3D Printed Junior Challenge: Paperclip Extension

Challenge: To produce a unique paperclip or creation that can hold together a small number of sheets of paper.

Background: This challenge was about the students creating innovation and also making something that in turn could be used to advertise our school.   The paperclip design had to feature the name of our school and was detailed in a post that was put on this blog which you can read by clicking on the link here. 

Students by using the bookmark template which is available on Tinkercads main screen were able to complete the basic aspect of the design extremely quickly.   The next step to challenge the students was to have them refine, explore and develop their ideas.

An example is shown left, in this example the student was able to create a copy of the school uniform as he felt the two t-shirt tops, locking together would create a point of interest.   The paper would then be held in place between the two shirts.    He also customised the school logo, which is visible in the version on the right.

Another further example was shown left - the student created their own unique and original frame, then added some extra in the form of the dots before placing the name of the school at the bottom of the design.

In both instances the designs are creative and interesting and 'nearly there' in that they require additional refining to complete.

 Size: The shirt deign measures 40mm down and was 60mm across.   The current format with the design is 10mm wide.   The dimensions are intended so it doesn't overwhelm the paper, however this maybe refined.  The second paperclip was 90mm high was 50mm wide and was 5mm thick.   This allowed more personalisation with the design - although there was no personalisation with the star or the different shapes on the demand.  The student was charged with identifying symbols and meanings (such as four stars for the Southern Cross constellation) of symbols locally associated with the school to further add finesse to the design.

Timeframe: Both prints took currently under one hour with the default settings that are being currently used with our Snapmaker machines.  

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the Students: As detailed these projects are far from completed.  The require revision and reworking in both instances.  The emblem which is located above the shirt is an important symbol for the school and its meaning needs to be maintained, and it needs accuracy.   The second example, as mentioned, needs refining in regards to the symbolism and features, while. the design is striking meets the partial brief it needs more polish (for instance the name of the school at the bottom needs to be clearly shown, at present it is not).

3D Print School - Hardware Update: Bambu H2D

 

This is one of the stock prints available for purchases of the Bambu H2D Printer.  We have purchased this significant printer to look at completing major projects that might assist our students with their learning.

This print has a significant scale - it measures 30cm (300mm) by 30cm (300mm) and took twenty four hours to print.   It used three quarters of a regular role of filament.

Currently this filament is around $40.00 per roll.  We could potentially use something of this scale for a school production or producing props for a particular activity.

This was printed as noted via a standard print file available with the machine.

There was minimal rafting with the print.

We have talked about prints like these in the past which we consider to be inspiring and creative prompts for getting the students (and sometimes the staff) enthused and excited about the prospect, possibilities and potential of the technology that we have available to our students and community.

3D Printed Glow-in-the-Dark Project Ideas

 

As mentioned on a previous post we have been looking at ways to incorporate and include glow-in-the-dark filament with some of our students other designs and creations.   For example this is the bead group that has started experimenting with including some aspects of the designs, the first, second, fourth and fifth letters are glow-in-the-dark.

We have several groups who are looking at some variation of a night light theme. One of the aspects that matches with the glow-in-the-dark filament is to have it glow by absorbing light.

The Minecraft themed or similar swords shown here have been personalised with a name on the blade and are going to be grouped in combination with some of the other objects that the students have located.   The students have been experimenting with the size and dimensions of each item, some taking thirty seconds or so to complete.

Using or creating 'Lego-ish' figures (or figures that feature similarities from a range of plastic figures).   Students wanted to design figures that had the physical characteristics associated with the figures - the block legs/feet, the square body, the hands and the head.

This student design also included an object in the hands of the figure and they had some challenge with the head, which is why they decided to work on creating a hat.    

The concept of lego and mini-figure like figures has been something we have looked at over the years and practical experience was gained this year by the process of creating the figures for the Dolls House.

One of the groups for our 2025 Market Day has been the creation of key rings specific to a range of customers.    One of the point of differences for our students, which has been as simple as altering the PLA that we are printing with (and not the design) to produce something with a point of difference.

This is also allowing all of our students to think again about how they can use the technology and how they might use glow-in-the-dark filament for projects and prints.   Already we have had students look at the previous projects including the Christmas Ornaments from the past.

3D Printed Market Day 2025 - Update: Beads

 

We are currently in the process of preparing for our 2025 School Market Day - the date of which has now be confirmed for October 31st.

One of the classroom groups has been looking into the process of producing jewellery and individualised beads, spelling out the names of the people who purchase the items.

The students designed each of the letters of the alphabet, in addition to this the group have also printed a range of the letters using glow-in-the-dark filament as well as a range of colours and filament types.

The rationale behind this is to print a significant number of the beads now so that as the market day approaches there are already a significant number of prints made (which we don't anticipate changing significantly between now and the market day) and while we will have the students add to the project before then this allows there to be less pressure moving forward.

3D Print School - Hardware Update

This blog started in 2015 when we were producing prints using Ultimakers from 2014-21.   In 2021 we swapped to using Snapmaker Machines.  Currently we three Snapmakers (including one dual nozzle) to operate at our school of 200 students.  

This week we have upgraded our available hardware by purchasing a Bambu printer.    We will continue to use our Snapmaker machines to produce a range of prints for our students but some of the project work will be also using our new Bambu H2D Printer.

It is our intention to tag prints using this machine with our student projects so that the different between the machines can easily be visible.

3D Printing: Five Year Old Y1 Progressions

 

Challenge: For a five year old to create their first ever 3D Print designed, assisted by a junior student (seven and eight year olds).

Background: We are always looking for examples for our students to work with and also opportunities for our students to spread their knowledge.  In this instance we wanted our students to be able to work with individuals from our new entrance classroom, the students who have just started school.

For the task we wanted to balance it between something that would be achievable and something that would be memorable.   We revisited one of our students tasks that had worked well recently with the classroom, which was the cat box design task which originated from our recent general cat themed design.

The original produced task had our students work with the other students and show them the process.   They were able to grasp the understanding of the 'scribble' command very easily which provided the creation of the face of the cat, as shown in the first (red PLA) picture.    The whiskers and the ears had to have the students demonstrating it to the students and having them copy the design, although they could vary the length.   The concept of the name and placing that on the back of the design required close mentoring from the students.     

The final issue was the depth and size of the storage aspect of the cat, in this instance the students needed to take the lead.   In the first example the storage was minimal, in the second the storage was too close to the edge, which while this appeared to be solid resulted in a failure to print as a result.

The final version we opted to create a 'wow' point of difference by using the glow-in-the-dark filament to complete the print.   In the third example (shown left in the pink PLA) the elements of the print that had been identified that needed addressing from the previous two versions.

Size: Although there is some slight variation as the prints progressed with the size of the base (rectangle) the design measured 100mm across was between 50mm and 70mm deep.   Again while there was some variation the height of the print typically was 50mm high.    These dimensions are intended to ensure that the design works as a small storage device rather that something that is taller that might hold pencils etc.    The five year old student had some awareness of size and depth, however they weren't particularly able to articulate the length and measurement of the print.

Timeframe: While we are dealing with a progression of three distinct prints (as shown left) and there was some variation with the overall time it was between four hours and four and three quarter hours.

Potentially this could have been expanded to increase the storage size, however the experience was intended as a taster for the student and to also provide an opportunity for the students from the core classroom to mentor younger students and thus increase their own skill set.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: For the five year olds the project was completed successfully in terms of completing the project and producing their first print.  For the (slightly) older students the process of creating, refining and explaining was a lesson in developing their own skills.

3D Printed Challenge: School Micro Paperclip

 

Challenge: Our School Principal set a challenge to our students, to include in our school information pack for enrolments a paper clip or way to group four regular sheets of paper.

Background: This challenge was set by our school Principal at relative short notice, however it was one of the challenges that our students took to with speed and a design challenge that was impressive.

The brief was simple - for a paper clip or a way to puncture paper to group it together.     Our students had a class shared brief and were instructed to complete the design as quickly as possible - so we could start running prototypes and initial prints.

Tinkercad and the class page was of course the starting point for our students.   The design had two

particular points, 

The first is that the name of our school must be included in the design, Auroa School.   The second is that the design must be able to be hold the paper together securely.

One of the most fantastic aspects of design from Tinkercad is that there is a range of templates available for easy design that students can adapt.  In this case, without prompting a number of students located the 'simple bookmark' which was available via a search.   This design was the basis for the first two prints shown above left which were then developed in under three minutes or so by the students.

The next stage of the design is to challenge the students to develop their ideas and develop their creations that are unique.   An example is the t-shirt shown below.   The idea from the student is to copy the student uniform at school, and have a ability to lock the two items together forming the way to keep the paper in place.  The student is looking at ways to test the locking mechanism prior to printing.

Size: Both of the paperclips shown in the photo were 40mm across and 100mm and 120mm long.  The base of the design, which was the bookmark is only 3mm thick, this allowed it to be flexible but also have some strength.   The gold design had a head that was 10mm thick, the pink design which was the glow-in-the-dark filament was 5mm thick at the top of the design.  

Timeframe: Both of the designs took forty minutes to print.  Ideal for a group or class project when during the course of the next few days as many designs as possible can be completed.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students:   The next steps for the students to is to complete their designs, share them with the classroom and use this to encourage the designs from the other students.   Each student will essentially create their own individual bookmark, they will be presented to the Principal who will choose the design that best meets the intended brief, which we will duplicate copy, and each student will receive their own bookmark.