3D Printed Exemplars: Bringing Up Standards

We have detailed in a series of recent prints how we have been producing 'exemplars' for our 2025 School Market Day.    We have been looking at making sure students reflect of their examples as presentation pieces.   

In some cases the students have tried to create prints that have details in them that are beyond the capability of the printers or specifically the removal of the rafting.   The print shown left had a motocross bike as its centre piece of the stand.   When the students removed the rafting the majority of the bike, due to the small details was also removed.  Rather than repeat the entire project the student challenge that has come out of the activity is for the students to remove the remaining aspects of the tyres (as shown in the photo) and then add something additional to the top of the iPhone stand that represents customer.

The total area for the print is 20mm by 100mm as the base.   The rest of the print meets the exemplar criteria and we are confident that by attaching it with a super glue type adhesive we can secure something to the top that will complete the design to ensure that it meets the 'exemplar' criteria.

The dimensions of the print as it stands is 100mm across, is 100mm long and is 90mm high.   Further additions to the print will increase the height.   The current print time for this design was three hours and it was very similar to the print that was designed and featured on this blog previously.

Another example is shown below - where again the base of the print has been successful the student had opted for a series of four flowers that were placed on the top of the design.   With careful removal of the rafting the flowers were unable to completely remain in place - one of the four remained intact.

Clearly when assessing the print once it had been finished the question would be if the print was dropped or had contact there would be a significant chance that the print would suffer damage.   The print currently measures 80mm across is 80mm long and is 80mm high.    The top of the design is 20mm wide and is 85mm long.

The student is going to use pliers to remove the final flower (shown left) and the use sandpaper to remove the remainder of the stalks.  With that removed the student is then going to create an original design which can be placed on the top of the design to complete the design.

While the spaces involved in both designs is not significant the students who are involved have the skill and the ability to create something that works in conjunction with the print that looks correct for the fit of the design.

This project is currently a work in progress and will be updated when it is completed.

3D Printed iPhone Stand - Market Day Exemplar

 

Challenge: To produce a unique, personalised object for the upcoming School Market Day 2025.

Background: This is from the same group as the previous post on this blog, the iPad stand.   As detailed previously is a market day business from a group of students who have been using Tinkercad to create a product, that is personalised and printed using our Bambu H2D printer.

The dimensions for the print are similar, with the exception of the targeting a phone.   The same base design was used from the previous design.   Again as noted we were able to AR/VR this design show it to the person who had ordered it via the students, have them discuss ideas for the phone stand, create the AR version (using the Tinkercad App).   The design was completed independently by seven and eight year old students the classroom.  They brought it completed to the teacher who was then able to print the design.    Again as we have noted previously the Bambu H2D allows us to produce a print with an extremely detailed finish.

An example of this is shown left - the 'Silver Fern' emblem design, which is situated above the words, has exactly no rafting or waste plastic associated with it, in the print shown left and above it is exactly how it was removed from the printer with only some minor rafting around the base of the design, which was easily removed.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - for a seven year old, the students have been using Tinkercad for this year in the classroom and that has been enough for them to create this independently using the skillset that they have developed.

Size: The dimensions of the print are as follows.  The print measures 120mm across is 90mm long and was primarily 10mm wide in most places.   The backing part of print which contains the name/logo was 90mm high.  These dimensions were appropriate to complete the task successfully.

Cost: The Bambu print design details identified that 32m of filament was used, the print used 98g of filament and the cost associated with this was $2.25.   To recoup the price of the filament for the group the price set by the students would reflect this, with anything additional to be considered profit.

Timeframe: The printing on the Bambu H2D took just under three hours - as noted repeatedly if we were using our wonderful (but slightly older) Snapmaker machines we would expect this to take twice the time. 

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: The wedge shape for the base was the same as it was on the original design (for the iPad example it was changed from a wedge to a 'Willy Wonka' style hat).     We also had additional space on the design where additional information or details could have been added.   Once again a discussion was had about changing the colour of the base print by using a Bambu multi nozzle printer to do the job. 

iPad Stand: Market Day Exemplar

 

Challenge: To produce a unique personalised object for School Market Day as a major project/object.

Background: The process detailing the creation of this post has already previously been discussed with a post on this blog.  You can click on the link that post here - when our students use Tinkercads AR/VR option (available on the Tinkercad App to create a virtual version of their unique design which had been created using Tinkercad.

The Stand template had been used, and then adjusted to reflect the interests of the customer.   In this case as is shown left the 'Willy Wonka' hat at the front is replacing the wedge to hold the iPad in place.    The customers name and favourite food are prominently on the front of the design.   The print is shown as it was removed from the Bambu H2D without any removal of rafting, as noted in previous posts about the matter the 'trees' that are visible on the design are the full extent of the rafting.  Had this been completed using the Snapmaker we would anticipate a number of challenges with the format and the detailing (specifically from this view the lettering inside the base).

As shown left the stand is capable of having a regular iPad standing in it, including one that is using a 'smash protection' screen - making it more bulky than a regular iPad.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - this was primarily created by a seven year old using Tinkercad and its stand as a template, however he was able to add the personalisation features, complete the VR/AR of the design, ensure that it is all balanced and then present it for printing.  This student has worked on a number of designs featured on this blog and has been able to show a high level of balance, reasoning and design ability, including posts like this.

Size: This is a substantial print - and its dimensions reflect this.   It is one of the largest stands that we have printed.   The main base is 140mm wide and 130mm deep.   The width of the base is 10mm.   The back is 130mm high and has a similar width etc to the base.   The hat at the front is 40mm high.  While these are extremely large dimensions relatively speaking the stand needs to have the weight, size and dimensions to function as a working iPad stand.

Cost: The print including rafting uses 226g of filament, 75m, printing time on the Bambu H2D was six hours twenty minutes the listed cost is $5.20 - which we have converted to NZD are is roughly nine dollars.  This cost has been reflected in the charge that we have made for our 2025 Market Day, if we wanted the students to consider making a profit it would be reflected in a price above this.

Timeframe: Six hours twenty minutes.   This was completed on the Bambu H2D - finishing aside the main difference is the timeframe - which as we have noted is 50% faster.  Again the limitations about cutting time from the print is the fact that it has a very specific purpose and needs to be able to hold the weight of an iPad so in that case the timeframe has limited flexibility.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: The students engaged in a process of design and creation and based their pricing for the customer on inbuilt calculations with Tinkercad/Bambu Labs and set a price based around this.   Subsequently the students realised that they could have explored the option of using multi-colours with the design and the print (a clear example would have been the Wiggles name plate as shown above, which could have been the traditional colours) however this would have increased the print time and caused there to be additional PLA which would have meant the project would have run at a loss.

3D Printed Mini Product: School Market Day 2025

 

Challenge: To support Market Day 2025 with additional products for save.

Background: While we've had a process involving our school Market Day with each group creating a specific product.   As we've had a number of pre-orders of significant personalised products which have been significant prints, however we would also like there to be general prints that are available.   

We have been looking at creations that have come from students in the classroom who have created a design that has potential to be a viable product for market day.   We are looking for something that could be produced that is relatively - one of the products that meets this criteria easily is the unique earrings that we have posted about previous, such as the 2023 Market Day business or the recent '101 Guide to 3D Printing: Earrings slideshow.

As we have a group that is working on unique key rings, we also discussed with them producing some generic designs that could be produced easily that would be able to be sold as stock.

The group had a brief discussion and then used Tinkercad to create a design, shown left.

Basic shape, basic generic name - which has been sunken into the design so that it would be more robust.  We have proven that examples such as this can last for a number of years without suffering any wear or damage such as the oversized sports shed keyring.  Designed and created by students in 2018 it is still in (daily) use at our school in 2025.   This has some wear but has maintained its integrity.   

To ensure that something different was also added for the print it was printed in 'super' glow in the dark filament, as a number of recent projects have been.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this was easily completed independently by the eight year old students in the classroom.  As per the brief the intention was to produce a simple design, and given this - the printer intended to be used was the Snapmaker (instead of the newer and  more advanced Bambu H2D was for the prints that would require more detail and a much faster printing time.

Size: The print is 80mm wide, 70mm high and is (in the second print/version) 10mm thick.   The first version which is the first photo shows the version that is 5mm wide.  The difference between the two is simple strength based - the second print would require significant force to damage, the former could conceivably be broken by applying (significant) force.     

Cost: The print requires 7.9m of filament which is 23.5g.   At present prices and assuming that a roll of PLA is full (1kg) 42 key rings could be produced from a single roll.   To ensure that the price could be met the students would need to have a charge of $1.00 per keyring to break even, and charging a larger price would result in profit.

Timeframe: The second more robust version took one hour and fifty seven minutes (on the Snapmaker) as noted previously if this was completed on the Bambu it would take half of the time, however as we have only one at school this is a good project to complete on the Snapmaker while the Bambu is otherwise engaged.

What we would do differently/next steps for students: To determine a price point for the product and therefore for the profit that they might potentially make.  As noted the print was completed deliberately using glow-in-the-dark filament.

October 2024 - Project Updates

 We are currently at the half way point for the school holidays between term three and our final school year in New Zealand (term four).   We have a number of design projects that are looking for completion this term, before the end of the school year including finally completing the Dolls House Project, which you can see the overview here.

Our biggest school event coming up is the 2025 School Market Day.   You can see the amazing video from Mr Bloor, our AV teacher above.   We have detailed the process for our students which has been featured on this blog through the year - you can use the search bar, top right and undertake searches using the tags 'market day 2025'.   You can also view the view from our 2019 here below:

Our School Market Day in 2025 will take place afterschool on Friday 31st October 2025 at Auroa School.   Preorders can be picked up on the day and there are going to be a selection of goods that are available for purchase.  If you want to make any additional orders you can email the admin for this blog.

We are going to make selected projects from this blog available during the Market Day, this includes projects shared here such as the 'cyclops' challenge 

This is one of the ideas which has been developed from a brief for the students, which based on the results of the project including how it progressed with the work of the students, has become a viable Market Day item.   At the same time we are going to attempt to look at producing unique earrings for the event developed and created by students in the design process for the classroom.  You can see a teacher directed version of this project and a slideshow describing the entire process by clicking here.

We are also going to complete the process of designing the labelled, authentic and detailed geometric shapes that tie in as part of our Mathematics program at school (specifically for Geometry).

While we started the process for these objects the complete set was not printed prior to the end of term and we require adaption for this prints to ensure that they are viable for long term use.     In the example shown left you can see for instances that '5 faces' has been put too close to the edge of the object meaning that the 5 will not be sustainable in the future.

You can click on the link here to look at details about the original project.

We are continuing to explore examples of ideas, concepts and physical examples for the students moving forward.  An example of this is shown left with the iPhone stand turtle that a student had located.   We realised the print time (completed on the Bambu) made the print more than viable (as it was just over one hour) and while the student concerned had no input into the creation of this as with the other major one off prints that we build the idea is to get the students thinking about ways that they can take an idea such as this and then apply it to other projects and designs.

DDR - Dance Dance Revoultion Machine

 

We are always very excited to offer amazing opportunities for the students at Auroa Primary School.   One of the greatest resources at our school is our amazing DDR 'Step Master' Machine.   This machine was built by students at our school in 2020 - Mr Bloor our amazing technology teacher produced this incredible video about the process here.   We continue to have regular competitions using this machine and the media that the students have created - such as our 'K Pop' inspired Dance Competition at the end of last term, you can view the video of this event here.

We also detailed how we used other technology at our school for this event.

The video above is the overview of the machine for a promotional video if you want any additional information about the machine, the process or the creation please contact us and we can put you in contact with Mr Bloor.

Market day 2025 - Final Print Runs

 

It is currently the school holidays in New Zealand between term three and term four, we will be back to our regular schedule of printing at that time.   In the meantime we are preparing for the major school event for the year as regular visitors to this site will be aware - our School Market Day for 2025 is taking place on Friday 31st October.

Challenge: To produce a unique product featuring personalisation, innovation and creation using the technology available to our students.

Background: Every student in the senior school at Auroa Primary School as well as the middle school classrooms.   As we have explained before we have seven groups that are operating, one of which is the 'Bath Toys' themed group.  These designs have been previously detailed and adapted and these versions are now the personalised versions that are available to customers.   These prints and the process to create them has been detailed on posts on this blog such as here.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - the design that is shown here has undergone several revisions, however all of the key features of the design have come from the main Tinkercad interface, and the students concerned have been able to revise the design several times.   An example of this is the adaption to remove several additional features to ensure that the design is as plain as possible.   Given that there are children who could be handling the designs (although we have also looked into age appropriate toys for the group as well for instance no under two year olds) the students removed earlier features like eyebrows and details on the hat or anything that could be interpreted as sharp.

Size: 80mm across, 80mm wide/long and 60mm high.  This was the dimensions of one of four designs that had similar dimensions that were printed simultaneously on the Bambu H2D.   The students have always intended to have a group of designs, three in total, and this is intended as the biggest of the three.

Cost: The machine indicated that to print the four designs on standard default settings that 200g of filament would be used and the cost would be $5.00 (USD) to complete the print (of four).

Timeframe: The completion of the print took eight hours in total on the Bambu H2D.   The project would not have been undertaken on the Snapmaker for the reasons that the duration would have been in the range of 16 hours and that would have also called into question the ability of the machine to print all four designs without any problems.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: There is a couple of issues that are still needing to be identified with the range of print.   The biggest issue which is not clearly visible is under.

As can be seen in the picture shown left, the base of the design has a small hole in it, which has occurred as a result of the printing process.   This is visible in the top left had corner of the print.   The student will be needing to problem solve this issue when they return next term.    By not water proofing the design at this point the design when tested has shown to fill with water and while it does not damage the integrity of the print, the students need to seal it.

The teacher has in mind using a hot glue gun or using a water sealant on this part of the design but the students are going to undertake the research and testing when they return from the school holidays.