Loopy Garden Pots With Insert (using Tinkercad)

Design your own loopy garden pots and inserts using Tinkercad and the vase mode on your 3D printer.

Here I will show you how to design a pot in Tinkercad which will print with loop decorations. I will also show you how to make a pot insert that fits into the decorative pot perfectly.

Have fun playing with different designs for the garden :)

Lets start with the insert

Supplies

Access to a computer

Filament (PETG or ABS are better than PLA if you are going to use it outside)

Access to a 3D printer

Choose Your Pot Shape and Start Your Pot Insert

Choose a pot shape - avoid sudden, extreme changes in the z axis as your 3d printer willl struggle to print this in vase mode.

I have chosen a half sphere shape.

Open Tinkercad and add a sphere.

Increase the steps to the maximum - this givens you a smoother look

Increase the sphere in all axis to your desired pot size

Crop your sphere using 'hole' blocks to give a flat top and base

Pot Insert Continued....

Copy and paste your pot insert shape

With the second pot insert shape reduce the length by 8mm along the x and y axes and by 4mm along the z axis

Change the smaller pot into a 'hole'

Align the two shapes with x and y axes centred and the z axis aligned to the top

Select both shapes and group, this will create a hollow pot insert shape.

Now create some drainage holes for the bottom of the pot insert using 'hole' cylinders - I used four in a diamond shape.

This is your pot insert completed so export it as an stl file ready to slice and lets start the loopy pot

Create the Shape for Your Loopy Pot

Select the pot insert you have just made and ungroup twice to remove the drainage holes and the hollow inner.

You will now have a solid pot.

Increase the size of the solid by 8mm in all directions

This is your basic pot structure, next I will show you how to create the loops

Creating the Loops

To create the loops we use a series of cylinder shapes.

Add a cylinder, change the height to 0.6mm and the y axis length to approximately 20-50mm wider than your pot. I left the x axis at 20mm

Copy and paste the cylinder so you have 4 and rotate them in 45 degree increments

Align and group the cylinders to create a star

Now copy and paste the star so that you have 4 and move to the next step

Completing the Design of the Loopy Pot

Rotate the four stars in increments of 11.25 degrees (11.25, 22.5, 33.75)

Align the stars and group to create a sun :)

Copy the sun to create 5 suns and move each one up by 3mm to create a stack

Align and group the suns

Now position them on your pot at the height you would like the loops to be.

Check that there are gaps between each loop - if you can see all of the edge of the sun reduce the suns size until only the edges are poking through.

Align and group the stack and pot.

Your pot is now ready to slice - don't worry it is meant to be solid - the vase mode printing will create the hollows

For this illustrated design I did loops just at the top of the pot - you can experiment with where you want your loops and how big they are. Make sure you leave some space between each layer of loops to maintain the pots integrity. Have fun :)

Slicing Your Pot Insert

Import your pot insert into your slicer software and slice it as you normally would.

Export as a gcode ready to print

Now its time to slice your pot

Slicing Your Loopy Pot

Import your Loopy Pot into your slicer software

Set your slicer to vase mode (it may also be called spiral mode) and slice.

-Vase mode prints your model in one continuous spiral so will only print the outer edge of the model.

Now you can see how your Loopy Pot will look - make sure it has a solid base and no top layer. If you have any problems with your slicer send me a message?

You can also play with colours using filament changes if you wish, I would advise only changing colours during solid layers though - not on loop layers.

Once you are happy export your gcode and start printing

Loopy Garden Pots With Insert (using Tinkercad)