Building a Polyhedral Globe with 3D Printing, UV Printing, Lasers, and WLED
Some projects happen quickly. Others sit on a shelf for months waiting for the right piece of the puzzle to finally arrive.
This globe was definitely the second kind.
The Project That Started Last August
I originally started planning this build back in August of last year while waiting for my eufyMake E1 UV printer to finally ship. Like many Kickstarter backers already know, patience becomes part of the process. The assembled polyhedral ended up sitting on a shelf for months, completely finished structurally, just waiting for the UV printer to arrive in January.
But honestly, that waiting period gave me time to think through the details and figure out how all of the maker tools could work together in a single project.
And this build really became the perfect combination of everything I enjoy creating.
The Polyhedral Rabbit Hole
Ironically, the entire reason I bought my very first 3D printer back in 2018 was because I wanted to make a Dymaxion globe.
That single idea sent me down a never-ending rabbit hole of polyhedrals, geometry, lighting, connectors, laser cutting, and experimenting with new fabrication techniques. Fast forward several years later, and now I’m building illuminated globes using UV printed acrylic panels and programmable LEDs.
I regret absolutely nothing.
Designing the Globe
The shape used for this project is a Strombic Hexecontahedron, designed in Fusion 360 and printed on my Bambu X1-Carbon. The geometry creates an amazing faceted surface that works beautifully for a globe projection while also giving the piece a futuristic sculptural look.
The internal structure was designed as a collection of interlocking 3D printed parts that assemble into the final sphere-like form. Each face includes openings for lighting and mounting, and the modular approach made assembly surprisingly manageable considering the complexity of the shape.
One of my favorite parts of the process was seeing the geometry slowly come together section by section until the full globe finally took shape.
Creating the Map Projection
The globe artwork started in Photoshop using the Flexify plugin to generate the map projection across the polyhedral faces. Getting the continents to flow properly across dozens of angled surfaces took some experimentation, but once everything lined up correctly, it looked incredible.
UV Printing
This is where the eufyMake E1 completely changed what was possible.
The map graphics were UV printed directly onto clear acrylic panels using the E1, creating vibrant colors and sharp details that would have been difficult to achieve with previous methods. After printing, the acrylic pieces were laser cut on my Glowforge using Snapmarks for alignment and precision cutting.
Seeing the printed faces finally installed onto the polyhedral structure was one of those moments where the entire project suddenly felt real.
Adding the Lighting
Of course, it wouldn’t be one of my projects without lighting.
A small WLED controller was installed inside the globe along with individually illuminated faces to create animated lighting effects throughout the structure. The internal glow completely transforms the piece at night and gives the oceans and continents a soft illuminated appearance that almost makes the globe feel alive.
WLED continues to be one of my favorite tools for adding personality and motion to projects like this. There’s just something satisfying about combining geometry, fabrication, and programmable light into a single object.
Because honestly… why not add LEDs?
Combining Multiple Maker Tools
What I love most about this project is how many different tools and workflows came together to make it possible:
- Stella 4D & Fusion 360 for polyhedral design
- Bambu X1-Carbon for the structural components
- Photoshop + Flexify for the globe projection
- eufyMake E1 for UV printing
- Glowforge laser cutting with Snapmarks
- WLED for programmable lighting
Each tool solved a different part of the challenge, and together they created something that would have been impossible for me to build even a few years ago.
This globe feels like a perfect snapshot of my creative process right now — blending geometry, technology, art, lighting, and fabrication into a single piece.
And somehow it all started with wanting to make a Dymaxion globe back in 2018.
