I have recently embarked on a journey to create a flip cup trophy. A few years removed from college my friends and I occasionally re-live the past with a guys vs girls flip cup challenge. I figure what could add more excitement to our booze filled competition than the idea of bringing home a souvenir for your mantle until the next party. And can there be a better medium for such a custom project than my 3d printer?

CAD: Solidworks

3D printer: Solidoodle 4

3D filiment: ABS

Step 1: Modeling

A flip cup trophy would never be complete without a plastic cup in the design. So I grabbed some quick measurements using a pair of calipers to model the ubiquitous red plastic cup. A fun trick I have shown is to zero out the calipers on the desk, and by holding the lower arm of the calipers I have a make shift height gauge.

Step 2: Add Hardware to Design (1)

One problem I have with my design is it has negative draft and is impossible to print with my printer. So I will make the trophy in 2 pieces.

Super glue works well with both ABS and PLA but I like to use nuts and bolts whenever possible.

I have measured a regular 1/4-20 hex nut and designed a cavity for it to fit into the top half of my trophy. I generally use about .015" per side for a light press fit.

Step 3: Add Hardware to Design (2)

Part of the fun of 3d printing is it opens your design up to otherwise impossible geometry. One thing I like to do is to embed the hex nuts into the part during the print. (see my hexnut embedded instructable for more info)

Because my hex nut will be at an angle compared to the rest of the part I have extended the cavity for the hex nut so when I pause the print I can fit the hex nut in.

Step 4: Scoreboard

I have decided to add a scoreboard to each side of the trophy for tallying how many nights the battles of the sexes has been won.

In an attempt to keep the trophy clean of free handed human marker errors, I have gone with a punch card design.

Each side has 5 columns that are only connected in the corners and can be punched out after a team emerges victorious.

Step 5: Print Lower Half

Now its go time for the 3d printer to do its thing.... And it may have been the worst print my solidoodle has ever done.

The printer looks like it lost its xy location about 5 times during the print, and the plastic had trouble sticking between layers (which I have never seen before). But none the less I have my lower half.

I have also added 2 hex nuts to the lower half of the trophy to allow for additions after the scoreboard fills up.

Step 6: Print Upper Half

Another benefit of printing the trophy in 2 pieces is I can use a different color for the cup. I did not have any red filament on me so I went with blue.

During the print I paused and moved the printer head out of the way to place the hex nut.

The following layers fully encapsulated the hex nut and I ended up with a successful scale model of a plastic cup.