3D Printed Minature Stationary Stands

Challenge: Student wanted to produce a scaled down version of a typical stationary holder.
Background: The student concerned had an idea of what she wanted to produce and had examples in the classroom that showed what could be produced.   The student was able to produce a basic design model and then personalised it with her name, and wanting to further add an additional touch of putting the animals paws in the bottom right hand corner of the design.   All in all as an introductory attempt at 3D Printing the student managed to complete all of the anticipated goals - working by herself etc. and was able to produce something that worked perfectly.   It should also be noted that this print was produced with zero 'rafting' or waste PLA so that the student was able to spend no time removing any of it, and the font for the name on the plate worked perfectly.    The only issue with the design of this project was the size - the student had intended it to be a smaller version of the full sized type of project that students had created and are detailed on this blog.   The student who created the project

Above: Design shown from above

was concerned that by reducing the size that the project would not work or that the storage would be compromised by the reduced size - this was not the case and while the scale was reduced the purpose worked extremely well.  It was also suggested by the student that this could be used for storage of jewellery or other items.
Degree of Difficulty: Low/Medium - this was the students first design and was able to use Tinkercad to create and manipulate the shapes that were required.   She was able to create the balance of the design easily, but she has a talent for design.
Size: As shown in the photograph to the left the design was 110mm across and the base of the unti was 100mm high.   The lettering for the name and the paw print was raised 5mm.   The towers that are the storage part of the design, the left and right towers are 70mm high with the middle tower being 50mm high. 
Timeframe: Seven and a half hours.    The design of the unit and the measurements were required and would be the minimum to make the design workable.    The printer was using the default settings for Tinkercad, which is essentially 20% infill and the Ultimaker 2+ used a 8mm nozzle.
What we would do differently/Next Steps for Students: Nil - the student was thrilled with the results and it was considered extremely successful.

3D Printed Badges: 2020 Exemplars

'John Deere' and 'Scribble Cats' Designs

Challenge: For students to independentally produce 3D Printed badges as a first print for the school year to include versions or approaches to design that we have not featured.
Background: Throughout the past few years as an introductory task to show students 3D Printing we have typically started with a basic design that has featured some personalisation and a practical use.   These are three examples that were all created by students using Tinkercad who met this brief.  To put their designing in context the students are speding the second year in the classroom, having started in the class the previous year, so they have had a year of experience or opportunity with 3D Design.  Students have used Tinkercad to complete the design process.   While there are more detailed and other products, programs and resources in the marketplace and online we have always found this to be dependable, reliable and adaptable.   Students have found the ability to create and make 3D

Cricket themed 'Kian' design

Printed designs easily.  I would also like to recognise as well the ability of Tinkercad to create an entire classroom of student accounts that come under the umbrella of the teacher.   This is flexible and allows the students to work with minimal input.    All three designs were created by students who were ten years old.

The 'John Deere' themed key ring is a key ring for a tractor.  The student located it online and wanted to add the addtion of the 'Dad' under the logo.    'Cats Forever' was created using 'scribble' which is one of the new design.   The key feature of the 'John Deere' design was the fact that the base itself had a lip or edge created for it.   The lip was around the outside of the design, and has a length of 10mm.   The base of the design proper is 5mm.   In usual design of these types of projects the base would be consistent for its entire length, the

Above: John Deere Lip

lip has reduced the need for this and then considerably reduced the print time.   You can see this feature of this design to your left.

Degree of Difficulty: Low - these designs are intented as a creation task to ensure that students are successful.  Refining the design is to simply tweak it slightly. 

Size: While there are three distinct designs featured in this post they have similar dimensions.   The bases are between 100-110mm and they have a height of 100-140mm.   The thickness of the design varies slightly the 'Kian' and 'Cats Forever' designs have a universal thickness to them, as noted 'John Deere' had a lip that was created that significantly improved the print time relative to the other prints in the series.  Given the revised versions of the print this change could have been made.
Timeframe: Three and a half hours ('John Deere') four and a half hours ('Kian') and six and half hours ('Cats Forever').   We would have revised this design to reflect the lip given the opportunity.
What we would do differently/next steps for students: Given the lip considerations mentioned otherwise the students designs/purpose etc. for the students was successful.

3D Printed Keyring Using Scribble

Challenge: Using 'Scribble' option from Tinkercad to produce a unique 3D Print.
Background: As a new school year has started in New Zealand we are looking at ways to use the creation process involved with 3D Printing for students to create new projects and cover new ground.   As some of the students in this years class cohort have already mastered using basic Tinkercad design we wanted to use another tool to help encourage them to create something individual.

One of the key Tinkercad design tools is the 'scribble' icon, which can be seen in the bottom right hand corner of this screenshot.    The student concerned was challenged to use this tool to create something unique.   She was wanting to create a gift for another student and work independently to create a design.

By utilizing the scribble design she kept the design brief and was able to create the cat that was featured to the left.   The 'scribble' option allowed this Y5 student to create something with an easily recognisable design.   To ensure that the print was personalised she added the students name to the bottom of the design (which indeed is spelt with a single l).   Finally to allow the item to have a purpose she used the ability to easily put a hole into the design in the top right hand.

We are previously created detailed step by step instructions to complete this sort of task as we would appply it as a basic introduction to 3D Printing for students who are in the Y5-6 year level (independently).
Degree of Difficulty: Low - there is a variety of tutorials and assistance to complete projects like this.  As an introduction to 3D Printing we usually find students can complete it successfully after watching videos such as this.

Size: The design measured 110mm across from end to end and was 90mm high.  One of the key elements to reduce the print time but to also ensure that it was manageable was to ensure that the thickness of the print was 5mm.    Given the purpose of the design, the size ideal for the project.
Timeframe: Three and a half hours.   The printers that we are using for this project are working on a 4mm nozzle and are nearly five years old (although they have been reconditioned).
What we would do differently/next steps for students: 'Scribble' is a basic design to allow students to create more unique pieces of work.   The icon and nature of the design tool does not suit every design, however it is something different and it allows for something unique to be created by the students involved.   Result.

3D Printed Projects: 2020 School Year

Challenge: Students wanting to re-create projects from the last school year and adapt them for the new school year.    These prints have featured previously on this blog and are being reimaged.

The first print was a different version of a stationary holder designed by a student with a 'building theme'.   In the original the student went with a black/orange colour combination.   In this instance the student opted to change the colours and repeat the print.   The student went with the black/blue combination.   The student furthermore wanted to add the addition of lettering to this design to personalise it as a gift.   The print is the same scale and the print details of the print as it was described here on the original post.

The idea behind this print was as a farming themed gift for the father of the student.   They found the design from the regular Tinkercad site and adjusted it by introducing or creating a platform for the cow to stand on.   Furthermore she introduced 'Dad' to the base of the design with the intention of developing it further.   One of the ongoing issues that we have had with prints of these dimensions is the legs of the animal when the PLA is removed often come off.   We have had several prints where this has been the case.   While there are additional materials to remove the PLA we are still looking at tools to complete the process.

3D Printed Mini iPad/Phone Stand with storage draw

Challenge: Student wanted to create a stand for their iPad/iPhone and include storage in the base of the stand as a feature.   The student wanted to personalize the stand with their name.

Above: Design in profile prior to rafting removal

Background: While this student had not designed this sort of project before, a sibling of theirs had and as a consequence the student was able to call upon them for guidance with the design and the dimensions of the project.   This student had completed a number of projects in the classroom this year and was one of the chief designers for things related to the sound lure project boxing.

The student also needed to consider number of factors that were challenging in this project - getting the balance right was significant between producing a functional stand and having a long term print.

Degree of Difficulty: High - to get everything working in conjunction with the other features is something of an art.   This project will require considerable reworking to be considered successful.  All of the elements need to work together - for instance introducing a draw into the base of the design increases the storage significantly but the trade off is the fact that the base becomings considerably weaker when empty which can cause the base itself to tip with the weight of an iPad.

Above: The internal draw.

Size: The front of the design measured 80mm across, the print was 70mm long/deep and the print was 55mm high at the the top of the backing of the design.   The internal draw measured 70mm by 60mm and was able to sit into the base of the design.   The size of the sides of the draw need to be noted as they were 3mm across.  This would be the minimum size required to produce a stand, and in retrospect these dimensions would probably be increased to be successful.
Time frame: The base of the stand took four and a half hours and the draw took an hour.  This contrasts with some of the larger iPad stands and holders which have been up to twenty hours with the default print settings.  What we would do differently/Next Steps for Students: There were a few things to consider with this design - the weight of the print would hold a basic iPhone or iPad if it was regular dimensions (ie without a case).   However if you knocked the iPad then the stand would fall, so more weight would be required (although this could be addressed by filling up the storage

draw.   The student choose to include thier name and sink it into the front facing side of the stand.   this significantly weakened the strength of the design.   The student would have been bettered served to have printed their name in a separate print run, ideally either in another colour or one that could be spray painted, and then super glue it into place.   When the lettering around the students name was removed a significant amount of detail around the lettering also came out.   This was despite a teacher removing the rafting and taking all the care possible - a student would face particularly more challenge in doing so - with a straight basic print, and the name in a second colour this would be easily achievable.

Given the knowledge and the skill set that the ten year old student has managed to achieve I would consider it to be an easy fix for the student to successfully adapt their design to include these features and re-print the project which the student will do early next year.   

3D Printed Projects: Individualised Basic Projects

Challenge: For students to create (independently) a variety of designs that were original and created and personalized for the purpose of a gift.
Background:  Having completed the 'sound lure' project for the year the 3D Printers here at School were available for a variety of projects.   The students were asked to create a concept or idea, which was original, which allowed them to personalize something and then created it independently.  Some of these projects were inspired by work from the past, which has been already featured on this blog.  Full details of those projects are available in the links next to the photographs.

   Left: An introductory name plate for a student completely new to 3D Printing.  The instructions for the student was prepared by another student who tutored the student, and also in the form of a flipped video that students produced earlier in the year.

This is a basic design/concept/idea that has featured many times on this blog which is detailed here.

This took four and a half hours and was 90mm by 60mm and was 5mm thick with the lettering another 5mm (and star) out from the design,

Another project was similar but 'Christmas Themed' with an insert Reindeer, and hearts that wen through the shape, the name of the student in this instance was sunk into the design of the plate (in contrast to the design above when it was raised up from the base).    The student was also working for the first time on a 3D Printing project and like the student involved in the above project is ten years old.  They were able to be paired up with a student who had worked Tinkercad before and the design was original and personalized.   It was 100mm by 100mm and 5mm thick, with a five hour print time.  Again the tutorial video was used as a back up resource to assist with teaching, and there are considerable Christmas themed examples of this on this blog running from simple designs with a name to individually created 3D Projects based around Christmas ideas (such as the Sleigh featured here).   These projects range in difficulty level from basic, which would take five minutes to much more advanced and complicated designs that would potentially require reworking and remodelling.

A slight variation of the above themes saw the creation of this badge for a child's room, which was created by a student following the format above.   The PLA used by the printer is extremely durable and wearing, meaning that the designs themselves seldom fade or can be broken.  We have been testing this theory with a number of prints to show the evacuation assembly area at school, which when put outside in an exposed area have maintained their shape and form for approaching two years.   This print was 5mm thick, with the lettering and stars an additional 5mm, 60mm high and 140mm across the print time was four and a half hours.

In the final design that we wanted to highlight, a student wanted to create a gift to mark a family members, first Christmas.   Again the basic design format was followed as with other designs in this group.   The design featured no 'rafting' o additional PLA required to complete the project, the student was able to created, design and complete the project themselves while meeting the criteria that was created at the start of the project.   The print measured 140mm across, was 10mm thick (including the lettering in the middle) and featured a whole in the top of the design to attach it to a Christmas Tree.   This took four hours to print on our default settings.

3D Printed Christmas Decorations

Challenge: Student wanted to use a 3D Printer to create and design a personalised decoration for a family member.
Background: Student was new to the classroom, near the end of the school year (in New Zealand).  We had a new student who had no experience with 3D Printer and wanted to show the possibilities that the printer could be used to create something.   The student had mentoring from another student, both of whom are ten years old.  The creation process was simple using the basic template from the main Tinkercad interface.  The photos shown with the print show the print prior to any 'clearning' of minor excess PLA.    The lettering was sunk into the base of the design to add detail to it (it also has at times been reversed and raised up, but the sinking into the base generally looks better in our students opinion).  The teacher had no input into the process or the design.
Degree of Difficulty: Medium - this is a students first print, but the basic design features can from the student and someone offering design advice.  We have created, and there are online tutorials available on how to create inserts and lettering, so the design is very similar to the 'keyring' and 'badge' design that have previously been published here on the blog.  Students could work independently on this task to complete it from the middle school (Y5 onwards).
Size:   The design measured 100mm across and was 120mm high.   The print was 5mm thick (this could have been reducded to significantly improve the printing time).   Variations on this design/theme have been created and posted on this blog previously.
Timeframe: Four and a half hours for the default setting with a 6mm nozzle and 20% infill.   This is standard Tinkercad/CURA settings for our Ultimaker 2.  These machines are now five years old although two years ago they were upgraded to Ultimaker 2+.   One would strongly suspect that a more robust machine would improve on the printing time considerably.
What we would do differently/Next Steps for students: None - this turned out exactly as required.

Further reference: In 2018 our students created Christmas Prints for everyone in the classroom and also buddy created with another student - this prints, ideas and designs are featured here.  Further examples can be located here and exemplars can be seen here

In total there are several pages of designs, creations and idea that have been featured on this blog (including the 'sleigh' design which was create dby students from scratch using the main Tinkercad Interface, as shown left.

Please link in anymore great examples that you know about and share this post!