3D printing for kids

A couple of weeks back, I had the opportunity to show a group of 8 year olds the magics of 3D printing. To make it even more exciting for them, I organized a small design competition, where they could win their own design printed in real!


The winning design was a very cute necklace designed by Sophie, that just makes you happy instantly.

The hard part was to turn her sketch into a printable object, while keeping the feel of the hand made sketch and the delicacy of the thin lines. Therefore, all the items were drawn instead of modeling a few and copying them. The necklace was printed at shapeways in a single run with a technique called laser sintering. During this process, small nylon particals are welded together using energy from a laser, where the product is built in very thin layers. In other words, the chain of figures is not assembled from separate pieces, but instead printed with the pieces connected.

Shown here printed in gorgeous ‘winter red’…