3D Printed Super Large Stationary Holder

Above: The Full design shown in use in the classroom

Challenge: To produce a stationary holder.
Background/Details: Student wanted to create a personalized stationary holder.   We decided to allow a test of the output of the machine for the student to create something that was significant in size.   The student wanted something big as they had a number of stationary items.   The student started with a basic shape design and from there kept adding additional features and storage.    The design featured an ipad stand built into it and then two significant storage areas for stationary.    To complete the process of penalization of the stand included the name of the student at the bases on one side and a diamond above the name and finally as a little hidden gem there was a skull at the base of the iPad stand.  All of these design features were created by a ten year old student using Tinkercad to create and design basic shapes then take those shapes and manipulate and change them accordingly.    The student was able to do this without any input from the teacher and created it without assistance from other students.   The teachers sole responsibility in this case was pressing the print button to start the process of printing.  The student who completed this design was a student who was ten years old and had limited experience with a 3D Printer.

Design shown in profile with skull visible at the front

Level of Difficulty: High - this has significant features and details that needed to work in conjunction with each other.   This was not for the faint hearted in terms of size or the scale of the project (see below).   It would not be recommended to students starting the process.
Size: The main storage (base) of the design was 170mm across and 120mm high.   The design was 60mm wide and had sides that were 5mm thick.    The lettering for the name was on a separate block came 10mm out of the base of the block and the lettering was a further 10mm wide.    The second smaller storage area was 90mm high, 100mm across and 30mm wide.   The front of the iPad stand extended a further 50mm from the base of the design.   In total therefore the dimensions of the print is 190mm wide and 170mm long at its widest point.   This was one of the single biggest prints that we have attempted.   We would like to point out that this was produced using a 3D Printer that is now five years old on our typical settings (8mm nozzle and a twenty percent infill).

Design as shown from above

Time frame: This is one of the longest prints that we have attempted for some time.   The time for the print was thirty six hours.    This was deliberately designed as a statement piece that was to stand out and based on its size and presentation.
What we would do differently/next steps for students: The decision was made to print the design as an entire single piece, this proved challenging to remove the rafting that was specific to the lettering around the name of the student who had designed it.   A better approach would have been for this lettering or name to have been printed in a separate run, preferably in a different colour and then this would have been glued into place with a plastic/PLA bonding glue.    The student was thrilled with the result and removing the lettering after it had been completed would have been particularly difficult without significantly distressing the print.  In our experience removing black PLA tends to leave some scaring or marking on the print which we then reprint or repaint to complete the process.