3D Printed Miniature Storage

 

Challenge: For an eight year old student with limited Tinkercad ability to produce something personalised and unique.

Background: As per the description this student has had some experience in using Tinkercad, in the class this year as part of the new cohort of classroom students.  The students prior to the School Holidays were given the option of producing something personalised and unique which they were tasked with designing in their own time.

This student wanted to make something as a gift for another member of their family.  They used their iPad and the Tinkercad app to project the image onto their desk in the classroom to check its viability.   Following this process the design was then submitted to the classroom teacher for printing.  The teacher responsibility was to insert the file for printing.

When it was printed the decision was made to use the silk eSun multi-coloured PLA to create something of an affect with the printing process.

Resources used to complete this print: iPad, Tinkercad App,, eSun Silk Multicoloured, Bambu H2D.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this is a basic design that the student was able to produce confidently by themselves.  This is a variation of a basic design that the student was able to manipulate to expand the design.  Design basics like making the name inserting it into the back of the design as a hole instead of extending out are design features that really add depth and finish to the students 3D designs.

Size: The print measures 80mm across and was 40mm wide and the print extends a further 30mm at the back.  The print in general has a width of 5mm.

Cost/Price: The print is miniature in scale.  It used 28g of PLA to complete the print.  This gave the print a price point of $0.70c to produce the item.

Timeframe: The print had a total completion time of 53 minutes in total.  This included 47 minutes of printing time for the project and six minutes of warm up time for the machine.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students:   This unit was produced in miniature and could be potentially expanded larger to scale.  The front of the design currently is essentially blank but could have had another picture, image or writing included (as per the top picture0.   At this stage the student felt that this would be an excellent jewellery box.   We have a range of previous designs - an exemplar of note from 2017.  In addition you can search the blog with our eleven years of examples by using some keywords in the top right hand corner of this blog.  We have tried to tag prints as accurately as possible.

3D Printed 'Not Lego' Lego Minaature Chairs

 

Challenge: To produce an authentic looking piece of furniture to work in conjunction with a 'lego/not-lego' set or scene.

This activity has several reference points.  Firstly one of the major challenges that our students were involved in was the making a 3D Printed furniture suitable for a Dolls House.   You can see an overview of this major project by clicking on the link here.   An off shoot of this project was creating 'lego' scale figures.

A discount purchase of end of line promotion from a local supermarket meant that we could access several kitchen scenes and our students as result worked on a series of figures to match and then items of furniture to fit into the scene.  Students AR/VR the creations into these scenes and then we printed in some cases the physical figures.

This design came out of that process as it was an end process of producing a chair to fit around the table.   It was a relatively easy design for the student and allowed them to create something that could easily be printed (see time below) and then modified to fit into the scene.

Resources Used to complete this project: iPad, Tinkercad App (for design and AR/VR projection), Bambu P1S, Cotton Candy PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this was completed independently by a nine year old,  The chair design as it stands (pardon the pun) at the moment is recognisable and functional although the potential would be for further details to increase the challenge.

Size: This is a miniature print to fit into a 'lego' sized scene.   The chairs dimensions at present measure 20mm across is 40mm high and 20mm deep/wide.

Cost/Price:  We have used the Bambu Studios cost price analysis extensively to ensure that we are considering the viability of prints but also to make sure we could identify what could be a 'whole class' activity for someone who is working on a budget or has limited access to a printer.   This design uses 5g of PLA plastic with a price point of $0.13c to produce - making it one of the lowest price prints that we have completed this year.

Timeframe: To complete this print the printer had the standard six minute warm up and preparation time and then printed for twenty one minutes.   This meant of course the total time was under half an hour on the regular default settings.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The design that the student has created as shown left in place is almost too large as it stands at present.   When compared to the rest of the scene it is the size of a high chair but obviously does not have the correct dimension for this.  It needs to be adjusted smaller if it was to be for the table - however once this is completed (and this should take no more than a simple drag and click of the design) the student could make a full set from a single item.   The detail that the P1S can produce given the default settings is extremely impressive.  I have had a casual conversation with someone who is involved in role playing games and their machine is producing all of the figures.

There is huge scope for further design in this range.

3D Printing in Micro Scale: P1S Bambu

 

Challenge: For a junior student (Y4 seven years old) to create an original design and print.  This print was to be produced on a miniature scale - to test the details of the 'new' school printer.

Background: As noted we have spent nearly a calendar exclusively using the Bambu H2D to print an entire range of prints (with a goal of using the single machine for the entire year) however we recently as a school purchased two additional printers which we have switched to using while the Bambu H2D is currently under repairs.

This print was created by one of our students as an independent project and was presented to the teacher in its completed state - ready to be printed.

Resources To Complete this Project: iPad, Tinkercad App, Bambu P1S, PLA.

Level of Difficulty; Low - this is a basic entry level task that could be completed easily and independently in a brief session - of not here was the size.

Size; This was the focus for this print - the print measured 40mm across was 40mm high and was 10mm wide/thick.

Cost/Price: The print used 4.2g of regular PLA to complete the print and this had a price point of $0.10c.

Timeframe: The printer took six minutes to warm up - had nine minutes of printing time so the entire process from start to finish was fifteen minutes.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the students:   We would choose carefully the PLA used for the print as we would suspect spraying it could loose its definition otherwise completed as hoped.  The timeframe for this is especially something to consider as it would mean potentially a class could be completed in a relatively short timeframe.