3D Printed Disk Blaster Toy

I am a student at San Jose State University and I decided to model a toy disk blaster for the Make it Fly contest. Modeling toys has always been of great interest to me in hopes of reducing plastic waste. Rather than buying toys that are produced in vast quantities (and often sent to the landfill), I thought it would be great if individuals could pick an open source design to create on demand. This would cut down on excessive production of toys and associated polluting elements.

Rough Design Process:

I began by deciding a disk size (46mm) and working around that.

The toys I've used in the past seemed to launch the disk with a squeeze so I figured thinness and a flexible body would be required. While I've used bending designs in the past this would be my first time designing it myself.

My first few versions had sharp corners which made the disk often catch or launch awkwardly. To amend this I had the ends contacting the disk replaced with a rounded cylinder shape.

The greatest improvement to my design was the addition of the ridges to the disk projectile. This allowed for some energy to build up during a squeeze rather than awkwardly flopping out 🗿.

1) 3D Printer

2) PLA filament or similar

Because we want a flexible body, it is important to set your printer such that the bending portion is all walls. Having the filament printed this way will help increase the flexibility and longevity of your toy. It takes a bit over an hour to make one set and 30 minutes for the disk alone. A set is only 25 cents of filament.

I emphasize printability in my designs so that there's little to no post-processing. I find that working up tension lets the disk shoot out at a satisfyingly fast speed :)