New Hampshire Christmas Ornament

This instructable was made for the 3D printed ornament challenge, which I learned of through my engineering drawing teacher. She asked me to make something that reflected our state (New Hampshire) so I thought that the best way to do so would be making the ornament itself in the shape of the Granite State. The pendant in the middle is meant to spin, so take advantage of dual extrusion. I don't have any pictures of the print yet since my school's 3D printer jammed, and I'm fixing it right now. Expect the pictures to go up by Friday though, and use the render as a reference until then.

You'll need the following

> 3D printer

> PLA filament (1.75mm)

> piano wire

> very thin glue

> Sand paper

Optional

> paint for the candy cane and maple leaf

Print the ornament using PLA filament. I suggest using a 3 shells, .225mm layers, and 35%-40% infill. Then set the extruder at 230C and the build plate at 30C. This is slightly above room temperature and prevents the filament from being dragged around. Speed should be 140mm/s while traveling and 80mm/s while extruding (I'm not certain but I'll double check tomorrow). You should also be using blue painter's tape on the build plate, not Kapton tape. Kapton tape is best with ABS only. I use a Makerbot Replicator (original), so settings might be different for other printers.

Now take some sandpaper and smooth out any rough edges, as well as the lamination on the edges. DO NOT put it in acetone; many people say that this will smooth it out, but PLA is insoluble in acetone and will just make a mess. You'll also want to put the piano wire in now. Take the wire and slip it through the hole, then put a small glue bead below the snow flake, so it can rotate. Make sure that the pendant doesn't become glued to wire. Next, glue the end of the piano wire at the base to keep it from falling out.Remember, the snow flake is supposed to spin and the piano wire is the axis, so don't glue everything together.

If you would like, you could use acrylic paint to give the candy cane a more festive feel. This isn't necessary though since I twisted the sweep to give it a spiraling texture.

You can now hang your wonderful new ornament on a hardy evergreen tree that probably came from New Hampshire. Enjoy the holidays, and make sure to vote for this in the "3D Ornament Challenge".

P.S. If you have any questions regarding how I made this, feel free to contact me. You should also know that the inventor professional file I gave is compatible with solid works.