Outcome

Intention

My kitchen table is really messy because we keep food and napkins on it, so I wanted to have a napkin holder to keep out napkins neat and our table less messy.

Research + Context

(1) Don't want to spend money on something as simple as a napkin holder.

(2) Napkin holders are too sophisticated for a struggling college student.

(3) This is a low budget, fun napkin holder.

Aesthetic + Inspiration

I love space because I'm an astrophysics major. I have a lot of constellation mugs.

Process + Procedure

(1) I wanted a napkin holder, so I searched for cute napkin holders on google. I really like the non-traditional holders with interesting shapes and cutouts, so I wanted to make something like that. At first I wanted to do flowers, but then I started thinking about circles and then about planets and space.

(2) I went on thenounproject to search for astronomy decorations I could use, and I found a couple that I edited (Jupiter and the stars) and made copies of (the stars).

(3) I created a sketch with these svg files and extruded it.

(4) Then I copied the body, moved it over, and connected the two with a bottom, created with a rectangle that was extruded.

(5) I ended up printing two copies - one scaled at 50%, so it would print faster, on the Zortrax printer, and the other at 100% on the NVBots printer. The smaller one seemed to have better supports and came out smoother and better looking than the full size one. Both had supports that were very difficult to get off. I'm planning on using the smaller one as a letter holder.

Reflection

Actually printing it was a bit of a hassle, because a lot of the 3D printers had problems and long queues. In addition, when I did a medium fill for my object, it estimated a 37 hour print time. In the future, I would print my holder a lot sooner and not fill as much. I would also like to sand and print my holder.

Photos

Smaller prototype holder at 50%

Final napkin holder at 100%

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Sketches