Graphic Art 3d Printed Bubble Wands

Custom graphic art bubble wands! This is a simple method to create unique (and fast printing) 3d printed bubble wands. [photo credit: ESS Photography] This method uses Tinkercad as a 3d design medium and Noun Project graphics.

sun icon by https://thenounproject.com/tanialavinda123/

Supplies

Tinkercad and Noun Project. Tinkercad allows you to easily import SVG files. The Noun Project has over three million well designed SVG files to download; a perfect match.

I have the Noun Project Unlimited Subscription. You can use the free version too. If you need to convert a PNG image to SVG, there are free file converters online.

Step 1: Choose a Graphic Arts Design

Do your bubble wands need those very tiny ridges to make your bubble wand work?No! After researching why these tiny ridges exist, I thought that I may need to spend time to add them. However, upon testing simple, flat graphic designs with no ridges, the bubbles blow perfectly fine! In fact, I think that they work better based on the larger custom designs that you can make, rather than smaller, traditional commercial bubble wands.

Choose a Graphic Art Design

1. Go to TheNounProject.com
2. Search for anything. For example, "sun"
3. Click on the sun that you like. Keep in mind that when you have design elements that are not attached it may not 3d print well. However, using the sun version I selected, there are ways to make solid connections for many floating design elements.
4. Download SVG version. Make sure to use a dark color [note - Set to 100 x 100 pixels]

Step 2: Import Graphic Art SVG Into Tinkercad

Extruding Your Graphic Design

1. Click on "Import"
2. Select SVG file
3. Download!
4. Don't worry if the design is too big or small. You can easily adjust sizes.
5. Drag the "ruler" icon to the bottom left of your design. (does not have to be perfect). This will help you measure everything well.
6. Experiment with Tinkercad's latest SVG file importer. If you click on the "Fill Mode" dropdown, you have four options: Default, Silhouette, Outer Line, and Inner Line. Explore these creative options!

Step 3: Creating Your Wand Stick

Creating the Bubble Wand

1. Within Tinkercad, drag out a "Box" onto the work plane. I recommend you work in millimeters (mm)
2. Click on your box and adjust measurements. I like: 75 mm long, 5 mm wide, 2.4 mm high. These measurements provide a solid, yet flexible wand, and a quick 3d print
3. Be sure to view the "Box" input window and change "Radius" to .5 and Steps to 20.
4. Why? Four reasons
5. Boxes have sharp edges. By adding a slight radius you round out the edges
6. It makes it easier to scrape the bubble wand off of your print bed
7. Protects against 3d printer "elephant's foot" (I did not make up the name) which can happen with flat edges printing directly on the print bed
8. Personally, I like the round edge design
9. Now that you have a wand stick, you can design a base.
10. Select another Noun project icon (or maybe use the same one to create a Sith type bubble wand!) or create your own
11. Select 'Box' again and make it a different color to easily identify the different parts of your wand
12. Box dimensions: 15 mm x 15 mm x 2.4 mm high, .5 radius, 20 steps
13. Add Text - Customizing with text is fun. You can extrude text or embed it. We will make this design with embedded text
14. Drag out TEXT under basic shapes.
15. Within the input box you can change font type, bevel, and segments.
16. I like Sans, .5 bevel, and 5 segments
17. It's too big!
18. Time to Scale: Tinkercad Scaling Tip: Click on the bottom right square of the object and hold the Shift key down at the same time to scale proportionately. Then drag to make smaller (or bigger)
19. I made the letter "H". To add a new letter, I used the "Duplicate" icon and then changed the "H" to "I"
20. Tinkercad Duplicate Tip: When you duplicate, the copy is right on top of your original. You will not view it separately until you move it.
21. Tinkercad Moving Tip: Use the Arrow keys to move an object
22. Move the "H" and "I" to your yellow wand base. Align however you would like. There is a Tinkercad Align tool if you would like to use that.
23. Embedding Text
24. Each object in Tinkercad has four measurements; X, Y, Z, and "Floor". X, Y, and Z are the traditional length, width, and height. The "floor" measures how close to the ground (0.0) an object is. If you raise the text floor to 1.00 mm, this will float the letter 1 mm above the ground. This is good because I want each letter to be embedded in the bubble wand base, but not go completely through it.
25. But wait, my "H" and "I" are too long for the wand base
26. You can either adjust the H and I size or just make the wand base 3mm longer
27. Group the wand base and letters together with the universal Grouping symbol
28. Tinkercad Design Tip: Check the "Multicolor" box after grouping objects. This allows your design elements to retain their individual colors. You may not be able to 3d print in multiple colors, however it is helpful to keep your design elements unique. It makes it much easier to edit.
29. Align the wand stick and wand base group together and Group those together with the universal Grouping symbol
30. I recommend making sure that the wand stick is at least 1 mm within the wand base to provide a solid connection

Step 4: Putting It All Together

Connecting Sun Icon to Bubble Wand Stick & Base

1. Select both objects by left clicking on a spot near them and then drag until both objects are 'touched'. Let go and then click on the "Align Tool", which looks like a bar graph. Select the bottom center 'circle' and view how your objects align. Once you like the alignment let go of mouse and you are aligned.
2. "My sun icon is taller than the rest of the bubble wand height"
3. You can adjust the sun icon height now to 2.4 mm or anything that you like.
4. Next, click on the Universal Group icon. You should see a (2) (for two objects) next to the Grouping icon
5. Select Export: Export as an .STL file

Step 5: From Design to 3d Print

Your Design Is Being Sliced by the Slicer

1. A "slicer" program like Prusa or Cura figures out how best to 3d print your bubble wand. You are actually printing the .gcode sliced file and NOT the .stl file.
2. My 3d Print Settings:
3. Layer height: .24 mm
4. Vertical walls (wall thickness): 3
5. Top and bottom walls (horizontal): 3
6. Infill: 50%
7. Speed: 70 mm / second
8. Supports? No
9. Bed Adhesion: You should not need it, unless you know your printer needs it to print well
10. Estimated Print Time: Between 20 and 29 minutes.
11. Each slicer has different speed defaults. Unless you have experience with adjusting these settings, I would leave everything except the generic Print Speed value you can adjust to 70 mm / second
12. Only 4 grams each! This means you can print approximately 250 with 1 ream of 1 kg filament. Wow!

Step 6: Ideas, Tinkercad Shareable File, & Photos

I love these bubble wands because they provide a creative, playful, and quick 3d print experience. It is fun to design, blow bubbles with, and you will learn a lot about designing with Tinkercad and how valuable Noun Project icons in SVG format are.

Shareable Tinkercad Example File

Which Bubble Wand Solution Should I Use?

Commercial solutions work fine. These custom wands probably will not fit into those little containers, so pour solution into a cup, or small tray. Or create your own bubble wand solution! It is fun, inexpensive, and it just may create better bubbles. Just add water, Dawn blue dish soap, and sugar. Create any size bubble wand that you would like.

Open Source!

I met with educators from Bergen County (NJ) School District to share with them how 3d design and printing can provide custom educational resources. After reviewing the recent bubble wands the Mountain Lakes Public Library designed and introducing them to The Noun Project, they asked if we could create an "I love you" sign language bubble wand? Yes we can! 2 days later, 50 "I love you" sign language bubble wands were printed. They blow bubbles perfectly.

Thank You

Thank you to the Mountain Lakes Public Library for supporting the growth of the Makerspace. Thank you to all of my high school 3d designers that inspire new designs, Kayley and Ellie at Sound Start Babies, Jen and Andrea from Bergen County School District, Eric from ESS Photography, and all of our Beach Outreach attendees for helping make the ML Makerspace bubble wand project a success. Additionally, while researching bubble wands, I came across two fantastic bubble wand Instructables by Penelope Bulnick and Paige Russell.

Tinkercad - Thank you for improving your SVG import functionality and making creative design accessible.

Noun Project - Thank you for providing a simple way to access millions of amazing and diverse icons.

Share your designs!