Toothpick Holder

Intention

My intention was to create a visually appealing object that could hold an object. I had several ideas, such as a shoe rack or a toothbrush holder, but I decided to make a toothpick holder because of the size and the amount of time it takes to 3D print an object. The toothpick holder is supposed to represent a globe with holes throughout.

Research & Context

The two main types of toothpick holders that I saw were types that had one main compartment or hole, and those that had many holes for each toothpick. I decided that I wanted to have many separate holes so that each hole could represent a different city.     

Sketch

Aesthetic & Inspiration

My original design was supposed to be a spherical toothbrush holder that was either a tennis ball or a baseball because my mom likes tennis and my dad likes baseball. I then changed the design to a toothpick holder. Once I changed it to a toothpick holder, I changed the design to a globe so that each toothpick could represent a city in the world. I got inspiration through looking at toothpick holders on the internet and how they worked.

 

 

Process & Procedure

I first brainstormed ideas for my holder and iterated to make it smaller and fit my needs better. I then chose the idea of a toothpick holder that resembled a globe. Once I finalized my design, I modeled it on Autodesk Fusion. In Fusion I tested out various sizes and shapes in order to get the proportions right. Once I finished modeling in Fusion, I exported the project as an STL file and sent it to the 3D printer queue.

If I were to do the project again I would finish modeling my design sooner so I could send my project to the 3D printer queue as soon as possible. I knew that 3D printing took a while, but I didn’t realize that it would take as long as it did. I sent the project to the printer Monday night and it didn’t finish printing until Wednesday morning, the day that the project was due. I would also be careful with making very precise details because they might not turn out as expected.