Category: 3D Printing

Salt Cellar

Posted on by LittleChip

 

Here is a salt cellar — a dish to hold salt. It’s useful when you’re cooking and the recipe calls for a 1/4 t. of salt. You don’t have to walk to the pantry and haul out the 1 lb. box with the awkward metal opening (who invented that anyways!?) and try to pour out 1/4 t. Or you can put it on the table if someone wants to add a pinch to their meal.

I normally consider 3D printing to not be food safe, because the ridges create crevices for bacteria and other gunk to hide. But bacteria would be desiccated by the salt, so this would seem to be a safe project.

I got inspired to put a crystal on the top. It’s both decorative and useful as a handle to pull off the top. The top fits snugly, due to three ridges printed on the inside of closure.

In British English, a salt cellar is what we Americans call a salt shaker — a container with holes on the top. They might call this a “salt pig,” which is a dish for salt, but a salt pig is usually made of clay to keep the salt dry in humid climates.

Sprinkle it on the meal, sprinkle it on the popcorn, … we love salt.  Salt has guided human history.  Sprinkle on!

Mezuzah

Posted on by LittleChip

My partner requested a mezuzah for our front door and asked that it have a modern design with, perhaps, the tree of life.  The mezuzah holds a calligraphed scroll, and one should be able to open the mezuzah and inspect the scroll for damage.

My starting point for the design was a plug that would be at the bottom end.  I could have 3D printed the plug, but I decided to go with a commercially available 8mm stopper (link below).  The main body is one piece designed to keep out the rain.  The decorative sleeve with the tree motif slides over the main body.  The body and sleeve can be printed in whatever color combinations you like.  I printed two versions — one with light and dark wood-PLA and one that is black-and-gold PLA.  I also rendered a blue-and-white version using CAD software (Fusion 360).

We haven’t decided whether the wood-PLA or the black-and-gold will look better on our front door.  I’ll post the final picture after it’s in place.

The mezuzah file is posted at Thingiverse.

Here is where I would have posted a link to the plugs, but they are not currently listed on Amazon.  They are “Yoohey 100pcs Plastic Locking Hole Plugs Black 8mm.”  They will probably reappear on Amazon or Alibaba.  If you’re really stuck, drop me a line.  I have 99 plugs left over and would be glad to put one in an envelope to you.

Angled view of black and gold mezuzah with plug. Plug has side snipped to fit against body tightly.

Bicycle Christmas Ornament

Posted on by LittleChip

My partner is a cycling enthusiast, so a bicycle ornament was just the thing to add to the Christmas tree.  Here it is decorating our outside foliage (’cause we don’t have our tree up inside, yet!).  Print it slowly.  I used Cura’s ironing setting to fill in any small gaps on the top layer (25% flow during ironing).  Jingle, jingle!

File is posted over at Thingiverse.

Wingspan

Posted on by LittleChip
Wingspan Egg and Food Organizer
Wingspan Egg and Food Organizer
Wingspan – The Game
Birdhouse Player Pieces
Birdhouse Player Pieces

We love the game!  170 unique bird cards, plus more in the European expansion.  Eggs.  Worms.  Berries.  Oh, my.

But what board game can’t use a little upgrade?  Here’s my solution, including egg and food organizer plus birdhouse player markers.

The organizer is my design.  The birdhouses are from Thingiverse.

Happy birding!

Tile Holder for Castles of Mad King Ludwig

Posted on by LittleChip
Overall layout of the game with the new tile holders in place
Game box showing how the tile holders fit into the box for storage and transport
Game box showing how the tile holders fit into the box for storage and transport
Placing the tile holder for the large tiles on the cardboard layout lets the cobblestone pattern come through
Shows minimalist tile holder. Strong enough to be functional with as little plastic as practical.
Minimalist tile holder is strong enough to hold the tiles, but with unnecessary plastic hollowed out.
Placing the tile holder for the small tiles on the cardboard layout lets the cobblestone pattern come through
Shows overall layout. Good finger access to the tiles.
Shows overall layout. Good finger access to the tiles.

Castles of Mad King Ludwig:  Love the game.  Hate the baggies.

Good King Ludwig must have gone mad from all the baggies the game manufacturer expects you to use to sort and hold the tile pieces.  Here is my solution.  These two trays support the tile stacks from falling over when playing the game.  Then they fit into the box for easy storage and transport.

A key design principle was good finger access — no digging for the pieces.  The lettering at the bottom of the stacks lifts the bottom pieces slightly up, so it doesn’t get stuck to the tray.

I prefer a minimalist approach to plastic. Less is more. Cutouts in the base reduce plastic usage and, when placed on the original cardboard layout, let the cobblestone pattern show through.

Game on!

STL files can be found over on Thingiverse.

IKEA Racka Endcap

Posted on by LittleChip

We love IKEA.  Creative, durable products at a great price.  We never have trouble with parts missing from our purchases, so we were really surprised to find an endcap missing from a räcka curtain rod.  I could have contacted IKEA.  They have great customer service and probably could have sent me a replacement, but where’s the sport in that?  Much more interesting to design and print my own repair.

The endcap is a simple plug, with a threaded hole for the finial to attach.  The plug has a small bump along the cylinder that helps hold it in place

Of course, I forgot that every rod has two diameter rods — an inner rod nests within the outer rod, so that the total length is adjustable.  I was missing the cap for the larger rod, but the first time through I took measurements of the inside, smaller rod.  So here are the replacement parts for both.  STL files are posted at Thingiverse.  (WordPress doesn’t allow me to upload STL files.)  Next step: design and print some more interesting finials.  Moose antlers, anyone?

IKEA Racka
Missing endcap
Racka rod with simple finial
Replacement endcaps

 

Chessmen of Mars Chess Set

Posted on by LittleChip

There are a hundred chess set designs on Thingiverse, but this one called out to me.  I’m not a chess player, but shouldn’t every household have a chess set?

I love the aesthetic, which according to its designer, Prot0typ1cal, is based on the artwork of Frank Frazetta’s illustrations for Edgar Rice Burrough’s 1922 classic “The Chessmen of Mars,” a volume in his “John Carter” series.

John Carter is famous (infamous?) as the worst-ever sci-fi movie, an award I’m sure could be debated.  To judge for myself, I had to rent and watch it.  I can see why John Carter failed at the box office.  I only wish that the producers of The Phantom Menace had seen it, too, and they never would have created Jar Jar Binks.

The chess pieces have terrific detail.  Not sure if the designer created the font, too, but each piece is labeled on its pedestal in a unique Martian-esque font.  I was really pleased that even my cheapo printer reproduced the fine features.

This is a big print and took a month or more, printing out the components one or two each night.  Each chess piece is several components that connect with a 1/4-20 screw.  I ended up buying a range of lengths:  3/4″, 1″, 1 1/4″, and 1 1/2″ to accommodate the various heights.

Every chess set need a chess board, right?  So I also printed a puzzle board for it, but I have to say that the plastic-on-plastic play is not a good feel to me.  I prefer to use the wooden version.

Link to my Thingiverse Make post for the chess set.

Chess Set on Wooden Board
Orange Chess Set
Orange Chief
Orange Princess
Orange Flier
Orange Thoat
Orange Dwar
Orange Panthan
Orangemen
Black Chess Set
Black Chief
Black Princess
Black Flier
Black Thoat
Black Dwar
Black Panthan
Chess Set on the Puzzle Board
Chess Set on Wooden Board
Chess Set on the Puzzle Board
Chessmen of Mars

3D-Printed Patio Table Vase

Posted on by LittleChip

I am thrilled with this 3D-printed creation.  My patio table has a hole in the center for an umbrella, but we have an umbrella that stands off to the side and overhangs the table.  A main advantage of the side umbrella is that there is no pole to obstruct your view of the people on the other side of the table.

The same goes for a vase of flowers.  Wouldn’t it be great to have a lovely floral display at your table without having it block your view of your dining companions?  Here’s the perfect solution:  A vase that fits into the hole in the table center!

Additional benefits:

  • It’s really easy to create the display because the vase doesn’t fall over.  Stick it in the hole, add some water, and start adding your blooms.
  • No chance of it tipping over — it’s recessed.
  • It fills that ugly hole in the center of your table!

This is a silly no-brainer.  Why hasn’t somebody invented this before?  Oops.  Somebody did.  It just never took off, I guess.

I’ve been filling it up each week with stuff from the garden.  It’s the end of the season, so there’s not much out there, but we still manage to find enough color to liven up the table.  I know the photos don’t have many traditional flowers.  I should explain our gardening theory is to tend “weeds we like.”  Hey, they grow well.  If they have flowers, bonus!

I designed it using FreeCAD.  It’s a sloped cylinder with a rim that prevents it from falling through.  The rim is also sloped to enable better printing (doesn’t need supports).

Flowers Week #2
Flowers Week #3
Table with Flowers
Flowers Week #1
3D-printed vase
3D-printed vase
1996 Patent
Vase Sideview

Venus Box

Posted on by LittleChip

I am delighted with this print of Prot0typ1cal’s Venus Box from Thingiverse.  It is truly amazing that folks post such well-considered designs for the rest of us to download and print.  Humanity’s creativity is truly endless.

Venus Box
Venus Box

I posted my make of it on Thingiverse, too.  

If you’re interested in the details:

  • Printer:  Monoprice Mini Select v2
  • Filament:  Hatchbox 0.175mm PLA, Orange and Grey
  • Step Height:  0.1mm
  • Supports:  None needed