3D Printed Scribble: Desk Organiser

Challenge: Students (Y3) who are seven years old as an introduction to Tinkercad were exploring the 'scribble' option from the main interface along with playing with the shapes - the challenge, make something from it.

Background: As mentioned this years classroom of students are Y3/Y4 the designs and projects coming from the classroom is just as creative and interesting as some of the projects from the older students.   A case in point is the 'scribble' stationary holder.    It came about as a direct result of a creativity session where the students were looking at making something from the main interface.   The 'scribble' option was made and then manipulated by a student using it for the first time.   She had the idea to turn it into a holder for her stationary.   She came up with the idea of dragging the sides and inserting various holes into the base of the design.   

Some refining of the design was required with the assistance to place the students name of the print, however the student has since done this independently.    This is creativity from a student who has made something fantastic

Size: The holder measured 100mm across and was 80mm wide - the thickness of the sides of it was between 10mm and 15mm.   Looking into the purpose of the print altering these dimensions would be counter production for the purpose as it would restrict what could be held.

Timeframe: Ten hours - this would considerably less than some other designs that demonstrate this purpose.    Realistically using the Snapmaker you wouldn't have wanted it to be less of a timeframe as it would mean that there would potentially be issues with balance or the amount of material or items that it could hold. 

Level of Difficulty: Medium - the student had the idea and wanted to make 'scribble' into something useful and as a result.  It did require some additional input (see below) but as a first print ever it was extremely successful.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the Student: The student needed a limited amount of assistance to be shown two aspects of the print.   First was the sinking of the holes to the correct dimension so they were big enough and deep enough for the print, this was achieved by an elder student who was twelve helping her.    The placement of her name could have been selected slightly more carefully as it was in a place on the curve where it wasn't as visible as it could have been on the outside facing outwards (see top photo) the final aspect of the print would be the spray painting of the entire project which is currently yet to be done (the student is very happy to have a 'gold' stationary holder.  There was also a slight line created between the 'i' and 'n' of the students name, this was as a consequence of having a insert adjacent to it that was too close to edge which created a sight line.

3D Printed Crocs Jibbitz

Challenge: Student wears Crocs shoes and was looking to design or create an original version of the Crocs Gibbets.

Background: These items are used to work in conjunction with a pair of Crocs shoes.   They link in between the design of the shoes and allows display items.  The official Crocs site has a range of these items which are listed in the $10.00 range.    The student concerned wanted to be able to modify or create her own designs so started working on a basic design.   She then tested it twice to ensure that the locking mechanism was able to be pushed through with the shoe but had enough so it would hold in place.

This design was completed effectively in two days, the student, who has shown ample design creativity and has had a number of designs featured here, was then needing to to refine her design only slightly.   

Size: As a smaller item the Gibbet measures 30mm across was 30mm high and 10mm thick.  This size reflects the item being able to fit into the shoes.

Timeframe: The print on standard settings took seventeen minutes - perfect to produce a class set or series of designs, as the size of the shoe dictates the size of the item keeping it small.  

Level of Difficulty: Medium.  As the student had purchased a set of Gibbets they were able to deconstruct it perfectly the biggest challenge was to ensure that the item could be secured to the shoe by being pushed through and then would be held in place.  

Next Steps for the Students/What we would do differently: The student wanted to create a version of their own Gibbet which they have done successfully, the next obvious step is to look at creating original designs or designs that are unique to the student, our area or school.    There is nothing additionally required from the student as the print was completed successfully the first time.  The final step will be some form of spraying or detail being added to the design to finish its presentation.

3D Printed: Swimming Pool Toys

3D Printed Swimming Toys has come about as a complete accident, however its potentially moved our design into another area that we hadn't considered.

The design and creation of this print took place as part of a series, created by a student, where she was using a template to create unique 3D Printed animals, full details of which can be located here.

During a swimming lesson this week we took one of the prints, in this case the butterfly to the school pool and placed it in the water.  We had already experienced this in our classroom where we realised that due to the print being set on a 20% infill the print would essentially float.

However what we didn't anticipate is that with the articulation designed by the student, the motion of students in the water caused a slight ripple which then caused the articulation to give the illusion that the butterfly was moving its wings.

We still have a couple of weeks of swimming remaining here in New Zealand and we will look to test this further, however potentially it would seem obvious that you could custom make a series of prints that would be used to motivate students by floating on the surface of the water.   In our instance a student who is reluctant to engage when swimming, and not keen to pick up items from a shallow pool was happy to play with the butterfly that was floating on top of the water.
 

3D Printing: Filament Stand

Background: Since switching nearly exclusively to Snapmaker Machines as our project choice we have had a much better rate of success in print making.   To further ensure that this is the case as the machines age we have been looking at ways to enhance our printing.

An amazing staff member at our school has come up with this set up: 

A PVC pipe has been placed on a bracket, with the rolls of the PLA material able to float and stay on the pipe.      The bracket that attaches with the pipe was designed using the schools Laser Cutter. 

It was designed and printed using thick plywood to allow it to have some weight and stability.  It is able to feed the PLA via the rolls 

A latch at the end of the bracket is able to be raised and lowered allowing the rolls to be taken off when removed from the machine.

There has been considerable success in printing with these machines, however, again the intention is to have this in place so that as the machines age then it allows them to continue to successfully print.

The PVC pipe used was purchased from a local hardware shop for minimal cost.  The laser cutter is a commercial grade one that students in the senior school use on project based learning.   The plywood was purchased from a local supplier.   The cost for the overall project was minimal and is working exactly as anticipated.

If you are interested in gaining the exact dimensions of the laser cutting you can message us and we can supply you with these or the original designs.

3D Printing in the Junior School - Independent 2023

Due to change in the school organisation for 2023 the classroom for this teacher for this year is students that are Y3/4 these students are eight and nine year olds, for the most part they have had very limited experience and use of 3D Printers and using software to design objects.

We have started the year with some basic designs to get the students excited and to see who might be able to create and design.  As a starting point we used the same template and instructions that we might have expected to have worked with more senior (older) students.

We have a 1:1 iPad classroom, the students are using Flipped Video content for their instructions, videos made on this site in the past by students from various classrooms.

The students within the first week of class were independently producing some basic shaped prints following this formula, successfully.   As a result we are encouraging their design and thinking as much as possible.      We have allowed them to print and keep their first initial prints and brainstormed ideas to look at repairing and making things in the context of the school to keep them designing and making.    Theses prints have come in as short as half an hour, with sizes in the 50mm range.    

The last step as usual is the spray painting of these shapes.   

Some of the student have had to make slight adjustments but these have been minimal.

Further details on this process can be found by locating some of our tutorials and designs linked via this blog here.

3D Printed IRB Boats

Challenge: To produce an IRB Boat for a special event.

Background: The local Surf Life Saving Club was holding a significant milestone event (a hundred years since the club was founded).  For the event the club were looking at featuring something that was unique and related to the club that could be part of the celebrations.  The solution to this was for a 3D Printed IRB (inflatable rescue boat).    ideally we would have looked at creating something unique for the situation however given the time constraints and the need to produce a semi-significant numbers of the print we went searching online for a pre-created version that we could either adapt or use.   

We have spoken before about using Thingiverse as a location to find detailed prints that have already been created and again in this instance the presence of such a print was located on the site, which we were able to access and then use.   

Once it had been selected and located we looked at detailed presentation but again based on the timeframe that we were looking at and the scales of units that we needed to get a decision was made to remove the rafting from the design and spray paint it with a single colour (orange) from a spray can.    The piece was produced in four hours with minimum rafting (the only amount was the single piece shown above in the top photograph).

The final issue was the ability to make the print have some kind of unique relation to the event.  In this case we made the decision to combine the 3D Print with another machine that our students have access to at our school, in this case it was a Versa Studio  Sign Maker ( Bn-20).   This machine allows our students to take files and produce stickers with it.

The design shown in the photograph on the left is the stickers with the club emblem and initials, the date of the event.   These are going to be put onto the side of the IBB boats where the club markers are for the actual boats, therefore making them unique for the event.