3D Printed Pencil Toppers: Prototype

 

One of the best things about the students designs and creations and the 'making' process for the students is the ability to adapt and 'break' certain designs.   In a recent classroom challenge we asked students to create a 'pencil topper' that was an item that could sit on top of a students pencil so that the students could identify easily whose pencil each was using.

We also identified this as a suitable practical design task because its scale meant the classroom could have a print produced each in a relatively short space of time (the average time beforehand we were estimating to be in the region of thirty minutes for each print).

Students follow a familiar process of design, testing (using AR/VR and the virtual designs created in Tinkercad) measuring and checking.   Only then when this has been completed do the students mark their 

In the case of the print left, some of these criteria were not met, however the print had a certain charm to it so the teacher made the decision to print the design.   The design in essence is too big.   The design measures 100mm across by 45mm and is then 10mm wide.   Realistically the length makes it too unwieldy to balance on the top of a pencil.  Finally the insert for the pencil while it appears to be suitable is not - more accuracy is required at this location.   When the design was shared with the student in virtual form it appeared suitable - however when printed it out it was obvious that considerable adjustment was required.

The print as it stands used 30g of PLA to complete and this had a price point of $0.75c.   The print took one hour to complete.

The revision would require a reduction in size and adjustment of the insert location.   The student have also started a discussion about completely 'flipping' the design by making it a storage location by changing the entrance point and having the storage run landscape.

In the second example shown left this design is considerably smaller.   The student took advantage of the detail that is possible with the Bambu H2D and of note is the students name on the top of the design which is only 2mm high and 5mm across.

Again there are issues with the design that need to be address the clear issue is again the insert for a pencil - while it again appears to be suitable for a regular pencil when the actual print was applied to a pencil there was clear difficulty to match the two together.

The centre of the design is off with the circle insert.  The print used 10g of PLA filament to complete.   The print cost was determined to be $0.24.   The print took thirty two minutes to complete.

The entire class have used this two physical examples and applied the logic and design for the entire class to apply to their own designs.

As mentioned previously there are numerous other potential examples which you can view by searching for them using the 'Search this Blog' box.

3D Printed Numbers: Eight Years On

 

The longest print that we've maintained is one that took place in 2018.   We at the time were looking at providing numbers for our classrooms for the management of evacuations.   We had a set of iron numbers however we wanted to replace them and choose 3D Printing numbers.   The issue at the time was a question about the longevity of the 3D Printed numbers and the PLA - the area where the numbers were placed was in full sun and also exposed to the weather during winter in New Zealand.

Eight years later we can state categorically that the integrity of the print itself has been maintained.   There is clear evidence of weathering of the colouring of the PLA (and we could like to point out that we have resprayed the prints since they were first completed).

You can read the original post and see the original lettering from this post in August 2018.  There was a further update on the project and the numbers from March 2021.    There are also updates from 2019 - all of which can be searched from this blog by using the keyword search 'numbers' in the 'Search this blog'.

It is our intention to continue to have their numbers on display as long as is feasibly possible as long as  they serve the purpose.    In all likelihood we will continue to respray the numbers again at some point in the future - the only losses that we have occurred is that students playing on the field (football/soccer) have kicked a ball in the direction of the prints and when struck directly by the ball - and we have lost four in the last eight years.

Working in Miniature with 3D Printing

 

We've got a range of prints our students are working on at the moment.   While some of these are somewhat on the larger scale in terms of scope and size its also important to highlight that the 3D Printers are able to sometimes print detail into prints.

We have blogged with the students work on this site for over ten years during that time the printers have evolved at an increasing impressive rate.   We've previously also identified that now thanks to companies or sites like Kiwifil its possible to use recycled PLA or have prints, projects and rafting reused.    The machines that we use are using an increasingly accurate and detailed such as recent prints for the pencil topper that featured yesterday.

The examples that we are showing here have been produced by a student designing independently after two months in the classroom, working with their iPad, Tinkercad App and were printed on our Bambu H2D.

The prints shown are as they were removed from the machine without any 'rafting' or waste plastic - the prints took twenty two minutes to complete.   They used seven and a half grams of PLA filament to complete and this had a price point of $0.18c to complete.  The prints were not project with AR/VR (using the Tinkercad App) but they could have been as we have been doing regularly on this blog.   This was completed by a student who is seven from cohort one, 2026.  For visitors from overseas from this blog please be aware when we quote prices for the filament and prints we are discussing the price in NZD.

This example of the same project is representing a students creation of another pair of earrings.   This student is from cohort two, is eight years old and was able to produce this again independently without the need for teacher input.   The design was completed in Tinkercad and the student then duplicated the pair to have a matching pair.  As someone who is a regular wearer of earrings and who intends to wear a pair of these once she is happy with the finished design she is intending to make adjustments to ensure they hand in a way that she is happy with.

The dimensions of this completed print can be seen from the screenshot of the Tinkercad work plane (left).  A pair of the earrings took forty minutes to print (on standard settings) and used eight grams of PLA to complete.  This had a price point for the pair of $0.20c.   This student is also going to revise the design to include more details (on the arms).

The student has already started the modification process (as shown left).   The left had figure has revised arms, the students name has been put on the design and an adjustment was made to the eyelet.

This site has a number of projects that feature miniature sized prints.  You can search for them using the search bar top right hand corner of this blog or you can also look at examples such as miniature bees from November last year, our series of prints on miniature jugs and vases which evolved into a forced perspective digital photography task from March of this year,    We also had an entire years project based around a Dolls House where our students made miniature furniture for the inside of it, see this project summarised here.

3D Printed Pencil Topper - Exemplar

 

Challenge: To produce an original, unique and functional pencil topper for use with a students stationary.  

Equipment Use: iPad, Tinkercad, Bambu H2D, Bambu PLA

Background: This task was given to students during an afternoon session with an extremely short timeframe to complete.  The students had to independently use their knowledge of Tinkercad and their developed design skills to create something that was functional.   Due to this functionality the size of the print and any potential details with the design were limited but also going to show what could be capable to add detail using the Bambu H2D.

The student in this task was an eight year old student who is in cohort two in that she has had two years of using Tinkercad with her iPad to design.    

We had previously completed designs like this in the past such as 2016 which you can click on the link here to.

In this design the student wanted to put their initials into the print so they sunk them into the design at the top.   The length of the dent was 2mm by 1mm across - the printer was able to replicate the detail and avoid having any filament or PLA on it.

The spiral of the design, which can be seen in the photograph to the left was also another feature.   The printer printed an insert, rafting into the gap which was removed when the print was complete.   

One of the very obvious benefits of this project and challenge is that the finished project is quite small and could be completed with a minimal print time and price point.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - this task is deceptively simple however the students had a range of ideas from the practical to the not so practical and the size of the print was determined by the purpose.

Size: The print was 70mm from top to bottom.  The main body of the design was 30mm high by 40mm by 20mm.   The spiral at the base of the design was 30mm high.   This was designed to work with a regular pencil/pen although the hole that was the insert for the pen worked better with a vivid as it was probably a few millimetres too wide.  The student has stated that this will require an adjustment to work with pencil.

Cost/Price: One of the key elements of this print and others in the series is that the price point, as determined by the Bambu Lab software is using 10g of PLA to complete the print with a corresponding price point of $0.25.

Timeframe: With the dimensions of the print at present the print time to complete the project was fifty minutes from start to finish.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the student: This student was able to create a comic facial expression by using the basic elements as shown and included their initials.  They could have provided additional features on the other side of the design.  As noted the insert is slightly loose and the student needs to reduce the width of the insert hole in the base of the main body.

There are a range of potential prints coming from the classroom from this project, this is simply the first.   The students will be contributing to a slideshow featuring a range of designs in this format.   In addition to that and the prints noted in this post there is a wealth of material that can be accessed by using the 'search' bar in the top right hand corner of this blog.

A final word of caution we are extremely lucky to have a Bambu H2D and are using it to complete every print this year.  If you have an older machine the time to print and the detail in some smaller objects such as this might be somewhat limited.

Virtual Pinball 2026 - Auroa School Table Preview!

 

Our students are getting very excited about the first major event of 2026 as its just around the corner! We've got our very special 2026 Auroa Primary School Virtual Pinball Tournament featuring our customised Auroa School Virtual Pinball Machine! Want to check out the table? Watch above!

Virtual Pinball at Auroa Primary School

 

Its tournament time at Auroa Primary School! Its the 2026 Auroa Primary School in association with Sonic Vision Studios - Virtual Pinball Competition.

We previously revealed our entrants for 2026 in Mr Bloors amazing video that we posted on this blog and you can view via his amazing Youtube page here.

The students are starting to practise, practise, practise as only some of the teams are going to make it through to our grand final!

You will be able to follow that here and will be posting additional updates and also a video shortly of some of the practise.

The table itself is a copy of a 1908s Classic Pinball Table called 'Tag Team' from 1985.   While we have maintained the playfield as it is a virtual table we have replaced the images with those of the students from Auroa Primary School as shown left, so students are now the bonuses and the images on our own virtual pinball table!

This machine is now sitting proudly in the hall of our school as is a second slightly smaller machine that allows the students to 

play the table in preparation!

Excitement is building as we move towards the first competition of Auroa School Virtual Pinball for 2026!

Engineering and Teacher Purchase Bargains - Clearance 'Bricks'

 

As someone who has spent time locating 'bargains' for purchase for use in the classroom 3D Printing and Engineering also allows at times a keen eye to spot certain items.

This example has come from a large supermarket chain in New Zealand that to entice customers during various promotions including the gifting of items when points are purchased.   This "Bricks' branded set is one of the base sets for a recent promotion, that has now ended and as a result the supermarket chain appears to be putting the remaining stock on clearance.   This example was purchased locally from one such store for $1.00.    There are some obvious potential examples that could tie in with creation, engineering and 3D Printing - the set is a 'half of a house' and there is the clear possibility to add sections to the building.  

There is also a set of stickers/decals that come with the set - again these are something that we have produced in the past as this can be created and printed using the Roland Studios Versa Sign Maker.

Already this year we have purchased thrift shop items to allow the students to design replacement pieces and also used a massive backdrop to AR/VR designs onto our volcano setting (which was also on an end of line special).