3D Printed Mini Pencil Sharpener

Challenge: To take a physical object, in this case a pencil sharpener and include it with a 3D Print.  Various versions of this has been produced however this version was a micro scale and attempt to complete the project using the smallest amount of PLA.

Background: As above - a deluxe edition was detailed on this blog as was another early prototype from this years version of this task.

The challenge concerned the students inserting a space internally into their design and making sure they had an understanding of measuring in millimetres and refining their design - too small and obviously the pencil sharpener couldn't fit and too large that the pencil sharpener would have too much space.    The sharpener itself is inexpensive.

They were able to be purchased from a local dollar store for a small charge which allowed the purchase of twelve of them.   Students did need to be aware that they could not have too much pressure applied as it tended to crack.

The other biggest consideration for students to consider from an engineering perspective is the exit point for the shavings once it has been used.  Consistently students have either a exit point that lacks a clear route or requires some force for it to work.   Working at a small scale like this allows the students to create something where the print is not too long and realistically allows it to be completed as a working prototype.

Resources used to complete this project: iPad, Tinkercad App, Cotton candy PLA, Bambu P1S.

Level of Difficulty: Medium/High as we have spoken about on a number of posts this task appears simplistic but is not, there are a number of challenges that need to be resolved by the students.

Size: The current version of this is designed to be as small as possible.  This example is 40mm across and is 50mm long.   At the back of the design the part of the design that has the students name was 35mm high.

Cost/Price: At present the print uses 18g to complete and included 6g of filament as support rafting.  Using the cost price model of the Bambu support software the cost of the print is $0.45c.

Timeframe: The print had a total of 42 minutes to complete.  A six minute warm up for the printer and then a total print time of thirty six minutes.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The final mounting of the pencil sharpener is the key element which in this case will involve the student completing testing to evaluate its effectiveness.