Lamp Carousel
DIY kinetic sculpture powered by lamp heat (2024)
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I wanted to share this fun craft activity for the holidays that I've been doing with my family over the last few years. I came up with these while cutting up some cans trying to make an aluminum version of paper spinners.There are a variety of shapes that work, but generally bigger+lighter spinners are better. Also incandescent bulbs are the best, but LEDs work too.They remind me of candle carousels I would see at my grandparents' house during Christmas. Let me know what you think!
HN · launched Dec 24, 2025 · 104 upvotes (top 9%) · 0 views
Niche: open-source hardware and maker electronics · 180 launches, 3 in the last 7 days ▼ -73% · Explore this niche →
Category and tags
- Horizontal
- Hardware & robotics
- B2C
- Not AI
- Hobby / open-source project
Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗
More like this: all 180 launches in open-source hardware and maker electronics →
Could you build this?
No This is a physical DIY kinetic art craft made of cut aluminum soda cans and wire powered by convective heat, not software.
What it would actually take: Building a kinetic heat sculpture requires physical workshop tools (wire, snips, grinder, soda cans) and manual mechanical balancing rather than software engineering. Mass production would require metal stamping, CAD engineering, and thermal physics design.
Discussion
20 comments analyzed.
Competitors mentioned: Christmas candle-powered spinners, LAMP Stack (misidentification), On-demand do-nothing machine (YouTube reference)
Concerns raised: LED bulbs don't produce enough heat to spin the device, Incandescent bulbs being phased out/eliminated from production, Pivot friction difficult to achieve without manufacturing complexity, Point source light replication challenges with LEDs
Feature requests: Water light ripples projection on roof, Design for fanless PC heat sources, Compatibility with radiator heat sources
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 99 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #7 of 100 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 54 days after the earliest competitor.
- White Splutter Decorative Flower Vase · ph · 2026-11-12 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.42
- A 2mm micro-bearing ring that spins like a real fidget spinner · hn · 2025-12-02 · 9 upvotes · similarity 0.41
- Lighting Friendly · ph · 2026-09-28 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.41
- Bulbrite | 770625 | 5W LED GY6 2700K 12V · ph · 2026-11-12 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.40
- 70 Inch Fireplace TV Stand LED Lights · ph · 2026-11-09 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.40
- home-assistant-candlelight · github · 2026-10-24 · 16 upvotes · similarity 0.39
- Spin The Wheel 3D · ph · 2026-09-28 · 2 upvotes · similarity 0.38
- Carpets Online · ph · 2026-10-03 · 1 upvotes · similarity 0.38
The niche, labels, vibe code rating and competitor comparison on this page are analysis by Nicheloom. If you use them, please credit nicheloom.com. How you may use our data.