3D Printed No Frills ipad and Utility Holder

Above: Full design shown in profile.

Challenge: Student wanted to independently produce a combination iPad stand and storage unit that could be created as a first project independently. 
Background: This student was developing the idea of 3D Printing having seen numerous examples in the classroom.   She was not a student who had previously worked on a project.  The student is nine years old.   The shapes with the design were straightforward given that she was looking to produce something original that was workable.   On discussion with the teacher the student made the decision to include their name across the lip of the iPad stand.   Again it was a basic lettering task from the main Tinkercad interface which was very straightforward and allowed the student to easily produce it. 

Level of Difficulty: Medium - the dimensions of the design needed to work to complete the process.
Time frame: Nineteen hours.   Given the combination of storage at the back of the iPad stand (which for stationary as shown is considerable) and the stand at the front this would be an excellent use of time.   The standard default settings of a 20% infill with the printer running a 8mm nozzle. 
Size:   The print consisted of two main pieces.   You had the rectangular design at the front for the iPad stand, this was 120mm across and and had a 20mm rectangular block.    The block at the back was 10mm thick and rose 130mm.   The lettering for the name was two mm from this base.   The final part of the design was the circular stationary holder at the back.   This had a basic circle shape and was 110mm high.
What we would do differently: Minimal the student was extremely thrilled with the result and as a consequence didn't want to revise or change anything.   The print was robust and workable.
Next steps for student: Having successfully completed the task without any revision required the student needs to challenge themselves to move onto other projects.

3D Printed Donut Utility Holder

Above: Design shown in profile

Challenge: To create a piece of utilitiy holder suitable for holding pens/pencils (but also have the potential as a general holder of items).  Student who created this is a Y5 student, nine years old in her first year of using 3D Printing.
Background: Student has shown some creation and invention with various projects related to 3D Printing in the classroom.  Student is designing a series of prints and creation and conferencing with the teacher with regards to their originality and purpose.   This design, while it would appear complicated comes primarly from the main Tinkercad Interface, which has a series of basic designs that students can take and reshape, redesign and ensure that they meet the criteria for the purpose set above in the challenge.
Level of Difficulty: Low - while the design is exactly what the student had in mind (see below) the essential issue here was the redesigning of the shape created by Tinkercad and ensuring that it was able to meet the purpose.  In this case the student needed to redesign the shape to meet the purpose of holding pencils and general items that the student wanted to store in it.    The size, relative to the design, was perfect for the design.

Above: Original design as shown as an .STL download file

Timeframe: Twelve hours - consideration could have been given for the infill used in this design, to reduce the density of the print to still complete the purpose.  Every design on this site, has always used the basic default settings for the infill, most printing software will allow you the opportunity to alter the level of filling it.   The default setting on the CURA software (which is the Ultimaker 2 in-house software) is at 20%.   It creates a series of connected lines in a crosshatch form which prove to be the strength of the object.  We have not experimented with reducing this infill, however the strength of the prints featured on this site have not been in question, as we have (after three years) yet to have significant damage to the produced items, which seem to be extremely durable and robust.
Size: The width of this desing was 100mm.   The height of the design was 100mm.   The width of the design was 25mm at the top. Conceivable the width of the design could have been reduced to reduce the length of printing time.
What we would do differently:   The student obviously missed an opportunity to personalise the container with their name or the purpose of the container (however the student was adamant that they wanted this container to be multi-purpose and not restricted to one purpose as it would have been if it was created with a label).
Next steps for students: To show other students (and teachers) how to produce material/projects of a similar nature.  This student has mastered this type of project and needs to extend herself in other ways.

Ultimate 3D Printed Desk Organiser

Above: from side showing emoji

Challenge: For student to create a stationary holder to store their stationary.
Background: Inspired by other students in the classroom the student designed a container for all of her stationary.  This was the second recent print from the student who had recently designed a significant print to hold her iPad, as linked here.   For this design she was inspired by a previous student design in the classroom, linked here.   The student used this as a the base, and then added a series of additional features to the design - including a subtle face on one side, a donut at the front for effect, a side bar to hold the protractor of the student and a emoji, yes that is a 'poo' emoji on the front to one side.
Level of Diffculty: High.  This print featured a number of intricate details and features that were added to a basic design.  All of these needed to add and work to the design and did so.
Timeframe: Twenty hours - this was a significant print in both size, design and timeframe.   Some of the features could have been reduced or decreased and given the dimensions a consideration was given to reducing the infill for the back of the design.

Above: Design shown from above clearly showing the naming

Size:  The base of the design is a square shape that is a 120mm by 120mm square.  The height of the back of the print was raised 150mm from the base.   As noted in the previous print that this was used as base.  The first tower included in the printer was 65mm high.  The second tower was 100mm high.  The name block that was at the back was raised 135mm.  The purpose of this design was to hold a variety of stationary items.

Protractor holder and 'donut' design visible

What we would do differently: The width of the hexagonal design for the different levels of the container was 25mm thick in places.  This could have been reduced to 10-15mm and would have served the same purpose for the design and would have reduced the overall print time. This particular design has been described as the "ultimate" desk organiser in the sense that there is not additional features that could be added.  The only aspect that students have been attempting to solve is the issue of a headphone holder, by either introducing a bar or a holder.   There have been a number of attempts at modelling this however these have proven to be unsuccessful as the bar designs have caused all the models to tip or a high degree of likelyhood of tipping has taken place.
Next step for students:   This student could have designed the project from start, instead of using another design as a basis for design.  She could have reduced the width of stationary holders and reduced the level of infill.

3D Printed Desk Organiser

Above: Original design shown to scale

Challenge: For student to create an original design that had a specific and working purpose.
Background: Student was given the opportunity to create a project of their choice, and designed and created a pencil and pen holder that would be functional and for use in the classroom to sit on the students desk.
Level of Difficulty: Medium.   The task involved a number of inlays to hollow out the inside.
Size: 9cm high, 6cm wide and 6cm deep.  The inserts went within a short distance of the base to allow a variety of stationery to be held.  

Above: View showing holder clearly

Timeframe: Eight hour print - a high grade of PLA was used as this was the current roll.  
Issues: None, from design to print it worked perfectly, there was a minor issue with the base, although this was not related to the design and was solved by the use of superglue in one corner.
Process: As per the 'norm' on this site at present the process was design in Tinkercad, the .STL then switched to Cura for printing on the Ulitmaker 2+.
What we would do differently: Given the success of the print and the task for the student little would be done differently.  It allowed the student to produce a practical object that had use in the classroom and was successful for the purpose which it was designed and was printed for.  This was the students first design/print.