3D Printed Spray Painted Keyring

Design shown from above

Challenge: For a student to produce a unique personalised key ring.
Background: At times we are looking at ways to challenge students to produced original versions or variations of existing projects or projects that students have previously completed.   In this example this student wanted to produce a key ring that was uniue.   She wanted to use a 'dice' or cube design and have the five letters of her name.    The intention from the student was always to use spray paint from a spray can to decorate or change the presentation of the PLA.   The original PLA was white.     The print was completed essentially in two seperate parts. 

The first was to produce the dice which provided the basis for the print.   This was gained by selected one of the shapes from the Tinkercad main interface.   One this was completed the student measured up the results and then selected lettering.    While the concept was simple the execution of the print was also well thought out.   Once the lettering had been completed the two elements of the print were put together with superglue (by the classroom teacher).

Degree of Difficulty: Low - simple and effecive.
Size: The cube that is the base for the design is a cube that is four centimetres across.   The lettering varied slighlty in siz but was essentially a 20mm by 20mm regular sized font.   The students name was five letters long, so having it on the cube with the base blank or empty worked effectively.
Timeframe: Combined for the entire print was just over two hours, reflected in the design.
What we would do differently/next steps for the students: The long term viability of the print will be related for the ability of the lettering to remain in place.  As a high use item the super glue will need to hold.    The student only opted for a single coat of spray can paint to decorate they could have used two coats and used making tape to control the decoration.

3D Printing: Developing More Details with Work in Progress

 Left: Stationary holders [in progress].   The students have worked on producing more completicated and larger scale prints, and started experimenting with using spray paint to aid the decoration.  The other thing that we have been trying to instill with the students is the need to personalise the designs and make sure that they have a purpose for the design. 

In these instances here the studenet had met both of these key elements to his print.  He has utilized Tinkercad to use the pre-determined created designs but has included his name on the base, simply a matter of adding the text and also an emoji next to it.   Furthermore the student concerned has strong ideas about what he wants to do with the design and print to personalise it further.

Left: Oversized Key Ring
 In the second print the students were designing and creating an oversized keyring as a gift for a staff member to ensure that they didn't loose their classroom key.   The original design was created in white, the students hadn't checked the exact wording of the teachers name (hence the subtle adjustment).   They also made adjustments in the thickness of the print to ensure that it was more manageable.  We have printed designs like this in an effort to ensure that they were not lost or placed in a adult or teachers pocket.  This was not one of them.