3D-Printed Shoji Lamps: An exploration into ancient Japanese wood joinery techniques

One of the things that always fascinated me is the various ancient societies that put stable buildings together using no glue or screws. Undoubtedly one of the masters of these puzzle-like intricate wood joinery techniques was the Japanese.

I faced a similar problem with 3D printing, in that some materials such as PETG are hard to find good, durable glues for, and resistance of the glue to the elements is another issue, if the finished product is intended to be placed outdoors. I could of course use nuts and bolts and threaded inserts, but I thought this was a good opportunity to explore how ancient buildings and wood structures were put together using none of that. Of course, there are a huge variety of wood joinery techniques, but I learned of one, which is at the heart of how this structure holds together.

To find out how these are built and assembled, head on over to the Github repo for plans and assembly instructions.