3D Printed Novelty Stationary Holder

Challenge: To produce a unique item for stationary

Background: This design was completed independently by an eight year old student who is part of cohort one.   The student was able to work independently to complete the project and presented it to the teacher for printing.

The central figure of the design is the elephant.  This figure has appeared in posts on this blog before - notably in 2024.  It is available from the main Tinkercad interface search bar.  While this is an original design (in that the student didn't see the 2024 version) when the two are compared there are clear similarities between the print.

In this design the student worked with the elephant shape and then started to look for additional features that they could add.  They made the decision to modify the design in a number of ways.

Firstly they added the top hat to the head of the elephant (again this has been used before in various projects as the hat or top hat is easily located and work with a variety of prints0.   Secondly they wanted to modify the print by creating something additional with the feet.  In this instance they decided to add flippers from a wetsuit.

Finally at the back of the design the student opted to insert a hole, to shift the purpose of the design to storage.

Once this has been completed the student took their iPad accessed the Tinkercad App and then started the (simple) process of AR/VR the design in a number of locations around the school as shown in the photo.  This allowed the print to be checked for any obvious flaws prior to the printing process.

Resources to complete this project: Tinkercad, Tinkercad App, iPad, PLA, Bambu H2D,.

Level of Difficulty: Low/Medium.  The student didn't design this print they modified an existing print and added to it and put their own spin on it.  The print was still viable however the basis for the design came from the Tinkecad interface.

Size  The print as it stands measures 120mm across and is 80mm wide.  The print was 80mm high.  As it stands these dimensions work fine but additional storage requirements would need to an upscale in the model.

Cost/Price:   The print completed used 73g of PLA plastic to complete the print.  This has a price point of $1.72 using a regular PLA to complete the print.  

Timeframe: This print two hours and fifty minutes to complete on the regular default settings.  This print although larger in 2024 took twenty hours with dimensions of 150mm and 100mm which is a reflection of the improving of the printers in the meantime.   The 2024 version also had a considerable amount of rafting under the legs and body in particular.  In 2026 this was minimal as the printer didn't print any under the legs or the body of the elephant but instead printed from the base up.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The student has indicated that they want to look at the spray painting possibilities for the design.  Reshaping and remaking the design would lead to a revision in its dimensions.

3D Printed: Projects to create interest

 

We have mentioned in the past about prints that we produce that are generated from online sites - and while we do not print them in significant numbers we do so on occasion either for a specific purpose or to create a thinking point for students.

Two recent examples are for a community event where the local farming group are having an event.  We have previously produced table centre pieces for a local surf club dinner in February 2023 in a post where you can see the details here.

In this example shown with the cow we located a print that had been made available online via the Thingiverse site.   This is one of a number of online sites that have a huge volume of files, projects and options available, some of which in the past we have modified for our own students projects - such as this example when a coaster was inverted to provide the backing image for an iPad stand that was used in our 2025 School Market Day.

As can be seen from the illustration the cow itself has considerable detail.   For the dinner we are intended to create the point of interest by printing a range of the cows in different colours that would make them stand out, hence the 'glass orange' shown in the photo but we will be producing a group of fifteen or so in non traditional colours.

Each of the prints is significant.   It measures 200mm across and stands 150mm high.   The print uses 130g of filament to complete, costs $3.23 and takes four hours and ten minutes to complete.   There was a degree of rafting or waste plastic underneath the base of the cow but it was not significant.   While the cost of the production of these animals is significant is the schools intention to see it as a donation and also potentially use these animals as part of a class play set following the event for our junior class of students as farming based activities can be quite popular.

Likewise the spider (shown left) has come out of the students in the classroom and one in particular has a specific interest in spiders.   We were able to produce this spider as a reward for the student to complete their work.   It is fairly significant in that it measures 160mm long and is 130mm wide.   The print uses 65g of PLA filament to complete and cost $1.50 to produce.   It has a print time to complete of three hours and ten minutes.

This is going to be an item that is printed in limited amounts, and we would ask students who wanted something like this 'what would you add to change it or what would be the purpose of the print - if they could demonstrate an idea to modify or adapt this print then it would meet some basic criteria but as it stands this will very much remain a limited design.

3D Printed Stationary Holder: Junior Example

Challenge: To produce a unique stationary holder using basic Tinkercad shapes by a junior.

Background: This student is an ESOL student who has limited 3D Printing experience.   The student was able to do so by using the basic shapes to make an elephant.   He was able to create the shape and details and create a cartoon like shape.   The design was quite robust, which brought some humour into its creation.     

We talked to the student about making it to the correct scale but he was more than happy with how it developed and the features of it.

This was the students first design, it was a somewhat original design and it goes without saying that he was thrilled with how it develops and the details that went into it.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - the students design could have had additional features (see below) or been more to scale (see below) but he also wanted to make something fun that was not necessarily correct.

Size: The dimensions of the print were quite large, although this was deliberate from the student.  It measured 150mm long, was 100mm wide and had quite a girth to it.   The student could have addressed this but as it was his first original print he was happy with this, although the print time was quite long.

Timeframe: Twenty hours.   While this was quite long and conceivably could have been reduced this student was very much interested in having a cartoon version that was recognisable and fun.  This was very much inspired by the previous Dinosaur wearing a top hat print that was featured earlier on this blog.

Prior to there being decoration or an attempt to colour it the student made the decision to apply a PicCollage filter to the design.   This produced the image shown on the left.  The student was able to take this image and apply it with a 'Festive Filter' from the Magic Camera option on PicCollage.   

This not only gave the student design ideas it also allowed him to think about its presentation.

What we would do differently/next steps for students: The student was thrilled with the result, particularly after he had painted it.    There were some considerations - the scale of the figure (such as making the ears correct or researching their uses) there was no tail with this design. the student hadn't really considered it.    The size of the trunk was not relevant to the scale of the design, or were some of the parts of the design (such as the eyes) however the student himself didn't and wouldn't want to change anything about the design.  Finally the stationary holder had limited storage and this was specific to an eraser - if the student had inserted smaller holes then potentially something else could have been created, such as pencil storage.