3D Printing Examples & Ideas

Vica Illusion Sculpture

This sculpture is pretty much impossible to create using conventional manufacturing techniques. But 3D printing makes it easy.

Turn loose your art students and see what sort of designs they can come up with.

Red Eyed Treefrog

Red Eyed Treefrog is an example of the varied ways a 3D printer can be used in subjects as diverse as Biology and Art.

It was created "so you can decorate a garden pound without the noise, or check the calibration of your printer in the most cute way!"

Image to Lithophane Converter

This is the web resource that allows you to convert an image into a 3D printable Lithophane. You could also use this to create things like decorative tiles and columns.

Turn your students loose and see what they come up with.

Mount Saint Helens 3D Topo Map

Here's an example of a 3D printed topo map of Mt. St. Helens from Mappery.com.

Amazing Bubble Wands

This collection of bubble wands can be printed and used for students of all ages. Younger students can have fun while learning about bubbles. Older students with access to a 3D printer can learn to create their own bubble wands.

Some of the questions covered in the included tutorial include...

• What are bubbles?
• Why are they only spheres?
• Why do they pop?
• Why do bubbles stick together?
• Where do bubbles get their colors?

Flexi Rex

This model is an exemplar of many different 3D prining concepts.

• When the model is well designed, you can print a multi-part articulated item all-at-once with even an inexpensive 3D printer.

• The concepts of open source and iterative design allow one person to come up with a good idea and others to build on it and create even better versions.
  
  There are over 40 different versions of Flexi Rex posted on Thingiverse.

And it's a lot of fun to play with.

PLA Spring Motor Demonstrator 2

The PLA Spring Motor Demonstrator was originally designed as a "proof of concept" tool to test whether a 3D printed PLA spring could power a gear train and possibly move a vehicle. The test was successful and a number of 3D printed PLA spring powered vehicles followed. This version has a 1 (drive) to 125 (driven) gear ratio in three gear stages.

It is a fairly easy to print and assemble, and makes a fun classroom demo.

You can use this as a springboard to challenge your STEM students to design their own 3D printed motorized creations.

Volume Blocks

Here's a two-part project, which can be taken on together or as separate parts. The main part is a series of 3D objects for use in learning and practicing volume equations. The second is a short course detailing how the objects were made so that students can make their own for use in class.

Combined, these make up a good primer for students in learning and understanding 3D space and engineering. The objects are provided in both Metric and Imperial units. The walk through, lesson plan and solutions are included as PDFs.

Air Spinner

Not only is this a fun print that shows how you can print moving mechanisms in place, but it's practical too.

Someone discovered you can spin the Air Spinner up by blowing on it, and it can be used by speech therapists to help special needs kids get better at breath support and control.

Germz

'Germz' are a super small print that can be used as handy little clips for all sorts of applications. It's also a great wat to confirm that your printer is set up and tuned or "dialed in" correctly.

We've featured this print in our convention booths. It shows how a simple item with moving parts can be printed all-at-once using a simple 3D printer. They are also fun to have around and encourage student engagement.

What other simple devices can your students dream up and print?

Rhino Wall Sculpture 2D

3D printed artwork can take many forms, including 2D wall hangings. Here's an example of what you can do when you take a line drawing and convert it to 3D.

Click on the by UnpredictableLab link on the page to see more examples of "2D" art you can create using a 3D printer.

3D Printed Kitten Wheelchair

Awwww.

Meet Peggy. When this little kitty was rescued, they found the lower portion of her rear legs were gone. The author was asked to design a wheelchair for Peggy to keep her mobile and keep her rear legs off the floor (as they can easily get infections) until she reaches the ripe age of 1 when she can get some prosthetics fitted.

Take a look at the process and the results.

3D Printed Geneva Drive

The Geneva Drive is an elegant mechanism used to convert rotary motion into intermittent motion. The link includes a YouTube video as well as the STL 3D printer files and complete directions.

A great introduction into how an item that would be complex and time consuming to create traditionally can be printed in just a few hours or less.

The MultiFab Next Generation 3D-printer

MIT gives us a glimpse into the future of 3D printing technology with an inexpensive printer that can print 10 materials at once, no assembly required.

Combining multiple materials, an integrated 3D scanner, and self-calibrating, self-correcting software, the MultiFab gets us closer to the goal of finished products right out of the machine. Includes a short introductory video.