After making my collapsing tree ball ornaments this week I could not help but create these. It seemed like just such a natural thing to do and several people asked for them. Basically, numbered tree balls so you can make your tree into an advent calendar-style game for your loved ones.

Of course, you will need a multi-filament printer (AMS) to make these. Once printed the balls simply fold open and closed to collapse or conceal a prize that you put inside.

The balls are 3.0″ (76mm) in diameter. I have made the balls from number 00 to 24.

The balls are 100% 3D printed and no hardware, fasteners, or adhesives are required.

Good simple fun. But give yourself lots of time to print them!

Printing

Your default slicer settings should be ok with the design except for a few minor adjustments. For sure you need to enable Arachne (automatic if you are using Cura) and also consider setting Walls Seams to random to avoid a seem.

Here are my recommended settings:

• Material: PLA
• Nozzle: 0.4mm
• Layer Height: 0.2mm
• Line Width: 0.4mm
• Wall Count: 2 (0.8mm)
• Top and Bottom Layer Count: Minimum 3
• Detect Thin Walls: ON
• Infill: 0%
• Ironing: Not required
• Brim: No, should not be needed. But if you are having trouble you can enable it – but it will create a lot of extra post-print processing for you to do.
• Support: No
• Wall Generator: Arachne
• Detect Thin Lines: Yes
• Wall Seams: Random (to avoid a seam)
• PRINT ORIENTATION: As illustrated and as per 3MF files

Post Print Processing and Assembly Notes

After printing the ball sections can be difficult to separate for the first time. Using a thin flat and flexible blade like a feeler gauge works excellently to “unstick” the parts.

Rotation of the sections of the balls may be slightly more difficult the first time you attempt it. Take your time to twist the balls open and closed until the parts move easily. There are slight detents at the full opened positions to help keep the balls opened in equal proportions.

Also, note the 3 sections of each ball can be fully separated if needed to help clean and smooth them. Just squish the inner section to pull it out and then the next one. Squish them slightly to return them.

The post Advent Tree Ball Ornaments first appeared on logicalplanet.

As you know… I like to make functional things and I know it is a bit of a stretch to call a tree ornament functional but I think this is it. Collapsible and nestable tree ornaments!! I mean who doesn’t need to make their Christmas ornament storage more compact? And, these balls look awesome!

Not only can you print this version of Christmas tree ball ornaments, but they are super compact when collapsed so that you can put them away in a much smaller container than typically needed. Also, because they can be nested for storage, they can also be nested for printing meaning they are faster and easier to print in multiples.

So far, I have made 3 sizes pre-nested so you can drop them on the build plate and print. The balls are printed almost entirely of 0.8mm walls (2 wall thicknesses)making them durable and extremely light. The sizes and masses are as follows:
3.0″ (76mm) = 24g
2.4″ (61mm) = 16g
1.8″ (46mm) = 8

And, also, since the balls are hollow and open/close-able, you can hide treats or surprises inside them while on the tree (or wherever you hang them). Now that is just fun!

The balls are 100% 3D printed and no hardware, fasteners, or adhesives are required. Just add ribbon, string or hooks to attach to the tree.

Printing

These are super lightweight and print with a negligible amount of infill. So basically your print settings can be set to default except for a few notes…

This product was designed for a 0.4mm nozzle, a 0.2mm layer height and the following settings:

• Material: PLA
• Line Width: 0.4mm
• Wall Count: 2 (0.8mm)
• Top and Bottom Layer Count: Minimum 3
• Detect Thin Walls: ON
• Infill: 0%
• Ironing: Not required
• Brim: No, a version of the model is included with a single brim to help print stability if needed
• Support: No
• Wall Generator: Arachne
• Detect Thin Lines: Yes
• Wall Seams: Random (to avoid a seam)
• PRINT ORIENTATION: As per the STL file

Post Print Processing and Assembly Notes

After printing the sections can be difficult to separate for the first time. Using a thin flat and flexible blade like a feeler gauge works excellently to “unstick” the parts.

Rotation of the sections of the balls may be slightly more difficult the first time you attempt it. Take your time to twist the balls open and closed until the parts move easily. There are slight detents at the full opened positions to help keep the balls opened in equal proportions.

Also, note the 3 sections of each ball can be fully separated if needed to help clean and smooth them. Just squish the inner section to pull it out and then the next one. Squish them slightly to return them.

The post Collapsible Nesting Tree Balls first appeared on logicalplanet.

This one is so much fun… give someone a present they can’t open until you give them the code. This gift box has an integrated lock system with a 4-dial combination, each dial offering numbers from 0 to 9. Which means there are 10,000 possible combinations.  You can secure your gift and share the passcode at the perfect moment—whether it’s on Christmas morning, a birthday, or another special occasion.

No more sneaky peeks into presents before the big day! This gift box is as practical as it is fun, adding an extra layer of anticipation to gift-giving.

The entire lock system is incorporated into the lid of the gift box. The four outside “ribbons” on the top of the box are each a lock dial. You use those to the combination code which opens the box. Since there are 10,000 possible combinations you need to know it to open it. Then once the correct code is entered via those ribbons, the central ribbon can be turned to release the lid from the gift box body.

The main box of the gift box is quite simple and only has the snap-on ribbons to complement the box. At the top lip of the box are rectangular holes which receive the lock latches from the lid.

Everything is printed and no hardware or fasteners are required. You can change the lock combination anytime and over and over again.

The inside of the gift box is approximately 13cm (5″) cubed.

If you want to understand how it works or assemble one, please check out my video linked at the top.

Printing

Functional designs (such as this one) generally require more strength than non-functional designs and more strength than the typical default slicer settings provide, so please review your slicer settings carefully.

This product was designed for a 0.4mm nozzle, a 0.2mm layer height and the following settings:

• Wall Line Count = 4 ( 4 x 0.4mm = 1.6mm walls )
• Top and Bottom Layer Count = 5 ( 5 x 0.2mm = 1.0mm top and bottom )
• Infill = 40%, Cubic
• Detech Thin Walls = ON
• Ironing = OFF (not needed)
• Support = All required support is designed into this product
• Brim = NO (a brim can complicate details of print-in-place parts and parts printed close together – If you have to use a brim, set it to “outside only”)
• MATERIAL: PLA or PETG (any material should work fine)
• PRINT ORIENTATION: As per the STL files

Assembly Notes

There is a large piece of support incorporated into the Lid design. Please remove that after printing. This support requires that “Detect Thin Walls” is enabled in your slicer.

Once all the parts are printed I strongly recommend you view my video for assembly instructions.

The post Combination Lock Gift Box first appeared on logicalplanet.

I decided I needed to make some gift boxes and this is the first one. I think it is fun and entertaining but functional at the same time. This box locks and there is no key to open it. But you do need to know the secret… centrifugal force.

A series of weights inside the lid slide freely back and forth based on the boxes orientation (and gravity). Randomly at least one will always be forward (towards the centre of the lid). And, as long as one is forward, the lid can not be opened. So the secret is to spin the box which creates a centrifugal force moving all the weights to the outside (away from the centre). This frees up the centre sprocket to spin which the bow on top of the gift box is turned.

The ribbons and bow as well as all of the smaller mechanical parts print separately so you can colour the gift box however you want and do not need an AMS.

Inside the box is approximately 11cm x 11cm x 11cm (4.3″ x 4.3″ x 4.3″).

I have included some exploded diagrams to help show the inner workings but ultimately my video is needed to demonstrate how to build it.

On the main box, the side ribbons snap/lock into place and can not be removed once installed. This was intentional so that the user does not feel tempted to try to enter the gift box by any other means than the removal of the lid.

Printing

Your default slicer settings should be ok with the design except for the pegs and the hinge components. I recommend printing those with thicker walls and 100% infill for added strength.

This product was designed for a 0.4mm nozzle, a 0.2mm layer height and the following settings:

• Wall Line Count = 2 ( 2 x 0.4mm = 0.8mm walls )
• Top and Bottom Layer Count = 3 ( 3 x 0.2mm = 0.6mm top and bottom )
• Material = PLA or PETG (any material should work)
• Line width = 0.4mm
• Wall count = minimum 2 (0.8mm)
• Top and Bottom Layer Count = minimum 3
• Infill = 15%
• Detect Thin Walls = ON (this is IMPORTANT)
• Ironing = Not required
• Brim = NO (a brim can complicate details of print-in-place parts and parts printed close together – but you can add it if needed)
• Support = No
• PRINT ORIENTATION: As per STL files

Assembly Notes

Print support is incorporated into the lid (as illustrated) so be sure to remove that before attempting to assemble the gift box.

Assembly itself is fairly intuitive but I defer to my video rather than attempting to illustrate it step by step.

The post Spin Release Gift Box first appeared on logicalplanet.