Lore #8 - You don't need to be an engineer to 3D Print

There's a new poster coming to create a series of 'talking points' based around 3D Printing in the Classroom and while its from the perspective of our small rural school in South Taranaki New Zealand - we've already posted a series of talking points about this - which you can click on the link below about each topic for further information or details about how it applies to us.

#1 You don't need more than one printer at your school to print your student projects.

#2 All of your 3D Printing projects don't need to be 3D Printed - there are other options!

#3 There's a range of non-standard filaments that are available to enhance your prints

#4 Juniors can create, design and develop a range of 3D Projects 

#5 The teacher doesn't need to be an expert in 3D Printing

#6 You have options to enhance your printing projects with options

#7 Engage with the wider community with your projects and resources

#8 - You don't need to be an engineer to troubleshoot 3D Printing projects.

We've been tracking our 3D Printing over a number of years with the first printer at our school operating in 2014.   The early machines that we had were complex and 'relatively' reliable.   When we had problems with the printing with the machines (when they would print incorrectly) it could at times require significant teacher input to correct the machines.

Following our early machines we went to a series of other branded machines that were significantly more reliable Ultimakers (2015-2022) in various version and updates.  We went to Snapmakers in 2022 and then last year 2025 we switched to (primarily) Bambu.

It has never been our intention to endorse any particular products or processes via this site - however we would like to point out that everything here is created by students and staff (where noted) and the intention is simply to share what we do so that other people can get inspired and have a think about how that might apply to themselves or their school.

With that in mind the Bambu H2D that we are using has taken things to another level.   Since August last year essentially everything on this blog has been printed off the one machine.   The machine itself has had to be greased (the axel) however this was relatively simple.   The inbuilt protection against a miss print has stopped it a handful of times.   The changing of the filament etc is extremely simple.  We have yet after seven months to have any significant issues with the use of the machine with prints ranging from 30 minutes to forty hours.

The print shown with this post took forty minutes but crucially the print itself is how it came off the machine - the sunk in lettering that is visible was completed without any support or material needed to be removed.  If you note the smallest name, Penelope, this has been completed and is currently 3mm in height.   This is something that we have seen with this machine.   It is also noticeable that the amount of rafting or support plastic with this machine for general prints (such as the cow) this has been greatly reduced.

As the technology has evolved with the 3D Printing the scope, accuracy, reliability and potential has continued to improve the outcome for students using the tools available.

3D Printing: Student Engineering Soultions

 

We are always looking for practical engineering tasks which we can pose a problem to our students with and then look at how they might apply the technology available to the students at Auroa Primary School to solve it.

One of these tasks recently involved a process attempting to limit or prevent bird nesting.   In New Zealand it is currently nearing the end of spring.  One of the issues that we have at the moment is that there are a number of birds, that are common house sparrows attempting to nest in areas around the school.  As our buildings have awnings and shelter as part of them the birds like to nest in these small confined spaces by gaining access to them and building their nests.   Not only does this pose a potential fire risk the birds droppings can be problematic not only for how they look but how that relates to a student use area of the school.

The area shown left has the student lunch eating area immediately beneath it.   As a solution to this initially bird spikes and bird netting was used to deter the birds.  Neither of these were successful as the birds nested in the bird spikes and also forced their way into the netting.   Other options such as foam etc can be worked away by the birds overtime, which then leads to them causing further mess.

The schools solution has been to engage with some parents to produce plywood wedges to deter the birds at the main location where they were gathering.   However the final part of the puzzle is the last part of the awning where the cover connects to the building.  At this point in a join or a connection that while small is large enough for the birds to access.

In this small area here (shown left) you can see the birds entrance points above the plywood wedge.  The area is relatively small but still needs to be restricted to stop the birds using it as an entrance point.

The solution is for the students to use their iPads and technology to produce a 3D Printed wedge to seal the remaining entrance point.   The students have been shown the problem and asked - how can they measure accurately the entrance point.

The first challenge to the students is how can they measure accurately and safely the size of the wedge that they need to construct to fill the gap?

The answer is by students using the measure app to do so.  Our students frequently use this tool with their iPads to measure a range of objects and in this case it is ideally suited to do so, so they don't require access to the location.

Once they were able to identify the correct dimensions of the wedge they need the design was the next follow up activity.   As per their use of Tinkercad this was a very straight forward task.

We know from experience that the PLA using in 3D Printing is robust and can last over ten years in exposed circumstances as demonstrated by some of our long term project reviews.

In this location we believe that the birds will be unable to damage or remove the prints and that they will be sheltered and there will be longevity with the designs.    The first step after the measuring was students considering basic design ideas and how they might apply them to this problem.   Once a basic shape had been created students needed to consider the design size of what they had created and attempt to AR/VR it into place.

This allowed the students to apply the design to the location where it is needed to be deployed.   Using the AR/VR function in this location took a considerable amount of care and precision to get it into the correct place where it needed to be, by doing this, such as the example shown left,   This AR/VR function is built into the Tinkecad App so students who are operating via their iPad only need this as the equipment to complete the virtual application of their CAD design.

The challenge for this activity was that the work area was something the students could not easily access - so the first students response was to produce a range of shapes that they felt would meet the brief and then print them out.   Once these have been size up the students will have a practical example that they will be able to work with that will allow them to successfully complete the task - we will detail the final print design from the students once it has been completed.

Currently these early examples are 45mm by 20mm by 20mm and the wedge is 40mm long and 40mm high.   As with the other designs the width is 20mm.

As a friendly reminder for everyone we are working with students from New Zealand who are seven and eight year old students (in New Zealand that is Y3/4).   The younger students are designing and creating for the first year, the older students have completed one year of using Tinkercad and their iPads for design tasks.