When you, or your kids, are just starting out with 3D printing it is easy to quickly get carried away and attempt to print things that you really aren’t ready for yet. I know – because we certainly did! (See my Fantastic 3D prints & Epic Failures to see what I mean).
In retrospect – I think it is really best to start out slow with 3D printing – so you can have some wins & successes under your belt before you try more advanced models that may present some serious challenges & potential frustrations!
Here we provide some ideas for easy 3D printing projects that you or your kids can hopefully have some fun with and enjoy some successes – before moving on to more challenging models.
3D Models to Download & Print
Below are some FREE models that you can simply download, slice and print. We like both Cults3D & Thingiverse as repositories of pre-made 3D models. These are websites that you can simply go to and download 3D models (in STL file format) which you will then need to slice with either the slicing software that came with your 3D printer or free slicing software like Cura – which is what we use. Then send it on to your 3D printer – and you turning a 3D model into something TANGIBLE!
We have put these in order of what we think is the easiest 3D models to print to the more challenging. For example – the Animal Crossing Fossil is one piece with no supports needed. Th LadyBug is also just one piece. The box – with 2 pieces – is just a little more complicated. The Spirograph is two separate pieces – and we would recommend printing it out in two different colors.
If you need more direction on the step-by-step process of 3D printing – please see my post: Making 3D Printing EASY for the Beginner!
1) Animal Crossing Fossil Token by brunothebruno & Animal Crossing Fossil Box by nanocodebug – both on Thingiverse. The token is the easier one of the two – and the one I would suggest you try first. Remember – we are going for wins early on and want to minimize frustrations!
3) Spirograph (variety) Some pretty basic ones to more advanced ones. I like the Spirograph by YEHIA for the beginner (Cults3D)- and think that printing out the 2 separate pieces in different colors makes sense. So you will need 2 different color filaments for this.
4) Self Watering Planter by parallelgoods (Thingiverse). For more of a variety of self-watering planters – please click here.
5) Tic-Tac-Toe by Nathan720 (Thingiverse). Timeless game – a little more tangible! Like in the picture – we think this print should be done in 3 colors!
6) Micro SD Card Holder by mkuiper (Thingiverse) Practical & fun!
7) Drink Coasters (variety) In particular, We like the Fallout 4 Vault 111 Door Coaster by Beaubasaur (Thingiverse) – but it is a little more intricate than the more plain ones you will see if you click the “Variety” link. Please note – this is a picture of the print painted up.
Ideas of 3D Models to Design & Customize in TinkerCAD – & Then 3D Print!
In this section are some ideas of things that you can design/create/customize yourself in TinkerCAD! We enjoy both the design aspects of 3D printing and the printing itself. So we would encourage you to try out both aspects as well. This is where you can exercise some creativity and get some satisfaction from actually building something from scratch! download, slice and then 3D print.
Here are some suggestions for some relatively easy ideas to for 3D models to design/create/customize, again – in order of difficulty.
1) YOUR Name: Go to TinkerCAD and just create your name in 3D letters. Then put it on a rectangular base – just so all the letters stay together. Manipulate it in various ways, have some fun, and then 3D print your own name! Please note: The letters in Gracie’s name are RAISED above the surface of the rectangle.
2) Name Tag/Key Chain: With this model – you will be creating your name in 3D – and then INVERTING it to a “HOLE” before embedding it into a rectangle or oval. Be careful not to put the hole all the way through the oval or rectangle if it will result in pieces of the letters in your name having no support or attachment. Then just add one more hole for the chain – and you’ve created a customized name tag or key chain! Please note: With this model the letters in Annie’s name are indented (embeded) into the oval.
3) The “ChoreDie”: Gracie built this from a simple die shape that is available in TinkerCAD and added each of the 4 children’s initials (and 2 stars) to it. We use it to help randomly assign a chore or treat to the kids. You need to INVERT the letters and stars to HOLES rather than adding them as shapes.
4) Your SIGNATURE: This one is a little more complicated – and there are actually a few ways you can accomplish it. I have an entire post that shows you step-by-step how to do this which you can find here: Step-by-step instructions of How to Create & Print a 3D Model of Your Signature!
5) Glow-in-the-Dark Ceiling Art: This is something fun for the kids! Find some FREE clip art of their favorite animal (team logo…) and create glow-in-the-dark ceiling art! the process is similar to that for creating a 3D model from your signature.
6) Company Logo: I work as a financial advisor and took a high-quality image of our company’s logo to create a 3D image. Again – the process is similar to that for the signature and ceiling art.
I hope you enjoy these ideas & have some success 3D printing them! I’m sure we will be adding to these lists and providing more details and step-by-step tutorials on how to accomplish some of the more challenging ideas.
Sincerely,
