Adding Extensions to an existing project

 

This phone stand has been featured in a number of posts on this blog.  It is an original design from a student from cohort one from this years classroom (that is a student designing for the first time).

The print originally featured here before being reworked following testing to include a range of additional features and transform it into a customised Mothers Day Gift.   The next step was for the student to design a colour scheme and have the unit spray painted.   Which you can see here.    When feedback was given to the student it then underwent a further revision.  The student created a charging insert port into the middle and base of the design (as shown in the photo) based on the type of phone and where the charging was.

The student had also experimented with having a stencil applied and that spray painted onto her design.

The student was then able to carry out specific testing with the unit and then use it in conjunction with the phone before they made a final design decision.  In this case the student realised that while the charger would fit through the hole the stand itself could not sit flush on a surface as the charger cord needed to be able to be underneath.   The student considered solutions to this including a complete redesign (and print) however they decided to introduce four legs to the design which provided a colour contrast to the deign and crucially introduced the height that they needed for the print to work successfully.   

The applying of stencils to 3D Printed designs has been an entirely new avenue for the students to explore, and recently it has been deemed success. In this instance the photograph above the application of the stencil was not successful and so the student also wanted to resolve that.

Their solution for this was to create a small plate to show the year date and for this to be applied (glued) down to cover the part of the stand where the stencil previously was (as shown left).

The insert plate to cover the stencil used 2 grams of PLA and had a price point of $0.05.  This part of the print took 11 minutes to complete.   The legs to raise the print to a higher point used 25 grams of regular PLA and this had a price point of $0.64.   This took one hour and nine minutes to complete.

We have put a post about this print on our Facebook site which includes additional photographs of the project.  You can click on the link to the project here.

3D Printed Photo frame - Mothers Day 2026

 

Challenge: For student to create something unique and personalised to celebrate Mothers Day, 2026.

Background: With this event occurring in New Zealand this coming weekend a number of students submitted ideas and creations for this project.  We went through them and assessed each on their merits against the criteria - creativity, uniqueness and personalisation and printed a number of them.   As we are working with a particular timeframe we also needed to be realistic about the size of the print.   While we now are aware that we can recycle the waste support PLA (as we are currently gathering supplies to work with Kiwifil we are also mindful of the cost of producing a larger print.  These tend to be one off prints or very selective in terms of the number that we produce.   We are running every print this year off essentially one machine as we've detailed so that is somewhat of challenge at time when the machine gets busy.

Resources Used: Tinkercad App, iPad, Bambu H2D Printer and regular PLA Filament.

Level of Difficulty: Medium/Advanced - there is quite a bit going on with this print in terms of design, size and how it is ultimately intended to be used.  The idea is to use the frame in conjunction with a small scale canvas print, potentially printed on the Roland Versa Sign Maker.   

Size: This is a substantial print measuring 200mm across, it has a depth of 50mm and is 150mm high.  The letter at the front is 20mm high and a total of 140mm across and is between 15mm and 20mm high at the bottom and extends for 140mm across the base of the print.   The insert for the photo a gap 150mm long and 10mm wide which is just behind the lettering at the top.  This would allow a solid object to be inserted in this location.

Cost/Price: As this is a Bambu H2D Print using the online software with the printing process we can determine that the print uses 238g of filament and this has a price point to produce the print of %5.94. 

Timeframe: The print took nine hours and twenty one minutes to complete on standard settings.  

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students:   The students are wanting to put either a regular photograph into the frame backed with some kind of insert or use the Roland Sign Maker to make something that would potentially be 3D Printed (such as the canvas prints we have completed with the machine previously.

3D Printed Mothers Day Stand - Exemplar

 

Challenge: To produce a unique print themed for the upcoming celebration of Mothers Day in New Zealand.

Resources Used: Tinkercad, iPad, regular white PLA, Bambu H2D.

Background: As we approach Mothers Day a number of students have made creations and designs for this upcoming day.   The brief to the students has been for the designs to be created in the students own time and independently.   The teachers role in this is merely to check the designs at the last stage and print ones that meet the brief.

Obviously while there is a huge volume of material that is available from online sites and portals we are looking to encourage the students design skills and have them work independently to create.  We have encouraged students of course to share their ideas and designs with each other and we also have a range of designs that are available via online sources like this blog.   We also have a group of students who started the process last month which featured here.

The process for this project and the students design can be traced directly back to this post from the same student in March.   Basing their design on an existing print they were able to create their own hybrid book or iPad stand.

This design had its basis in that although the scale was significantly reduced - however the goal of it working (ie it is able to hold the weight of a standard phone).   and by reducing the size the student also significantly reduced obviously the printing time and cost.

Level of Difficulty: Medium.  This is a eight year old from the cohort one students who is work independently - the design has a number of subtle features on it and works well.  It has balance and is not overcrowded or have elements that look like they are out of place.   There is very little 'unused space' and the design is extremely efficient.

Size: The print measures 70mm across at the front, is 110mm deep or long and is 5mm thick at the base.   The triangle for the support for the phone is 70mm high.   These dimensions work well to support a regular phone and obviously they would be adapted for a larger phone or device (such as a Kindle).

Cost/Price: The print uses 55g of PLA to be completed.  This was determined by using the Bambu Lab software.  It also allows us to calculate the price of the print which was $1.36 NZD.

Timeframe: To complete this print on regulation settings the time was two hours and ten minutes.   There would be no need as such to increase the size so this was an excellent use of the time.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the student: the obvious next step for this project is for their to be spray painting completed (this is not something that a student will do this is passed onto an adult to complete).   Otherwise the project is essentially complete and has been delivered prior to the event.

3D Printed Projects: Mothers Day 2026 Summary

 

We are approaching Mothers Day for 2026 in New Zealand and we have several students who have targeted projects based around this event.

The 'couch' which has been developed extensively and featured on this blog twice.  In its first form it was an idea for a project as a regular phone stand as detailed in this post about the print.

The print was further developed by the student from a generic project into one specifically focussed on a Mothers Day gift.   The print has evolved again as it has been now spray painted and has now a charging point included into the base of the design where the phone will be based.    This is now completed and ready to be presented as a gift.   This was completed independently by a seven year old student designing for the first time this year (for three months) and used their iPad, the Tinkercad App and the Bambu H2D.

This print shown left was completed by a middle school student in 2017.   At the time that this print was designed and completed we were using Ultimaker 2 machines (which we then replaced with Snapmaker machines before moving last year to Bambu Machines).    Despite being a number of years ago it was also designed using Tinkercad and iPad.

This was a significant print however in the years since it was completed the technology has moved on significantly and we would imagine the printing time and other aspects of the design would be improved.

You can also view this personalised Key Holder themed for Mothers Day from 2019.   In 2020 We created gift key rings/utility rings.  You can view all of these potential projects by clicking on the link and we would also suggest as a point of ideas you could view the Market Day 2025 ideas from our students as a number of those projects could easily be converted.

We've had a number of projects for personalised creations at the moment that offer a perfect example of something that could be created for Mothers Day.

In some of the examples the students have put the initials of the person that they were designed for.   In the instance shown left the prints used 32g of PLA to complete the print.     This has a price point of $0.33 for the pair.   The prints took thirty three minutes to complete.

There are a large number of examples on this blog from this activity which you can locate by using the search bar in the top right hand corner and the search bar phrase 'earrings'.

This would be an ideal project with a minimum printing time that would allow a class of students to complete the task in a relative short order.   We have also produced a slideshow dealing with this specific lesson, designed for a teacher taking their first steps in 3D Printing you can locate this by clicking on the link here.

Finally we have offered students the opportunity to create an original design which we are intending to print prior to Mothers Day.

An early design has come from this seven year old in the classroom who wanted to create an original and unique trophy that they could award to their 'number one Mum'.   With this design the student has used a combination of the main Tinkercad interface shapes and used 'scribble' to rate the handles and design the top of the trophy.   We printed this as an example to show the class and the student is intending to refine it.

The design at present is 70mm high, 60mm wide at the base.   It used 51g of PLA filament to complete with a price point of $1.27.    The print took two hours and twenty two minutes to complete using the Bambu H2D.