The following information is a single lesson in a larger Tinkercad project. Check out this and more projects on Tinkercad.

Project Overview:

In this project you will learn how to:

Duplicate objects
Use grouping strategically to create shapes not available from primitives
Plan complicated objects

Step 1: Background

This project will create a spherical Christmas tree ornament. Feel free to customize the ornament how you wish-this is just one example.

Step 2: Creating the Shell

This step will create the two spheres that will serve as the shell of the ornament.

Instructions

Drag a sphere to the workplane and resize to 40 mm in all dimensions.
Duplicate the sphere and resize the duplicate to 36 mm on all sides.
Turn the 36 mm sphere into a hole.
Use the align tool to align on all three axes. This will create a hollow sphere with walls 2 mm thick.

Step 3: Creating the Loop

This step will create a loop to hang the ornament on the tree.

Instructions

Drag a thin torus to the workplane and resize to 12 mm wide 12 mm deep and 2.5 mm tall.
Rotate the torus so that the hole is vertical.
Raise the torus to approximately the top of the sphere. About half the torus should be above the sphere.
Use the Align tool to align to both horizontal axes.
Select all of the shapes created so far and group them. This will effectively cut off the bottom of the torus inside the sphere.

Step 4: Creating the First Layer of Holes

This step will create the first layer of holes in the ornament.

Instructions

Drag a red box to the work plane and resize it so that it is 50 mm long, 2 mm wide and 2 mm tall.
Duplicate the block and rotate it 5° around the Y-axis. Use the smart duplicate feature by pressing command-D to continue duplicating until you have a full circle.
Select all of these objects and group them.
Duplicate the group and rotate until the duplicates are right in between the original blocks (about 6.25°).
Group these two objects now and turn them into holes.

Step 5: Duplicating the Layer of Holes

This step will duplicate the first layer of holes to create a cascading effect.

Instructions

Use the Align tool to align the wheels of holes to the center of the spheres. Slide them up until you're happy with the position. The exact position does not matter.
Duplicate the first layer of holes and slide them up several millimeters using the black arrow.
Rotate this new layer around the z-axis several degrees.
Repeat this process three more times.

Step 6: Creating the Diagonal Holes - (1 of 2)

This step will create the diagonal layer of rectangular holes.

Instructions

Drag a box to the work plane and resize it to 6 mm tall, 2 mm wide and 25 mm deep.
Rotate 12.5° around the y-axis so that they are slanted slightly to the right.
Duplicate this object and rotate 12.5° around the z-axis. Move the object so the far ends of the two blocks touch.
Use the smart duplicate function (Command-D) to duplicate more copies in a circle.

Step 7: Creating the Diagonal Holes - (2 of 2)

This step will cut off the top and bottom of the rectangles to create a flat shape.

Instructions

Drag a red box to the work plane and resize it to 30 mm wide and 30 mm deep. The height does not matter.
Turn the box into a hole and align it with the fan that you just made on both horizontal axes.
Raise the box above the work plane 5 mm so that it will cut off the top of the fan.
Duplicate the box and slide it down to just below the work plane so that it will cut off the bottom part of the fan.
Group all of these parts.
Slide the fan into the sphere wherever you want it.
Select everything now and group them.
Duplicate several more layers of the first squares above the diagonals.

Step 8: Printing Your Ornament

Each of these openings represents an overhang. Your printer may or may not be able to handle printing these overhangs without supports. We suggest trying to print it without supports first. If that does not work, turn on supports and try again. You may have to cut or break the support structures out of each hole.

In the next lesson you will learn to make a dreidel!

Next Lesson:Dreidel