A lampshade is the one part of a lamp that wantsto be printed in vase mode. A single, continuous spiral wall with no seams and no infill diffuses light evenly, prints fast, and uses very little filament. Here's how to do it well — and how the DeskLamp ships its shade set up for exactly this.
What vase mode (spiral vase) actually does
In spiral-vase mode the slicer prints one outer wall in a continuous spiral, rising gradually instead of layer-by-layer. There are no layer seams, no top surface and no infill — just a thin, translucent shell. For a lampshade that means the light passes through evenly and the surface has a smooth, ribbed glow.
The settings that matter
In Bambu Studio, enable Spiral vase under Others → Special mode. It will set:
- Wall loops: 1 — a single perimeter is the whole print.
- Top shell layers: 0 — the shade is open at the top.
- Sparse infill: 0% — nothing inside a spiral.
- Bottom shell layers: enough for a solid base — we use 12 so the mounting ring is sturdy.
Layer height is your quality-vs-speed dial: 0.2Â mm is a good default, 0.28Â mm prints faster with a slightly more pronounced ribbed texture that looks great when lit.
One plate, one object
Spiral vase works on a single object per plate. If you're printing a whole lamp, the shade needs its own plate in vase mode while everything else prints normally. The DeskLamp project handles this for you: the shade lands on its own plate with spiral vase already switched on, and the rest of the parts print with standard walls and gyroid infill on their own plates.
Add a diffuser for genuinely soft light
A single-wall shade is lovely, but a bare LED behind it can still show a bright hotspot. The DeskLamp includes an optional printed diffuser discthat drops inside the shade and spreads the light into a warm, even glow with no glare. It's the last, optional step of the build — print it flat, drop it in, done.
Filament choice changes the look
White or natural PLA gives the most diffusion. A translucent filament glows like frosted glass. A darker color reads as a moody, directional shade. Whatever you pick, use an LED bulb — it stays cool next to the PLA. We go deeper on that in the filament guide.
Want to see it before you print? Open the configurator, pick your shade color from the real Bambu Lab palette, and download a project that already has the shade plate in vase mode.