picture that I made to put on our Christmas tree at home. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of it on the tree, but the following pictures show how it turned out. For this print I saved the STL as a part file on my CAD software, designed into the lithophane a circular disc-type base with spokes, and printed it all as one part.