3D Priting: Christmas Decorations 2024

 

Challenge: For a junior student to design, create and print a unique Christmas decoration that could hang from a tree.

Background: This is the latest classroom challenge for my junior class of students.  The students brief was to have something that was original, had a aspect of personalisation and was able to be realistically hung from a tree.

The first example shown left was produced by a Y3 student (a seven year old) in under five minutes.   The student took a design element from the Tinkercad main interface page (the snowflake) and then applied their name on the bar linking the snowflake and the ring.  All of these three features were available from the basic design template and the student was familiar with using them to create something.   They were able to submit this to their individual student Tinkercad account.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - the student created something using three basic interface tools to create the design, then link them all together and group them.   This student while new to 3D Printing this year has now spent nearly twelve months in the classroom using Tinkercad to design this.

Size: The print was 140mm long.   The snowflake measured 60mm across, the name bridge aspect of the print was 10mm wide and the design was 10mm thick at the snowflake and the lettering for the name was 15mm high.  The student is going to look at these dimensions moving forward.

Timeframe: Two hours - this was something that would be improved (ie shortened) by refining the design to ensure that it was all consistent with the size.  Although the link bridge with this design is narrow it is something that is intended to be hung from a tree for display and not something that needs to be robust to be handled.

What we would do differently/Next steps for teh students: As noted the design is currently a little uneven in places - the design could be improved that way.   The name of the designer could potentially have each of its letters flipped so that it could be read down the spine of the linking pin.   

The design was printed using 'sheen' PLA which we are continuing to experiment with, so was not spray painted.  You can read additional Christmas designs from previous students by clicking on the link here.

3D Printing Term Four in New Zealand

 

In New Zealand the final school term of the year has started, with a finish time of early December for most schools.  At our school we are starting to wind up the year with various projects.

One of the lessons that we have learned over the year, particularly when looking to have a class set of anything completed, when we are running on a school set of printers, is to start early.   Hence we have started looking at Christmas themed decorations again and focussing on smaller designs that can be mass produced easily by the printers at school.

Firstly we have tasked the students with looking at a typical decoration that might hang from a Christmas Tree.   The criteria for this is something that the students might design, have some level of personalisation on it and have elements that the students have created.   We have inserted this requirement because some of the students using Tinkercad were aware that they would be able to use a design tool like the search bar and locate an element like the snowflake shown below.   

This by itself can be printed directly, but the student in this case has opted to introduce their name to a bar and link that with a ring to allow the design to easily be hung from a tree.

We are also looking at creating labels such as the one shown in the photograph above.  In this example the student has taken their name, used a basic text design and added a linking ring.  This student was a Y3 who is using Tinkercad for the first time and was able to do this independently.   They add to add some blocks into the design to ensure that everything was linked (in the example between the capital A and the o you can see it in the bottom right hand corner of the A.

These labels are 60mm by 25mm and 10mm thick and currently taking just over 45 minutes to print.   We are currently using a 'marble' filament which has produced the affect shown.

There are many, many examples of Christmas Decorations from the last few years on this site, you can locate them by using the search bar icon or clicking on this summary post.   We also have examples of the labelling

Sensory Fidget Stars - Unpacking the Design

 

Designs shown left include a 3D Printed design, made on one of our schools Snapmaker machines.   The second toy, shown on the right is a commercial available from a stationary supplier company.

While the two objects are identical we have seen the larger 3D Printed star start to appear as a fidget toy which is available online from online retailers.  We have seen considerable variation in the price - some price points have the object on sale for $16.00 (NZD).  

We were able to locate the plans, the .stl code for this print from Thingiverse and found the code freely available.    This then allowed the students to print the design.  As a fractal star as shown, the design was printed as a single piece with no waste PLA that is created as a result of completing print.

We have posted about this topic in the past and identified that we are looking for students to be able to understand the design process, understand the making an production process (such as working out exactly a price point for an object like this) and look to encourage and inspire students to create their own projects an items such as this.   Realistically they would also be something we could produce as a fundraiser for our school or for a potential school market day or event.

3D Printing Interrupted

 

This issue relates to the use of the Snapmaker 3D Printers that we currently use.  We are very fortunate that we have three that we are running at our school, which are being run virtually non-stop.   We started using these machines in 2022 after many years of using Ultimaker Machines.

One of the aspects of the machines that are particularly pleasing is that there is an ability from the machines to stop the print at mid point, and then restart the print at the exact same point.

An example is shown left, this print which was considerable and featured a large figurine of Stitch from the Lilo and Stitch Disney Movie.

This print completed three quarters of the print prior to the PLA that was being used to print running out.   A second roll was then inserted into the machine and the print was restarted, at exactly the same point that the print had stopped.

During the process where the new roll (marble) look which is shown clearly left was used to complete the print.  No red was available, however hence the use of another colour, but the intention is to spray paint the entire design purple/blue to match the design of the character.

What actually occurred was that twice during the new roll of filament being used the roll fouled or became twisted when it was printing, in both instances the teacher then cut the PLA so that it continued to print, and when it reached the point when the PLA on the shorted roll was exhausted the print then stopped, and additional PLA was loaded.

Our experience prior to this with machines that were not as robust was that every instance of a power cut, a print stopping due to PLA running out etc would result in a blocking of the machine which at times would take someone coming and fixing the problem a considerable amount of time.

 

3D Printed Bookmark - Tinkercad Design Challenge

 

Tinkercad have a series of design challenges that are built into the main website.  These are suitable for students and we have started to use them as a challenge for students who are showing clear design ideas.

Some of the them revisit themes and examples that we are able to provide that have featured previously on this blog as a general challenge for students.  As there is a template button however the challenge and its design focus is something that is easily approachable and allows students to develop their design skills.

The current challenge, which closes tomorrow is a design challenge around producing a bookmark for use with reading.   Our students have designed various bookmarks previously and examples of which can be seen on this blog here or you can use the search function on the right hand side of this blog to look at a range of examples.

In this example shown left a student wanted to use the design features of Tinkercad to design a 'cat' themed bookmark.  The student concerned has shown a clear level of design ability during her time in the classroom and is now a Y4 student that is someone who is eight years old who has been designing and creating using Tinkercad for two years, many of the designs that she has been involved in have been featured on this blog.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - this design is deceptively simple for this student to create and while she was able to complete it in a very short timeframe, with the composition that she used, it is not something that every student could create.

Size: This was designed to book in conjunction with a regular bookmark.   There was the potential to complete a different dimension for the print, however it would have limited the viability to print a class set.   The print 

Timeframe: One hour, fifteen minutes.  The design included a degree of rafting that could have avoided if the back had been flat, instead of slightly raised however this would have affected the design, which would have meant that the head did not slide between the pages.

What we would do differently/next steps for students: This is a design that is one of a series.   By undertaking it the template, the lesson plan and the information the lesson could be supplied to students by a single click and they were then able to engage with the lesson and complete the task.  

Again we have a challenge and task which has required minimal input to allow us to complete a class based activity where the students have been able to design, create and then print.

Unpacking the Production Process - Spiral Toys

 

Recently at our school and amongst our students there has been a wave of interest created by students who have purchased toys that are labelled as 'fidget toys' or 'impossible shapes' or some similar variation.   

In each case they are some geometric shape which can be combined into a solid or which twists together to form some kind of visual illusion.

When the first of these appeared they came in the form of objects that were bought online, which the students brought into the classroom.   Much like the plethora of 3D Printed Dragons, which we have identified and then been able to replicate ourselves and then sell for our school market day, the first task in identifying and unpacking these objects was to locate them online in a way that we could identify how they were produced.

A reminder that this process is being undertaken by students in the classroom who are juniors at our school that is students aged seven and eight years old, most printing and designing for the first time.

For this we ventured to Thingiverse - where here we were able to identify the .stl code for the 'spiral code fidget toy'

This allowed us to duplicate the original purchased design, and although we did not have the exact PLA which matched with the base of the triangle the students then set about looking for it online so the school could order it through our suppliers.  This took four and a half hours to print on regular default settings.    There was of course no design from students as they were able to find the .stl and once it was imported into Tinkercad they were able to manipulate it and adjust the design.

This then led to a search on online selling sites for objects that were similar or designed in a similar way.  This led the students to discover the following designs from a place called Temu.

Obviously the spiral has already been identified and printed successfully, but there are clearly a range of other designs and shapes, which follow a similar format, that are now potentially available to students.

Our students are also experimenting with the 'rainbow' and 'sheen filaments' which will meant these designs will not require spray painting (and as the spray painting adds a layer to the print there is the question about whether or not this will make it slightly more difficult for the designs to come together).

The making process can be shown to the students, the price of the objects can also be discussed (as with most printers it is possible to determine exactly how much PLA is used in a print, the sphere uses 8.6m of PLA or 25.6g.    The spiral cone shown uses 13.4m or 39.9 grams of filament.   At current prices for our school a regular roll of PLA is $30.00 or $42.00 for the 'silk' version (which is how the metallic look is achieved).

By dividing the amount of PLA for a spiral cone into the roll of filament, we can determine that 25 spirals can be manufactured off a regular roll.   When we divide the cost of a regular roll of $30.00 we can determine a basic manufacturing cost of $1.20 per unit (although this assumes that the PLA is that price it can be obtained cheaper).    We have seen these priced for as high as $15.00 (excluding delivery).

Likewise with the 'silk' or 'rainbow' PLA (shown left) with a slightly higher price point the spirals can be produced for around $1.70 (again which has been priced online as high as $15.00).

For the smaller impossible spheres (as shown above) we can produce them at a price of seventy five cents on a regular roll of filament or just over a dollar each if involving 'silk'.

This has considerations for pricing if we wanted to sell them as part of a market day or at the office but also allows the students and children a window into the production process and setting a price for an item.

3D Printing: Projects Currently Operating

 

Print shown left: A thirty two hour significant print, this was a commercial designed and available version of the Britannic, sister ship of the Titanic.   We have a student at school who has a particular strong interest in this class of ship and wanted to do something special for him, to allow him to have more projects that would develop off it.   In this case it was locating a design of a ship in the series, and printing it.   The size really tested the limits of our Snapmaker Printer - it took thirty two hours to complete and during the process we were constantly checking to ensure there was no PLA issues and the print remained robust and the print worked.   While there were no design features that the students created with this we have already had significant and detailed discussions with the student about the boat, the painting scheme and what else we can add to the project.

While the integrity of the boat remained during printing there were some very subtle features that did not survive the removal of the rafting, chiefly a radio mast at the front of the print and a corresponding print at the back that would have been no more than 1mm across.   

We are continuing to experiment with our 'rainbow PLA' and range of others that have allowed us to print in a finished state without the students wanting to then spray paint the results, saving an additional step.

The examples shown left are student designed labels for multi-purpose items, the labels measure 60mm long and are 20mm wide as well as being 5mm thick.

The print time for these is thirty minutes.