3D Printed Vase With 3D Pen Calligraphy

I designed a 3D printed vase with 3D lettering using a 3D pen. The intent was to create the illusion of the lettering supporting layers of the vase and a almost floating effect. The lettering on the vase is a note to my mom and dedication.

I used fusion to design my vase layers and supports and a 3D pen that acted as the lettering and also adhered my supports onto my forms.

From the moment I saw this reconstructed ceramic vase using a 3D pen, I was very inspired and was hoping that I could recreate this idea with a 3D printer and materials at my disposal. I am also very passionate about calligraphy and have been practicing it since I was younger so I wanted to figure out how to combine my love for calligraphy into my passion for design.

My next step I took to creating this design was sketching out my form and planning out how I am going to achieve this illusion. The hardest part was figuring out how I was going to support my design without the use of obvious supports. I went through many different design ideas, including a coil that spiraled up my design that had the dimensions of my layers and almost held them like a shelf which I hope to maybe one day accomplish.

I then took my ideas to fusion and started playing around with the tools and different vase shapes until I landed on this almost bowl like idea. So, for the bottom I sketched a part of the bowl, then used the revolve tool to make it round. For the middle I flipped the bowl upside down and created a hold going through the center. And lastly for the top, I created another sketch with the shape that I wanted the top to look like, then used the revolve tool as well. Then I exported all my files into STL files and sent them to the 3D Printers. The bottom took about 6 hours to print, same with the middle, and the top took about 2 hours.

As you can see here, all my pieces printed pretty successfully, I then began experimenting with the 3D pen to see how to best accomplish my idea. I decided on this write first then use the 3D pen to adhere to my 3D pieces technique. After I wrote the words, the 3D filament dried almost immediately, and once it was dry I scraped it off of the laminated paper material I was writing on and it became very stiff, but I was still able to bend it in a convenient way to curve around my bowl. Then I attached the supports the the base using the 3D pen as the glue and worked my lettering around these supports to cover them as best as possible, and attaching all the lettering as I progress and also used them as a guide to connect to my lettering for added support. I also did some writing directly onto my forms, just to add a little bit more detail to the 3D pieces as I thought they were a little bit bland and lacked character.

I think it turned out very nice! I like how the lettering is almost spiraling up, and I think I achieved what I set out to do. Because of the thin supports, the invisible effect plays out pretty nicely and the layers do look like they're floating. It is pretty delicate however, and fragile, because the 3D pen is not as strong as I expected, but the design still holds together pretty nicely. I have always been very passionate about calligraphy but could never really figure out how to incorporate this artistic outlet into a design, but I achieved it this time! I also had this really cool lighting effect that almost projects the words onto the walls, and maybe my vase can be a lantern.