How To Make A Sustainable Lampshade With Cork

2025-04-10 | By Kitronik Maker

License: See Original Project Laser Cutters Solder / Desoldering

In this resource, we show you how to make a cool Scandinavian style lampshade using our ‎sustainable 3mm laser cork. One of the great things about making things out of our laser ‎cork is that it's flexible, this means all the parts stay together with a friction fit. So, no glue, ‎no screws, just cork!‎

We love Cork! As well as being highly versatile it's also one of the most sustainable ‎materials available. When a tree is harvested for its bark, the tree continues to grow and is ‎then left to recover. Also, Cork is 100% recyclable so none of it needs to go to waste. Follow ‎our step-by-step guide for a sustainable lighting solution! ‎

STEP ONE - Gather the parts:‎

Round 5V LED Matrix Lamp
USB Power Lead
‎3mm Laser Cork, 600mm x 400mm sheet

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You will also need:‎

Access to a laser cutter
A soldering iron
Solder
A USB Power Source
Our laser cutter file

‎ STEP TWO - Download the Files:‎

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Download your laser files here. ‎

STEP THREE - Cut Out the Parts:‎

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Place your material into the laser cutter, import the laser file, choose your settings and away ‎you go! We found Speed: 50 Power: 65 worked best with our laser cutter, but yours may be ‎different. Tip: We recommend doing a quick test cut first in one of the corners. ‎

STEP FOUR - Building the 5V LED matrix Kit:‎

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Solder together your Round 5V LED matrix following the instructions, which can be ‎found here. ‎

STEP FIVE - Soldering the USB Power Cable:‎

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You should now have only two pads left to solder, marked RED + and BLACK -. Using the ‎hole as strain relief, thread the wires through the hole and then into the relevant pads. Then, ‎solder in place. ‎

STEP SIX - Assembling the Cork Lamp Shade:‎

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First, feed the USB cable through the large hole in the small circular panel. Assemble half of ‎the lampshade, followed by the LED Matrix Board as shown in the first picture.‎

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All the parts should make a friction fit with each other and remain in place. If you find some ‎of the sections are loose, don't worry, we can add a rubber band around the lampshade ‎later to hold everything together. Once you have the LED Matrix board in place, add the rest ‎of the sides. ‎

STEP SEVEN- Finalize and Then Test:‎

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