3d Printed Clock Design - Using Blender

Overview

A customisable 3d printed clock with interchangeable faces and numbers. I designed the clock using Blender and used SVG patterns available online to add to the design.

I am not going into too much detail in this article about the processes in Blender (use of modifiers etc). Everything I have learnt to be able to design this has been searchable online and YouTube tutorials have been my number 1 resource.

Supplies

Blender (and a basic knowledge of how it works)
Your favourite slicing software
3d Printer

Creating the face

I created the face using a simple circular mesh and paid attention to how many segments there were in order for it to be divisible by 12 for the number of hours on a clock face.

The pattern was created by raising certain segments using the extrude tool.

Creating the numbers

I used the array tool and pivot around the origin to create the next cylinders that display the numbers on the clock face. I wanted them to be individual pieces so that the user can choose their desired colour.

I have made multiple versions of the numbers available:

Cylinders with raised numbers (this is useful if you want the numbers to stand out, especially if you use a colour change in your slicer - more on that later)
Cylinders with embossed numbers for a more subtle look
Cylinders with no number displayed.

Importing and using an SVG

In order to find a repeatable pattern for the face of the clock I searched for SVG files. There is a great website called Hero Patterns where you can download them for free.

Import your desired SVG file into blender.
Use the scale, mirror and array tools to make it cover the area you need.
Convert the SVG into a mesh in order to integrate with your other meshes.
Use the Boolean tool to join the SVG pattern mesh to your clock face.

Tolerances

Now with everything ready to be exported for print we need to think about scaling and tolerances.

I used the boolean tool to cut the number cylinders into the clock face so they can be glued in place when printed.

If you have designed anything with multiple parts before you will know that this is not enough and we need to provide a tiny gap (usually 0.2mm in my experience) for the parts to fit together snuggly.

I decided not to include this tolerance in the Blender file but instead scale all the number cylinders down slightly when exporting the STL files (to about 99%, so not much). This will allow them to fit snuggly into the cut recesses.

Slicing

Whilst designing this clock face, I knew people would want to customise their colours so the heights of parts have been decided carefully.

You can add colour changes at different levels to make sure the SVG design stands out.

I added colour changes in PrusaSlicer at certain layers and this will allow me to feed new filament into the machine while the print process is ongoing.

The mid-print photo shows how the layer colour changes work.

Printed Parts

I chose to print mine in a gold/yellow colour combination because I really love the satin finish of these filaments.

Gold filament available on amazon here.

Yellow filament available on amazon here.

Assembly

To assemble this clock face you will need to glue parts together so pay attention at getting the numbers perfectly straight.

I ordered an extremely cheap clock mechanism from amazon here: link. This pack gives you a lot of options with hands depending on your desired style. The installation couldn't be simpler with just a few washers and one nut to tighten the mechanism to the face.