Category: 3D Printing

LED Mushrooms

Today I’m sharing a super fun project that I collaborated on with a bartender friend of mine. He asked me to make a set of illuminated mushroom drink menus inspired by Alice in Wonderland. The idea is that he presents a mushroom, and when the recipient lifts the cap, text is revealed, letting them know which drink they are about to get. I modified Wuguigui’s free mushroom desk lamp files and added a battery-powered LED circuit to create this easy glowing 3D printing project.

Supplies:

The mushroom lamp design on Printables had to be modified because it uses an incandescent light fixture, but it’s such a lovely design that I chose to build on top of it rather than recreate something similar. The white dots are printed separately from the top dome, and the two main pieces screw together with their integrated threads. 

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Cat TV with Raspberry Pi

Today we’re building a mini television for cats. My cat Benchley loves watching TV. It’s really a mini computer, since I’m using a Raspberry Pi to play YouTube on a little HDMI screen. Let’s get started.

Thanks to DigiKey for supplying the materials for this project! Their boxes make great cat beds.

Materials and supplies:

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How to Keep Your 3D Printer Filament Dry

Storing filament properly is important for the quality of your prints. It will absorb moisture from the air, which will sizzle and pop as it passes through your printer’s hot end, causing blobs, under extrusion, and other defects.

Back in 2017, I showed you how to make a filament dry box, and while that’s a great project, a lot has changed since then and I want to update you on my current filament storage methods, and share some of my favorite things to print along the way.

The simplest and cheapest way to store filament spools is in plastic bags with a packet of silica gel. New spools come this way, but only some manufacturers use ziptop bags that you can reuse. Gallon freezer bags will do the trick, but the chonkier spools will be a tight fit, so to make them keep their seal for as long as possible, tape up the edges of the zipper.

Supplies:

Files mentioned in the video:

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Mermaid LED Hair

I’ve wanted to make a mermaid hair accessory since Dianna Cowern and I met in 2018. This is her idea, but she’s incapacitated by long COVID.

So I’m making this project with my hair and makeup artist, Hinano Leung, and sending our love to Dianna in spirit.

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6 Easy DIY 3D Printing Projects

It’s roundup time! If you’re a longtime fan, you might remember some of these 3D printing projects from my channel. If you’re new, consider this a guided tour of some of my best.

1. Dust Port Adapter

Let’s start with a project that will come in handy if you have power tools with a different brand dust collector: a dust port adapter! These are great for keeping all that excess sawdust from getting everywhere. It’s extremely useful, prints super fast, and hardly uses any filament.

You can check out my full video on that project here.

2. LED Mason Jar Lanterns

These LED mason jars are kinda magical. When lit up, these little jars transform into warm and inviting orbs. The 3D print holds the circuit in place and you can customize them in a bunch of different ways.

Watch the video for more information.

3. DIY Candle Mold

Now, let’s try something totally different. This next project is a candle mold that you can 3D print. It’s perfect for making candles in any shape you want. This method works surprisingly well, and custom candles make great gifts.

Here‘s the full video!

4. Filament Dry Box

Once you’ve been 3D printing for a while, you will inevitably acquire a stash of filament, and you may want to start looking into filament storage solutions. Well, take this as a sign to build your own 3D printer filament dry box. This customized storage bin will keep your filament from getting damp and ruining your prints. The off-the-shelf components work with some 3D-printed parts to bring this project together quickly.

Watch the full video here.

5. Glowing LED Flower

Next, make this glowing LED flower. The stem shape holds a battery and the 10mm LED supports the flower’s petals. You can optionally use needle felting to change up the texture as well as diffuse the LED.

Check out the video.

6. Light-Up Kaleidoscope

And last but not least, here’s an awesome LED kaleidoscope made from 3D printed parts. To get started, download the files my friend Debra designed and watch our video to learn how to put it all together using wireless LEDs.

So there you have it – my top six easy DIY 3D printing projects. I hope you have as much fun making these projects as I did. Thanks for watching and happy 3D printing!

3D Printed Light-Up Kaleidoscope

Today we’re building an LED kaleidoscope. This 3D-printed project comes together with no glue or fasteners and contains wireless LEDs to create fun patterns. The inductive power coil lives in the base.

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I didn’t design this kaleidoscope– My friend Debra Ansell from Geek Mom Projects did. You can check out her tutorial to see more information about this project, access the files to make your own, or browse Debra’s other projects. You can also follow her on social media @geekmomprojects.

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Remember the Whee-Lo? Makers Secret Santa 2022

This year I pulled This Old Tony‘s name for Makers Secret Santa. I was inspired by Tony’s love of benders and bending, and built him a toy from my childhood in the shape of a letter T. It’s got a magnetic spinning device that rides along the wire, and these little bends provide a turnaround point so you can, with practice, get the spinner to move continuously along the track.

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Portable Soldering Station

Here’s how to make a portable soldering station with a USB iron and a battery pack. I’ve 3D printed some sides for a plain stand that turns it into a storage box for the soldering iron and solder.

The TS80P smart soldering iron is super tiny but packs a ton of features. It’s got a little OLED screen, adjustable temperature, customizable firmware, and comes apart to get even tinier.

You need to power it with USB-C, either with an AC adapter or a beefy backup battery.

I picked a full-size soldering iron stand for three reasons:

  1. I am super clumsy and therefore never liked the mini stands, which leave the iron exposed not only to my flailing arms but to other things on the desk. I prefer an enclosed design to prevent burning myself or the things around me.
  2. The full-size stand has a brass sponge for cleaning the tip, which I’ve been spoiled by at home and therefore can’t live without.
  3. The open space in the middle will fit all the things I need to carry in a portable kit.

Supplies:

You can get all these supplies, even the 3D printing filament, at Digi-Key, the sponsor of this project. They carry all kinds of soldering supplies, backup batteries, and other tools, and they ship super fast. Here are the specific items I used to build this project.

Check out this project on Maker.io.

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3D Enclosure and Felt Knobs for the Bitty

The Bitty is a pocket drum machine by Curious Sound Objects. I 3D printed an enclosure to help it sit flat on the table, and I encased the knobs in felt so they are soft and squishy.

Thanks to Digi-Key for sponsoring this video!

Supplies & Tools

For this project, in addition to a Bitty, you will need:

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I used Tinkercad to sketch out my idea, which is basically a box the same shape as the Bitty, with openings for the switches and knobs. It’s flat on the front to print with that side to the build plate. I punched out the Curious Sound Objects logo from the speaker area. You can grab the file on Tinkercad.

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