2021 3D Printed Christmas Decorations

In the past we have used the seasonal time to have students create a range of 3D Printed Christmas decorations, to hang from a tree.  Typically by managing the size of the prints we have been able to target having the prints produced in a run for a classroom.

The prints in this series came about from novice students who were nine and ten years old using a design process of initially drawing a sketch, converting that sketch into a 3D Design via Tinkercad and then printing the design using the Ultimaker2+ machines that we have in the classroom.   The machines have been here since 2016 and were reconditioned in 2019 - so are durable reliable and slightly old.

The first print shown here was 80mm across and 80mm long, the bow was added via the main Tinkercad interface and a simple cross pattern was added to the design of the print.   The final design aspect of the print was to create a hole, which is located at the top of the present so that it could be easily hung from the tree.

The student concerned created this print following the design process with minimal teacher input.   The print took 45 minutes to print and following the process was extremely successful.   Further details will be applied in the decoration process.

Left: This design was shown prior to removal of the rafting.   The student wanted to create a traditional Christmas Tree design with the angles created to make the design.    The student concerned has used Tinkercad in the past but not for a year or so but was able to pick it up extremely quickly.   

One aspect of the design that the student needed to address was the decorations that he had added to the tree.   One of the baubles was not attached to the tree itself (hence the delay in removing the rafting so that the student could clearly be aware of the issue)

The total print took one hour to complete - it was a relatively quick design, with the student having a clear idea about the finished product and how it might be developed and decorated.

The student is intending to decorate the baubles and then see if he can return them to the print, with some form of adhesive.   

Left: This design is going to be significantly redesigned.   The student wanted to make a variation of the tree theme, place the name of their family on the tree and include some design aspects (the star, a mini-tree on base of the tree to give it a three dimensional aspect).    

Due to the size of the lettering of the family name, the print did not add this detail (this has occurred at times when the print is too small).   The student has decided to enlarge the base of the design and then to increase by scale ensure the detail was created - as a result of this the decoration would then bring the detail in the print to the fore.   All of the designs that have been featured here are part of a series of thirty that are currently being produced (on the single class printer).   The prints will be selective from this point forward.  We have posted a series of prints in the past from basic designs such as the ones that we have featured above running all the way to a extremely complication piece such as the sleigh from 2018.

Using Spray Paint to Add Depth to 3D Printing

 

This print was designed by a student as a gift for a parent.   It was printed with a basic white PLA using an Ultimaker 2+.

The student wanted to add depth to the print so additional decoration was created using commercial (18+) aerosol spray cans.   The first stage was the entire design was sprayed red.   Then once this had dried a layer of masking tape was applied to the right hand side of the design.   The second was then applied to the other side.   The last stage of this design was to use yellow spray and to spray at a distance and flick the can which created the affect of having the spots of yellow over the design.    This has considerably altered the design, which is virtually unrecognisable from its original presentation.   This design was created by a novice nine year old designer and the decoration was applied by a ten year old who has had some experience in design (and is responsible for the 'three minute pact man earrings' featured on this blog.   

The students then had a brainstorming session where the final design was discussed.   There were various suggestions that came from the student.   The lettering was identified as something that needed to be highlighted - and hence the addition of the lettering.  This aspect of the design was very simple - the students used permanent marker/vivid marker to add additional depth to the lettering.

We have carried out an experiment by putting a 3D print outside and exposed to the elements to look for evidence of damage over time.   You can view the process here, but we know from our experience that the design, shape and colour will hold for years.   

The same technique has been applied to the stamp base that is shown on the left.   Two primary spray paint colours have been used and combined, the second by using the spray at a distance to create a splatter or droplet affect.

Again the base colour for the print has been a basic white PLA which has been considerably altered by the technique shown.

The PLA in our experience responds extremely well to being spray painted and the colour can really enhance the prints and designs.

3D Printed Earrings - Final Completion of 'Pac man Earrings'

 

This is an update of the print previously detailed on this blog.   Since the original print was completed the student involved added some additional detail to enhance the 3D Printing.

The student sprayed the prints with spray cans, added the effects of putting glue to add the eyeballs and then used the hooks (which had been ordered separately online) to complete the project.

The student involved in this project has managed, completed and executed the entire process.   The designs have stemmed from an idea originally conceived by the student.   Key has been their understanding on how to use the printer to design and finish the process, and as mentioned previously the input from the teacher has been minimal.   The print time that has been used for this project is amongst the shorted out of any print on this entire blog - and it has worked perfectly with the idea, concept and completed project to ensure an amazing use of a printer to complete a unique project.

Ongoing Student Projects: November 2021

 

Left: We have a group of boys in class who have a particular interest in MotorX and Dirt Bike racing.  To engage them with the use of the 3D Printer in the classroom we used Thingiverse to locate some 3D printed practical parts for the motorbike - in this case it was an exhaust plug.   While usually students need to develop something original to use the 3D Printer this was a good positive example which I felt the students would be able to replicate and adapt depending on the size of the print.  We found an entire range of accessories on Thingiverse - more so than available on Tinkercad.   Students are now adapting the designs to suit their own bikes.

Left: As detailed extensively on this blog we have another group of students who are using commercial engravers rubber to combine with the 3D Printer to create a series of stamps that are unique to local clubs, organisations and the students themselves.

These projects are ongoing with the intention that the students will be capable of running the entire projects from start to finish.

This is another independent project with a particular person in mind, or having the object designed for.  This was started prior to a COVID-19 break and the idea is to have the project completed before Christmas as a family gift.

The students have experimented with combing three seperate prints together to form one complete print, with three aspects to it.   There is intended to be no input from the teacher and the nine and ten year olds are currently on schedule to complete the entire print themselves.  In this instance the person the print is for is being very particular about its design, forcing a number of reprints from the students.  This has been a very positive experience as it is forcing the students to consider someone elses input and direction and then having to adapt their print as required.

3D Printed Stamps: Further Examples and Works in Progress

We have a number of students who are working on the 'stamp' project that is currently being developed.  In this project we are using the 3D Printer to produce the base and plate for a stamp, including having the name of the person or the organisation clearly marked on the base and then we are using a laser cutter to produce from engravers stamp rubber a laser cut of the stamp design.

Students were asked to choose either a personal stamp or one for an organisation that they were part of or had an association with, as shown by the local rugby club on the left.

The handle and base have been designed as a single print in Tinkercad by students who are ten and eleven years old with limited experience in 3D Printing.   This is then combined with the use of Inkscape to produce a laser cut template which is then cut into the engravers rubber (which was sourced from a speciality engravers shop.    The use of Inkscape has allowed the logo of the organisation to be imported directly into the printing progress without it having to be adapted or created separately.   

The size was left up to the students but the adage that 'bigger is better' was applied to this particularly with the lettering as this was clearly visible in the larger scale prints while it was just holding itself together in the smaller scale prints as seen below by 'Jackie'.    The connection between the top of the stamp and the design on the rubber has developed as well as the students have abandoned the idea of just repeating the

same design twice and instead focussed on having two seperate prints/designs - one at the base and one on the handle/design.   

The prints have ranged in length from three to six hours and the designs have varied in size, the Opunake Surf Club design being effectively twice the size of the 'Coastal Rugby' one.   

Once the process of the laser cutting of the base rubber has been completed the two designs will be combined, via superglue and the design and process will be complete.

This level of project would not feasibly be completed by a classroom due to the length of time that would need to be combined to successfully complete all the prints in the series.    Further updates in the process will continue and be detailed here.

3D Printed Earrings - Six Minutes: Pacman Ghosts

Challenge: Earrings designed with a ghost theme - the ghost from Pac Man.

Background: This is a complimentary task from yesterday where the theme was continued.  Yesterdays print involved a Pac Man design that the student was creating for a earrings business.   With the task today she was looking to complement the design with something else - hence the use of the ghost from Pac Man.   All of the other details for this post are similar to yesterdays work - and therefore don't need to be repeated as such.

Level of Difficulty: Low - the student had the idea right from the start of the process was focussed on what she wanted to print and was able to articulate and work through a design process without any assistance from the classroom teacher whose job was simply to print the completed design.    As should be obvious but the subject choice lent itself to a minimum of detail.   

Size: At 30mm across this was one of the smallest prints that the student had attempted this however fitted in with the idea of having a small easily produced print that would serve a purpose.   The student opted to not make the earrings any biggest as a result.

Timeframe: Six minutes for the two earrings, which came in at three minutes each.

What we would do differently/next step for the students:  Once the student had completed the print the student decided to combine the pac man from yesterday with one of the ghosts into a set (instead of having two of each so one was chasing the other.   A key aspect of making this successful will be the decoration - the student is looking to locate a classic bright yellow spray and red for pac man and the ghost respectively.

3D Printed Earrings - In Three Minutes!

 

Challenge: Student wanted to create a 3D pair of earnings designing them using the printer.

Background: This student has strong ideas and creativity and has been responsible for a series of significant prints that have been shared via this blog in the past two years.    They also have a small side business selling and designing jewellery.   She has been talking for a while about using the 3D Printer to design items of jewellery and follow it being fixed attempted a basic design.  She came to the process with a strong design idea about what would would, what it might look like and the dimensions that she wanted.

The issue with the print was simply the design process and having the student using a different medium.   She presently used clay and bakes it - using the 3D Printer allows her to work with a different medium.    The initial print in this series was constructed and printed in eight minutes for both earrings.  The design was based on pac man, from the Pac man game.  Tinkercad was used to create the design, a small emphasis was placed on using a circle to locate the eye and a hole was made for the earring links.

The printer being used for this project is the Ultimaker 2+ with a 8mm nozzle and standard PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this is a very simple design that translated well in the first stage to a design.    Other than the mounting of the hole inside the design there was a small degree of difficulty.

Size: 40mm across and 3mm thick.   This is the first exploratory print using the printer to design earrings and the student will come with a variety of sizes that will follow.

Timeframe: Six minutes - that is a total print time with a 20% infill - making this quite possibly the shortest and smallest print that has been ever featured on this blog in six years.   The potential for this is huge, as an entire class of students could easily complete the project in a short time frame.

What we would do/next steps for the students: This is the first in what one would expect to a large number of projects.  The student is intending to spray paint the earrings yellow, to make sure that it is clearly visible as a Pac Man and then either apply black paint with a small brush or use vivid.   The student is going to spend time researching the original figure and then adjusting the print to reflect features such as the mouth and its angle, position of the eye and then position of the hole for the attachment.   The student is also going to look at the infill - this has the standard infill of 20% and the intention is to try different levels of this to modify the print.

This potentially would be a great class project given that individual design students could complete the entire print in under ten minutes.

3D Printed and Laser Cut Stamp

Challenge: A student wanted to create an original and customised (for themselves) stamp.

Background:  A version of this project was completed last year.    A student who had an interest in completing this project used the project, detailed on this blog here as their template.   This was a student who had some 3D Printing experience but wanted to stretch themselves further by designing something that was different but had a purpose.   They had seen the previous effort from last year, had an interest in craft related matters and were keen to produce a working stamp.   Previously we had created the entire object using a 3D Printer and made the stamp element from a print as well, however we decided that the quality needed to be improved.   The answer to this was found in the use of a laser cutter to cut rubber.  We purchased this from an engraving shop, who had engraving rubber that could be used with the laser cutter and were able to cut the rubber which produced a quality print for the students.

Level of Difficulty: Medium.   The student was able to produce the handle and base including the design of their name, and their heart at the first attempt.  There was rafting about the base of the design, as shown in the photo that was easily able to be removed with pliers giving the finish shown.  The student is eleven years old.

Size: The base of the print measure 90mm wide, 60mm deep and was 5mm high.   The handle was a total heigh of 35mm

Timeframe: Two hours to complete the print, the rafting that was required couldn't be avoided to have a working handle as part of the design.   Given the dimensions and purpose the print this would be near the minimum to have an effective design.  

What we would do differently/Next Steps for Student: The obvious next step is the laser cutting.  We purchased the rubber at a small price as an A4 sheet, which would be enough to produce ten stamps easily so its realistic to consider that a class set (assuming 25 students) could be produced during a week of printing, using a single machine.   The positive aspect of this for us is that the student herself has managed the entire project, designed the print was happy with the result and the design via Tinkercad matched expectations (sometimes elaborate prints do not translate well in terms of finish or purpose).

The other thing to consider is the age of the technology that we are using to complete this project.   The Ultimaker 2+ is a recondition printer that is seven years old now, it produces reliable basic prints which are useable in the classroom.

If you are producing prints inspired by this post or have produced posts similar we would love to hear about it and have you share it with us via this blog or by emailing the teacher in charge.

3D Printed Customised Spider - Prototype

Challenge: As part of the art project that students are currently involved in the students are creating an original 3D Print to complement the wire art design.   

Background: This student in question with this design considered himself to be a capable student able to create unique designs from scratch and targeted producing a spider to work in combination with his art.    The student researched potential spiders that would be present on the plant and spent time researching the spider, before making a detailed sketch of its key features and likeness.    The student then switched to Tinkercad for the design of the animal.    The student used the main interface to produce the shapes and legs, as shown left.    One issue was discovered when the PLA support rafting was removed - the thickness of the legs relative to the main print caused on of the legs to snap off - which will need to be addressed by the student moving forward.   

There are a couple of options that we have used when this issue has developed previously, one would obviously to thicken the width and connection points of the legs - the second is to print the legs separately from the main print and attach them separately.

Level of Difficulty: High.   The student has had to conduct research into the insect/animal that they are printing spending time identifying its key features and sketching it in detail.  This detail has then been transferred across to Tinkercad taking into account the design of the arachnid to represent it correctly to scale.    This is going to take several reprints to correct the detail and address issues that have developed as a consequence of the print such as the issue that has been identified with the spiders legs.   This is the kind of project to challenge a confident student rather than to challenge someone just developing their ideas.   Student is eleven years old.

Size: The main body of the arachnid measures 12cm (120mm) long and was 6cm (60mm) across.  In addition to this the print was 50mm high.    This is actually considerably bigger than the actual size of this spider - the student had increased its size considerably and didn't realise that until the print was complete.

Timeframe: Two and a half hours - this is by far the largest print and subsequently had the longest time out of any of the projects in this sequence.  As noted the size of the spider is incorrect, and needs to be downsized meaning the print time will be subsequently reduced.

What we would do differently/next step for students: As noted there are issues with the print that needs to be addressed - not to sound repetitive but the legs and overall size.    The students has clear ideas about how to proceed with the decoration and additional features that might be added to the print.

3D Customised Art Insects

Challenge: For an art design project/sculpture project created by the students to create and 3D design an insect that would work in conjunction with the art display.

Background: Using an Ultimaker 2+ as a printing tool, using Tinkercad as a design tool the students first sketched a diagram of an insect that was related to a plant that they were making that was constructed from wire - for instance a dragonfly with a cactus.    The students in the classroom were confident with using the 3D Printer having completed the introductory tasks that are listed on this blog.   The insects were designed by the ten and eleven year old students using the basic interface design and additional tools.    Students were concentrating on producing a print that was to scale so the print time for all of the insects or animals described here did not exceed twenty minutes and some of the smaller ones were under ten minutes.    

The students brief was to use the 3D Printer to design the insect/animal and additional features of the insects would be added once the creations had been spray painted.    Some of the smaller aspects of the insects are going to be added using additional media, such as wire for the antenna.

Level of Difficulty: Medium there are a variety of designs and creations in this sequence all of which have slightly different aspects.   These designs were all created by students who have used Tinkercad before and were confident in their abilities.   The final design of the plants themselves (such as the cactus shown on the left) is still to be completed so the size o the plants may be altered.   

Size: All of the prints were as close to the possible of the size of the actual insect - so they ranged from a few centimetres to the largest in this sequence which was the dragonfly.   This was 10cm long.  Some of the smaller designs, such as the Ladybugs shown on the left were only two or three centimetres across.

Timeframe: These prints did not take the typical length of time that are listed on this blog, this is primarily because of the scale of them.   By far the longest in the set was the dragonfly which came in at fifty minutes, as mentioned the smaller ones in the series were under ten each.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the students: Using spray paint to decorate a number of the insects will be key to finishing their details and design.    Once a base coat has been applied additional details can be added to finish the designs.  The students also have been challenged to produce the insects to scale to complete the art design so there is potential to adjust some of the prints - given the length of time for each one and the PLA involved this is not a particularly major deal.

Building Alterations: Air Extraction Duct

 

This was completed when we required to make some slight alterations to an external shed located at our school.   

We had to alter an outside shed to ensure that there was correct exhaust to operate one of our machines.   

As such the perfect opportunity arose to customise a piece for this by using our existing 3D Printer to create this object which we could custom make to complete the task.

The print was completed in two hours.

3D Printed Stationary Stand - Minimising the PLA Used

Challenge: For a student confident in designing 3D Printer to produce a stationary holder that required a minimum amount of PLA to be created.   This would require the component pieces to be thin to avoid excess use of the material.

Background: This student had produced a number of well designed and created 3D Prints and was confident in working independently.   The challenge to the student was to create a print that would minimise the use of the filament, to make something which a specific purpose using the smallest amount of filament that was possible.   The student created the 3D design and it was then sent back to the student to refine it to ensure that it was using the minimum amout of material possible.    The student was able to modify the design to meet this brief and also personalised it by including her name on it in a significant location and size.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - The student was adapting her design to ensure that a minimum amount of PLA (plastic) was used, this was in essence the purpose of the entire design challenge.

Size: The design measured 165mm across and was 140mm high.   The front storage was 30mm high and the main base of the storage was 60mm high and reflected the dimensions of the print.

Timeframe: Ten hours - while this may seem significant it should be noted that other versions of this print have been up to twice as long in terms of print and typically have been in the fifteen hour range, which has been reduced significantly.  Given the intention of the print and purpose of the print      

What we would do differently: Very little this print worked extremely well and the student involved felt that it had been extremely successful.   There was one side of the print that could have been made slightly thicker however the initial concern that it might split or break has yet to be realised.

Misc. 3D Printed Designs - Further first uses of 3D Printer

A basic plan used to celebrate the date.   The student wanted to create something simple to celebrate Mothers Day - which was able to be produced independently by a ten year old student who had worked with 3D Printers for the first time this year.

The print was a basic shape and measured 130mm across, was 80mm high and the base of the design was 10mm with an additional 10mm of the font and the heart.     

The intention from the student was to spray paint this to add a layer of decoration.   Three hour print.

This student wanted to create a personalised print to tie in with her dog, hence the bone design which was located as part of the Tinkercad main interface, and then text was added to the design before the print.

The student was able to print this design by following a basic Tinkercad instructional video which had previously been produced by other students.     

The print was 130mm long, was 40mm high at the end and 20mm wide in the middle.  The print was 20mm high and took two hours to print.

Misc. 3D Prints: Basic Designs - Further Development in 2021

Left: A recent variation of the 'name badge/name plate design'.   In this case the student decided to use a shout out/speech bubble as the background for the name of the person that it was designed for.    The design was a first for this student who was creating something independently (using video tutorials).   The basic design is low level introduction to 3D Printing. The design measured 170mm across and was 75mm high.   The width of the design was 10mm for the base and the lettering was 10mm further extending outside of the print.   The student is being challenged to produce/add to the print by using spray paint or other design aspects to complete the process.   One aspect of the design that could be further investigated in terms of use is to use the speech marks aspects of helping students with speaking prompts.   The time of the print is related to the use of the printer was four hours.   This was relative to the size - however the base of the speech bubble has a point to it as shown in the photograph, it will be interesting to monitor the length of time that it remains on the print.

Left: Another 'stationary holder' unit designed by a student who is developing their 3D Printing skills.   The student was wanting to developing a significant print and spend time decorating it and developing it further with the use of LED lights and spray painting.  The student designd a print that took thirteen hours to print, and there is an error in the design of the print - the tower at the front left has not been linked to the entire print, this means that this part of the holder will detach from the main print.   When the students has an opportunity they will break the tower off and then create an innovative way to connect it to the main print.    Otherwise the student has been wanting to print this for several weeks prior to be being completed.   While the design of the print is straightforward it has provided a link to more complicated and challenging prints.   This will be updated when the student has completed the decoration and presentation of the unit fully.

Left: Another variation of the basic design - this in particular is for a younger family member which was specifically designed with this in mind - however the biggest question will be over the lettering which would be more resilant if the lettering had been reduceded in height.

This project will require to an addition of painting and other decoration before it is completed.   It currently has dimension of 140mm across 120mm high and had a thickness (width) of 20mm.

 Further additions to this print will be made and documented.

Combining the 3D Printer and the Laser Cutter

One of the technologies that we have been always intending to integrate together has been the 3D Printer at the Laser Cutter.  At our school we are very lucky in addition to having mulitple 3D Printers we have a significantly large laser cutter at our school.   

One of the challenges that we have made to the students is can the laser cutter use MDF to cut and then we complete the project by using a 3D Printer to complete it.

This example has taken a theme that the students have frequently used and designed a stationary holder for the students work tools.    In this example the box has been made using the laser cutter and cut out of MDF.  The box shape has been designed to hold the students pen and pencils and the name plate then glued to the outside.  In the example the student has used a 3D Print of a name plate, one of the basic introductory tasks that the students complete when they first join the classroom.

The design in use can be shown on the left while in use.   The instructions for the plate printing follow very similar instructions that we have printed elsewhere on this blog, essentially following the badge/keyring/name plate template and instructions so we will note repeat them here.

One issue discussed with the student is how to finish the presentation - spray painting is the obvious example a layer of spray painting applied to the entire design would provide a seal for the MDF and in addition to this would combine both the laser cut and the 3D Print together.

This is a further development of a print that we have been developing and has previously been detailed on this blog.   The blog design featured a 3D Print that was a blue base - the intention with this has always been to use the 3D Print to produce the print but spend time creating and developing the art aspect of the print - spray painting it and adding additional features.    There are further elements to be added to this print before it is completed and it will be updated here further.

3D Printing and Adapting: Feedback

Challenge: For novice 3D printing students to create something unique

Background: Following on from the previous print on this blog the students concerned wanted to create a personalised 3D Print for one of the members of staff.   The staff member had particular design ideas and composition ideas that were bounced back between her and the students.   The group of students having successfully completing the design of the print were then able to repeatedly meet with the person that it was designed for and receive feedback about its composition and design.   This feedback was invaluable because it challenged the students to rework their design, check that they had completed the component pieces that were required and that their deisgn was sound.    One of the key elements in Tinkercad for 3D Printing is to group elements of an object and this group of students twice printed letter that was not group requiring it to be redone.   They also didn't think about the composition of the design, initially having universal lettering that didn't offer any variation as the final design did.

An example of not preparing the print correctly is shown on the left, as the 'McCarthy' part of the lettering is shown is disconnected from the main print.   This would have an extremely short timeframe before you would expcet to be considerable damage to the lettering.   

The intention in having the three different holes in the base of the design was to represent the three members of the particular whanau (family) that this is designed for.   This print needs to undergo further work with that being focussed on spray painting and some affects.   Again the person that the print has been designed for has specific ideas about this.

Level of Difficulty: Low - there are many versions of this project on this blog and many have been completed during the past few years, there is some difference, inclduding putting the holes into the design.   The students involved in this project were Year Five students who were working on their 3D Print on the second attempt.

Size: The final design was 100mm across, 80mm high and 10mm high.    The surname in the lettering was 7mm higher than the base and the Girls was 5mm above the base.   The subtle difference between the two fonts created a significance point of difference with the lettering.    

Timeframe: Two hours - about right for this print given that it was a two hour time frame.   Given the overall purpose of the print the size of the print was determined by this.    

What we would do differently: Nothing for this project.  It allowed a group of students to create something specific for someone who is able to given them detailed feedback about the print meaning the students were able to rework and adapt the print.

3D Printed Design: Split into halves

Challenge: Can a print be split perfectly into two seperate and distinct halves?

Background: Looking to extend some students who were taking their first steps with 3D Printing.   Following tutorials that the students watched that had been created by former students they produced the design on the left.   This design took three hours to print was 100mm across 95mm high and 10mm thick.   When it was completed we discussed ways in which to alter and change it, which the students agreed to do by taking it and spray painting it.   The next challenge to get the students to deveop their design and thinking skills was how can we take this design and split it into two equal parts, down the middle so it consisted of two seperate pieces - would that be possible?   The students spent time brainstorming possible solutions and design modifications that needed to be made, they realised quickly

that the initial print didn't have the lettering centered correctly, the word best was slightly off, so that was adjusted.   'friends' also needed adjustment as in addition to having an odd number of letters was not correctly placed on the print.

Left you can see the original design, which was subsequently spray painted to alter the colour and the second copy that was made.   This consisted of two seperate prints with the dvision between the print coming directly down the middle of the design.

The solution to the problem of cutting the print in half came from a third student who realised that a hole could be placed over the full design to mask half of the print, and then the print was downloaded and printed.   When the hole was then shifted to the second side of the print it was a matter of ensuring that the same measurement or point at which the print was split was repeated so that the two halves of the print matched, while this seems a little complicated the students involved mastered it at the first attempt and the two havles matched perfectly.

Level of Difficulty: High, until a plan was developed to identify how to cover one half of the design and then print the other without compromising the original design which the students mastered at the first attempt.

Size: The remodelled design was slightly smaller than the original being 90mm across and 90mm high.   The print remained 10mm thick with the lettering a further 5mm above the base of the print.

Timeframe: The two seperate pieces took just over an hour each so slightly less than the original.

What we would do differently: The two seperate prints need to be decorated which the students will likely opt to do with spray painting.   They are looking for the opportunity to use chains to hang the designs from.    This is two nine year olds first experience with a 3D Printer so it can be considered to be extremely succesful. 

3D Printed Numbers: A Further Update Three Years Later

 

This project has been going for an extended period of time, and the prints have been outside now for a considerable length of time.   The process was started in August 2018 when we wanted to 3D Print numbers for our evacuation area, where the school goes in the event of the fire alarm activating.

Initially we printed the numbers with an orange filament so it was visible for the students in an emergency drill.    Since 2018 one of the numbers had to be replaced as it was struck directly by a student kicking a ball into the net where the numbers were located, partially breaking it, otherwise the 3D Print has remained its structure and its shape.  We also updated this print in 2019 where we started to see some weathering with the colouring featured on the print - so this year we decided to take all the letters down, spray paint them to recolour them and replace the missing number in the sequence.

Again we wish to repeat what we have said previously these prints as well as having a significant purpose to allow us to have our students assemble in an emergency.

The 3D Print has been exposed outside for three years including three winter seasons.   There is no evidence on the print itself of any damage from the conditions, the only exception as mentioned is that the colour of the print which has faded significantly as detailed.

The flexibiliy of the print allows us to maintain its role and also adapt as required (so for instance including additional numbers is extremely easy and would only take the print time, replacing the numbers that are there is simply a matter of putting another one on the print schedule).

3D Printed Component Piece for Sound Lure Project

Left: A small motor has been designed as part of the sound lure project.   This motor runs in conjunction with a sound/noise with an electrical circuit to attract pest animals to a trap situation.   Given the nature of the electronics and the motor that was present casing was needed to be created to protect the motor.

In testing that has occurred thread etc was attatched to the motors and then fouled the gear.   In the second instance animals, in this case the Australian Brush Tailed Possum, which is a massive invasive pest in New Zealand, has shown interest in the sound lures and has damaged the electronics that have been created or part of the students project.

The 3D Printer is ideal in this case to produce protection that can be custom made for the project.   A student created a quick shape that was able to be easily tested for size and then slotted over the motor and the key elements of the unit.

The print took a short timeframe of forty five minutes to produce a box - this initial box had a twenty percent infill (the students will experiment with increasing this for additional protection)

Design was extremely straightforward from one of the basic shapes from the main Tinkercad interface.  A four to five minute technology design job.

3D Printed Exemplar Oversized Key Ring

Challenge: To produce an oversized key ring for the purpose of a heavy use item.

Background: This has been completed before for a variety of purposes, in each case the purpose has been for a heavy use item such as a school key or key that has multiple uses and access for it.   Be design the print is made large so that it cannot be placed inside a pocket or easily left somewhere due to its size.   The aspects of the design are all detailed here in instructional video form and step by step guides.

For further information the student concerned with this project is eight years old, but was able to follow the instructions that were provided in a 'flipped' video format that had been created by other students.   There was no additional instruction that was required by the student who was able to produce the final product as shown above and deliver it to the teacher, whose sole action was then to print it.

Level of Difficulty: Low - the student was working for the first time to produce something and was able to master the skills involved relatively easily.   This will be the first product produced by 3D Printing by this student and hopefully from here they will lead onto working on more complicated and detailed projects.

Size: Please keep in mind that this was delibrately made oversized with the intent of it standing out.   The design measures 190mm across, 90mm high and is 5mm thick.   The main lettering is 30mm high (including the base).   The secondary lettering was raised 5mm off the base plate to create the affect of the lettering.

Timeframe: Six hours, with a 6mm nozzle and machines that are Ultimaker 2+ which are six years old.

What we would do differently: The student was intending to spray paint this, however the item is to be used significantly and as a result the item will remain with the black base as shown in the photograph.  As a first print by a student starting to develop their skills this has been extremely effective.

3D Printing Component Parts for Electronic Project

The major project for our classroom students that has run for the past year and this coming year is a scientific project involving using sound lures to assist with pest trapping in New Zealand.   You can view details of the project on this blog here.

Part of the project involves the students producing electronic circuits.   The circuits (shown left) have been produced by students and adults and houses in IP rated boxes to protect them from the elements.  As can be seen from the photograph there is a need to develop additional inserts to be placed inside the boxes to minimise any movement that occurs when the units are transported or moved.   The 3D Printer has proven ideal to do this and also it has proved an excellent introduction to the students who are part of the classroom in 2021 and are 3D Printing for the first time.

Challenge: To produce customised pieces to protect or hold an electronic project in place to minimise movement.

Design Difficulty: Low - these pieces are inserted into exisiting electroincs project and into exisitng boxing as a consequence the design needs to suit purpose, as such these prints are not limited by how they look instead dictated by functionality.  In the example shown on the left the battery for the project can be seen in its 3D Printed design case.   This is able to be super-glued onto the base of the box, which then is able to anchor the bread board and hold the battery in place.  In the unlkely event of any moisture entering the box the battery and the breadboard are now raised off the bottom of the box to add a further element of protection.  Moving forward we may look at using a laser cutter to produce a MDF/Wood variation which would allow the possibility of adding a further level of moisture protection to the unit, which is being deployed in Winter in New Zealand.

As shown left with the battery holder element of the 3D Printing inserted.  As a result the breadboard is now raised from its initial position and held in position by the battery box.   As we are working on individualised units and refining and developing them constantly the felxibility of using a 3D Printer at this point makes it ideal to produce unique pieces to suit the unit.

Size: The battery lipo battery dictated the size of the battery holder.  The unit measured 60mm by 40mm and was 20mm high.   The pins and wires that can be seen in the photograph are reflective of the units being individually created so we would look at bringing the length of the wires into the design to consider the box.

We have various battery sizes that we have been using in the project and again the flexibility of the 3D Printer in this case allows us to modify those depending on the size that we want to trial and use.

Timeframe: One hour for the battery holder.

What we would do differently: We need a second unit to be printed to house the breadboard.  The student have been trying to identify the best fit for the unit to allow the breadboard to be housed, to be securely based around the component pieces and also removed as required if additional changes to the unit need to be made.   None of these prints shown left would be considered major designs all have been about an hour in print length and are roughly the same dimensions to fit into the box 60mm by 80mm.    This project will continue and we will also use the 3D Prints to develop a prototype for a potential laser cut out of MDF wood to help the project with the absorbing of moisture that could enter the unit.   We will continue to update this on our page.