Introduction: 3d Printed Replacement Puzzle Piece

About: A mechanical engineer, instructor at Thaddeus Stevens College, and lifelong maker. Thanks Dad! A founding member of make717. Check them out at www.make717.org

My dad loves puzzles, but its always a bummer when you finish the puzzle only to find a missing piece.

His latest puzzle was a tough one that he had done several times, and he really loves the trout shaped puzzle. He wanted to frame this one but couldn't without figuring out a replacement for a missing piece. My mom was going to cut it out of the picture on the box, but the puzzle and the lid were different scales.

So I decided to 3d print a replacement and use a color printout for the image.

Step 1: Capture a High Contract Picture of the Missing Piece

I flipped the pieces surrounding the missing piece and took a picture against a black background. High contrast is required to import and create a clean shape for the next step.

Step 2: Import the Graphic Into Morphi and Make It 3D

Using the www.morphiapp.com "Sketch" tool, I imported the high contrast picture into Morphi. I then used "Transform" to get each axis to the correct size. Morphi provides an STL export so that I could slice the part for printing.

Step 3: Sliced in Cura Then Off to the Ultimaker 2 Go

You can see the part file on the build plate in Cura and then the first 2 prints. The first print was off in both X and Y axis. After the second print I just had to adjust the Y dimension by only 1 mm. 3 iterations didn't take much time at all!

Step 4: Print (2d), Glue to 3d Printed Part, and Trim

I color printed then adjusted the scale and printed the image from the lid of the puzzle.

I poked holes with a pin in the printout to create the outline of the missing piece. I held that up on a window so that light showed through the pin holes which allowed me to locate the 3d printed part exactly where it needed to be. (Sorry, I didn't document these steps with pictures).

Then I trimmed the paper to the plastic part and put it in the puzzle!

Design Now: 3D Design Contest 2016

Participated in the
Design Now: 3D Design Contest 2016