I’m in the process of replacing all my single-color christmas lights with addressable RGB LEDs, but the 12mm “bullet” form factor of them is different from the traditional incandescent mini lights, the 5mm wide angle LEDs, etc.:

You’d think they’d make C6/7/9 bulb covers that attach to them, but I have yet to find any for sale, anywhere. As such, I want to 3D print some, along with 12mm bullet pixel-sized replacements for my snowflake lights:

What’s some good filament I can get that will be reasonably clear and stay that way (without yellowing or getting too brittle) for several years’ worth of Christmas seasons, despite UV/rain/cold exposure?

(Bonus question: anybody know a good way to model the facets in those “strawberry” lights? The C7 bulbs on Thingiverse, such as this one, are all smooth, LOL.)

Edit: by the way, to be clear (pun intended): I don’t need optical clarity like the lens guy; scattering the light is fine. (In fact, doing that on purpose is kind of the point of modeling a faceted C7 bulb instead of a smooth one.) I just want to make sure that whatever part of the filament that doesn’t manage to be transparent is white, not tinted some dingy color.

I do happen to have some Inland “natural” PLA laying around and did a test print in that. It’s not too bad – only a little bit yellow at the wall thickness I’m using – but I fear for how it will hold up over time.

  • grue@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    2·
    25 days ago

    Yeah, I’ll probably do a clear coat.

    The thought of using a resin printer had crossed my mind, as well. It wouldn’t work for the snowflakes – those would be too large for any but the most gigantic resin printers – but it would be optimal for the C7 bulbs. That said, I literally just bought a new filament printer (just an Ender 3, not a fancy Bambu or anything – until now I was making do with a MP Mini!) and buying two printers at the same time makes my bank account sad.

    Also, I’m not sure the material resin printers use is all that great at resisting UV either.

    • kensand@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      3·
      25 days ago

      Oh 3d printer resin is absolutely not UV resistant - resin printers use UV light to solidify the resin at each layer, and exposing a print to too much UV light after printing can cause UV burn, similar to a thermoplastic.

      Coating the print in a UV resist clear coat should prevent UV light from reaching the print itself, and preventing the burn; think of it as sunscreen for your print 😉