Y3 Market Day Items: Beginners Prints

Challenge: For students who have never produced a 3D Print to create an original project for School Market Day.

Background: We have the School Market Day approaching (which is summarised in a tab on this blog with exemplars and examples).  A number of students for the first time are trying to produce something original which they can then in term promote or sell on our community day.   

With our junior classroom our students in some cases have not had an opportunity before to design a print and it can be an engaging and rewarding experience.  

Two current examples are the jumping dog shown above in the left hand corner.  This student is a Y3 student and a recent transfer to our school - this is his very first 3D Print.  He located a freely available print of a leaping dog.   He wanted to change it into a key ring and as a result took the image imported it into Tinkercad.   From there it was a simple matter of adding hole into the design for the purpose of transforming it into a key ring - and then the student (under supervision of other older students) spray painted the design.   

The print took three and a half hours to complete on the regular default settings (which is a twenty percent infill).  There was no rafting on the print.  The print measured 70mm across and was 90mm high (at the back leg).   The print was 20mm thick/deep - potentially this could have been reduced to maintain the robust nature of the print but to reduce the print time.  

As we detailed in this situation the students part of the process needs to create something original as the student has to claim ownership of the design process.  Examples from last year included using a design like this but creating original accessories and also focussing on the packaging with the product.   It goes without saying that the student has enjoyed the process and is thrilled with the result.  The student is now going to test the keyring and consider the placement of the whole.

Axolotl Keyring followed a similar process.  The student was looking at designing something that would be unique and have a purpose but also wanted to be something that she would be able to produce and create herself.

Again a basic shape was located as there is a variety available online.  Once this was selected the hole was inserted into the tail.    The dimensions of the print were smaller than usual - it measured 60mm across and was 40mm high, in addition the print was 10mm thick.  This was less robust than the dog but it meant that the print could be completed in a much reduced timeframe - this was only one hour to complete.  Once it was completed again the student then completed the presentation with supervised spray painting by seniors in our school.   This will complete the brief of the project with the addition of packaging and information related to the animal.