3D Printed Art Lettering for Market Day Project

Above: the 20mm 'STAY' lettering

Challenge: A student project team are working on running a classroom business for a market day want to utilise the 3D Printer to produce lettering for words and phrases that could be then combined with wooden blocks/lettering to produce a finished piece of art.
Background: The students of the school have a project this term for them to run a business.  A number of the students groups are producing art based projects.   One group was interested in looking at producing signage on wooden blocks of themes or sayings.   To produce the lettering part of the art project the students wanted to utilise the 3D Printer to produce the lettering and then mount it onto the wood.    This involved the students selecting a design that they were happy with and producing a font that reflected a design and style and that could be combined with the wood.  For the wood the students selected a wood pallet and used the school Woodwork room to cut the wood into blocks.    The students were dealing with a block that was

Above: Live featured as 30mm design

50mm high and 500mm across.    They had the potential to shorten the length of the block dependant of the length of the words or phrase.    The students were able to trial print the lettering and then work out the dimensions of the wood that they wanted to use.   The students started with a basic design and font, worked out the dimensions and then develop an idea of concepts related to that.  They also identified key areas to move forward successfully with the product - that they would need a Wood Glue to mount the lettering onto the wood and also for the wood to be stained to help enhance the look of the lettering.   The colour of the PLA will be contrasted with the staining of the wood.   Once completed the price of the design was minimum - the PLA for the plastic for the 3D Printing and the Wood Glue and stain were the only expenses that the group needed to account for.   The students also are keen to experiment with different PLA relative to the stained wood and look into using different filaments with the potential for the use of glow-in-the-dark PLA.

#3DPrintEdu - 120mm x 60mm

Level of Difficulty: Low - the single challenge for the production of the art block and combination with the 3D Printing.    The font selection from Tinkercad is significant the only aspect that the students needed to determine was the size of the font that they were printing.
Size: As shown in the photograph the 'Stay' font measured 20mm high and was grouped (clustered) as 60mm across.   This font was designed to be 5mm deep.   The 'Live' font shown in photograph was 30mm high, 70mm across and 10mm deep.    The #3DPrintEDU chat font was 120mm across groupd and 60mm high.   The depth of the print was 5mm.    The largest print that was run in this run was the 'LAUGH' print and font - this font was larger that the block of wood that it was intended for.    This measured 130mm wide and 70mm high.  It had a depth of 10mm.

Above: the final trial design

Timeframe: As this was a series of prints the lettering itself varied significantly.   In the four featured prints here the 'Stay' print took thirty minutes.   The 'Live' print was forty five minutes.   The '#3DPrintEDU' print took one hour.    'Laugh' was the biggest print of the series (as noted it is essentially oversized) which took two and half hours.     This would vary depending on the size of the block that the students would anticipate using - that had a measurement of 50mm high (but again could be cut to size). 
What we would do differently: The students have a lot of potential development to come relative to the size of the wood that they had produced and cut.    The colour of the wood that is produced from the staining will influence the final design and PLA choices by the students.   The students are also looking for a 'wow' factor and want to experiment with different PLA options and choices including Glow-In-the-Dark filament.

3D Printed Student Business Container

Completed print with the lid in place

Challenge: Students to produce a working sample model container for a business that they are running.  Sample container needs to hold a variety of liquids and other items that the business could potentially produce - the students were still developing a business model and idea when they decided to work on the containers.
Background: The students had shown an interest in running a small scale business (they are ten years old) they had limited experience with 3D Printing, and took some inspiration from the class next door who had produced mock up models of these for a project evening where the parents and the local community came to view the students term work on display.  Their intent was to produce a container that could hold a sample of product that they were looking at producing such as lip balm or other cosmetics.  The successful construction of a container that would be water tight and potentially sealed would allow a variety of products to be produced.

Base and lid clearly shown

Level of Difficulty: Low - the print consists of two parts, with a hollow out centre.  The shape is obviously heart inspired and was created using the Tinkercad main interface.  There was potentially additional features that could have been added (see below).  Both students had experience in 3D Printed in the classroom this year and we looking to extend themselves by creating this project from scratch without the input of others. 
Timeframe: Three and a half hour total print.  The lid as shown has a significant hole in it, which allows the product inside to be easily viewed.  The base was hollowed out to allow the container to hold liquid and 'product'.   Additional features could potentially be added (see below). 

Size: The box is 8cm across, has a length of 6cm and is 4cm high.    The width of the sides of the box was 5mm.  The depth of the lid likewise was 5mm.
What we would do differently: Nothing (again see below) the print worked exactly as was intended.   The students were wanting the package to guide their products and influence what they were able to manufacture.
Next Challenge for the students: The business that they are developing could have its name, or the initials of the business inserted into either the lid or the base.  The students contemplated doing this however there have been some issues with lettering etc on smaller prints (and again we were using a 8mm nozzle not a 4mm which could have potentailly improved the detail but would have significantly increased the print time).

3D Printed Student Business Projects - Part Two

Above: Conditioner holder with lid.

Challenge: For students to produce a container/packaging for a classroom created business project.  The container needed to be able to hold liquid or cosmetic products.
Background: This is the final draft print of the classroom set designed described previously.  In these two examples students were looking to create containers that would hold samples of conditioner and lip balm.  (the cosmetics were to be produced seperately in the classroom and this is the sample box).
The students concerned were a Y4/5 classroom - nine and ten year old students.  This was their first 3D Print designs, which were created by students using Tinkercad, for the first time. Students were producing a prototype with a base and a lid, and experimenting with the lid being able

Above: Lip Balm storage container

to be dropped into the base to seal the container.
Level of Difficulty: Medium - the issue consistently with this set of designs and prints was the lid.  The two lids in the case of both of these prints were no exception.  In both cases students had designed the lids without due consideration for a reduced inner lid which would allow the lid to drop into the base.  In the case of both of these designs students are going to re-design the lid and drop down the size of the lid insert so the base will work with the lid clearly in place allowing the concept to be successfully completed.
Timeframe: The heart shaped box was two and a quarter hours, the taller box featured above was five hours (both print time included the lids both printed at the same time.   This was on the normal print setting, with additional rafting to support the inserts.
Size: Right - the heart shaped box has a width of 6cm across a height of 2cm, the lid being slightly smaller.  The larger container had similar dimensions with the exception of the height which was 8cm. The width of both prints were 5mm and was above right from a size perspective.
What would we do differently: The boxes/containers need to have the lid reprinted because with nearly all other objects in this set the students underestimated the need to reduce the inserts allowing the lid to drop into place.  The students as noted are going to redesign the lids and re-print them reducing the inserts, the bases are remaining, so overall the prototype succeeded in meeting the breif.