Introduction: 3D Print Bat Wing Necklace

About: Community Manager for Instructables and Tinkercad.

I wanted to make another necklace for Halloween and thought of doing something with bat wings, but more chic than creepy. I decided to print 2 wings and have them connected in the middle with a bead dangling. I had already gotten some beads at the store for a project that didn't work out, and they worked perfectly with what I wanted to make here.

If your interested in purchasing this Bat Wing Necklace, or something else I've made, you can find it on Etsy! There is also a version that has tulle!

Instructable 284

Step 1: Supplies

Supplies:


  • 3D Printer
  • Filament in colors of choice - I wanted to do them in all black, but if you do, you can lose the detail so I went with a black background and silverdetail.
  • Drop Bead - you can use a drop bead, a wire wrapped bead, or a bead on a flat head pin like I did, anything you can hang from the center jump ring; remember if it gets too heavy it will pull the necklace down in the middle
  • 3 4mm jump rings
  • 2 6mm jump rings
  • Clasp
  • Thin chain - as dainty or bulky as you want; you can use whatever length you want, but I used 2 6 3/4" chains, 1 for each side of the necklace

Step 2: Design

While I like to make things completely in Tinkercad when I can, this wasn't a time where I wanted to figure it all out, so I actually designed the wing using the Silhouette Studio paper cutter program. It's like using Inkscape or Illustrator.

When I had the design, I split it up into two parts (the background and the detail) and then exported them separately and converted them into SVG format.

Once I had them in Tinkercad, I sized them, lined them up the way I wanted them and made them different thicknesses. I ended up doing the background 2 layers (.4mm thick) and the detail 3 layers on top of that (1.1mm from base to top).

I added two holes that were 2mm in diameter.

When I had one wing set to go, I copied it and flipped it so I'd have the second mirror image design.

Step 3: Printing

You can print this in one color, or use the color change script to change the color after the base. When you bring it in the slicer, make sure the base is 2 layers and the detail is 3 layers above that.

Color change script:

{REPLACE "; layer 3" "M600\n; layer 3"}

Step 4: Assemble Necklace

Once you have the printed wings, it's time to assemble the necklace.

You can do this any way you want, but I used a 6mm jump ring to attach the wings together and connected my bead to the front of that jump ring with a 4mm jump ring.

I used a 4mm jump ring to attach the chain to each wing.

At the end of one chain I put a 6mm jump ring, and at the end of the other chain, I attached the clasp.

Done :)

Step 5: Done

Step 6: Add Tulle!

Update 6.24.22:

I recently decided to update my design a bit and add Tulle to the 3D Print!

I think it looks nice with 1 layer, but even better with 4 layers of black tulle!

Halloween Contest 2018

Participated in the
Halloween Contest 2018