Have you ever snapped your name badge in half? Have you ever broken the plastic piece that connects the badge to the key ring and have needed to get a entire new badge? Are you just plain tired of having a name badge that doesn't really express who you are?

Well this 3D printed name badge holder was built exactly to remedy these problems. I broke my name badge and wanted a more original way to both carry my badge and show who I am in the work place.

Step 1: Gather Your Materials

Items Needed:

1. A 3D printer

2. A computer

3. Access to the internet

4. Plastic for the 3D printer

Tools Needed:

1. Scraper tool for removing printed name badge from build plate

Step 2: Getting Logged Into Tinkercad and Creating the First Orbit

Start up your computer and head on over to tinkercad.com. Create your account and click "create new design" in the top left; this will bring up a blank workplane. This is the work space where you will create the atomic name badge. Some quick things to note, on the right side is where you can find the basic shapes that will be used in this instructable. Towards the top left you can find an orientation box, you can click this to quickly move around the 3D object, or by using the left mouse button and by pressing the scroll tool you can rotate around an object or shift the workplane respectively.

Once you have your blank workplane pulled up, click and drag a Box from the Basic Shapes on the right over to the workplane. By clicking the white boxes in the corners, you can adjust the length and width to 88.0 mm and 56.5 mm respectively. You will then want to adjust the height to 2.5 mm using the white box somewhat suspended close to the middle of the cube. This should produce a thin rectangle, just a little bigger than the average size of a credit card.

Step 3: Adding the First Loop

Take a tube from the basic shapes on the left and give it the dimensions 120 mm x 21 mm. You then want to change the wall thickness to 1.5. Then select both the rectangle and the tube by clicking and sliding the rectangle over the top, or by holding down the shift key and selecting both items.

Clicking "L" on your keyboard, will open the alignment tool. You want to align in both the x and y axis, but not the z axis (or the axis that runs through the top and bottom of the work space) Once aligned, you can change the object to a hole. This will create a neatly cut out loop that extends above the and below the rectangle. Next, select the tube and rectangle and duplicate both of them (copy and paste works). Group the originals together by selecting both objects and using the keyboard shortcut ctrl - g. Then change the duplicate hole to a solid. Adjust the size of the duplicate rectangle to 52.5 mm x 84.0 mm. Align the duplicates along their x and y axis. Then change the duplicate rectangle to a hole and group, creating two arcs that are mirror images of each other. You will then group the arcs with the original rectangle and hole. This will create the first orbital path, and also the piece where you can attach your key chain ring.

Step 4: Repeating Step 3 With a Slight Modification

Again, insert a tube, giving the same dimensions as the first: 120 mm x 21 mm and a wall thickness of 1.5. Select the tube, and then select the rotate arrow. Rotate this tube 15 degrees counter clock wise. Then while the object is still selected, duplicate the object. Then select the duplicate object and use the keyboard shortcut "m" to flip the object and create two tubes that are mirror images of each other.

From here, follow the same process as in step 3, duplicating the rings, making them into holes, creating another rectangle to create the arcs, and then grouping the entire image together creating a rectangle with multiple orbits.

Step 5: Fixing the Loops With Cylinders

Insert a cylinder with the dimensions 3 mm x 3 mm x 2.5 mm. You will then duplicate this cylinder and place it on all spots where the cut out lines cross in an x shape.

Insert another cylinder with the dimensions 5 mm x 5 mm x 2.5 mm. This cylinder will be placed on all the other remaining crossing lines where the smaller cylinder could not cover all corners. Group all these cylinders and the main badge design together to create one piece.

Step 6: Creating the Space for the Card

For this next part, start by creating another rectangle with dimensions 54.5 mm x 86 mm x 1 mm. Make it into a hole and then align it centered with the original rectangle and atomic orbit on all axis (x,y,and z). This will create an invisible hole that the card will be placed in during printing.

Next create one more rectangle, this one with dimensions 52.5 mm x 84 mm x 1 mm. Change this to a hole as well. When aligning this one to the rectangle orbital object, align it centered with respect to the x and y axis. However, for the z axis align to the top of the shape. This will create the window that the card face can be seen through. Now the entirety of the card holder has been created, it is now time to move onto printing.

Step 7: Export the Object and Print

Export the object from tinkercad using the "export" button in the top right corner. After exporting, load the file onto the individual software you use to send files to your personal 3D printer.

Export to the printer and then watch the magic happen as it prints. One essential point for this design is that as the printer prints the object, you will need to add in a pause so that you can add your card before it completes the print. This design completely seals the card into the case, creating a protective shell that will need to be broken if you ever needed to remove the card.