I wanted to use a metal spring for a new design.  However, the problem with metal springs is trying to find something that is useful, ubiquitous, and cheap.  However, I was shocked that I simply could not find any pictures anywhere on the internet of the inside of a Pez dispenser!  After a little help from Chris Connors, I decided that the metal spring from inside a Pez dispenser would be absolutely perfect for my application.  After locating a Pez dispenser of my own, I disassembled it and found it was, indeed, just what I needed.

If you’re interested in taking apart a Pez dispenser in a minimally destructive way, here’s how you do it:

The reason you need to tilt the Pez candy platform down is because it has two small prongs on the front and back, making it slightly too long to come out of the colored plastic Pez case easily.

Notice the bumps along the side of the white plastic slide.  The bumps at the bottom prevent the slide from coming out of the colored case easily.  The bumps at the top prevent the white plastic slide from coming out of the bottom.

In case you’re curious, I was using my Pez dispenser for a Pez Powered Disc Shooter.

Ah, spring, when a young MakerBotter’s thoughts turn to…printing out large numbers of rabbits.  And this is clearly one of the must-have Easter-oriented prints.  And this egg/bunny combination is an instant classic.  Soon, we’ll all be thinking, “How did I even get through Easter/Passover/Rite of Spring without 3d-printed egg-shaped bunnies?”

Not only that, but Zydac has outdone himself with this design.  The ear inserts, nose, eyes and whiskers are all separately printable so you can get the multi-color effect seen here.  This is sure to be a crowd-pleaser, so print a couple…maybe they’ll start multiplying on their own.

Untitled by Zydac

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Building derivative Things from Thingiverse is all about building up and off of someone else’s ideas. Little proofs of concept like printed ball bearings turn hardware dependent plastic spindles into designs for totally printed plastic spindles.

The above video is from a YouTube user named tapiocasunshine demonstrating a printed plastic spring to some slightly trippy music. A spring like this would probably make a decent shock absorber or handy low power spring to help with the magazine clip for a certain Open Source Disc Shooter.

tapiocasunshine, if you see this, would you share these designs on Thingiverse?

Sweetener Holder v0

Some of my favorite things to print on my MakerBot are truly mundane.  My sweetener holder is nothing special – basically a open-top box with two curved cut-outs at the sides.  However, of all the things I’ve printed this is the one thing I use every single day.  I designed and printed it for less time and money than it would have taken me to get one from the nearest store.

I realize jrombousky‘s Strap Buckle Clip¹ has been around for a while, but it’s still one of my favorite things.  Years ago I sewed a carrier bag² and had to use store bought plastic buckles.  It’s these kinds of parts that are so normal and so mundane that it’s just easier, faster, and cheaper to design and print than it would be to go out and get.

I have to wonder though – is this me being lazier or is it actually more work?  Any time I may need to head out to pick up some small item I ask myself “Is there any way I can just design something and print a solution here?”  The other day I looked at the plastic drawstring cincher on my wife’s knitting bag.  This is the sort of thing you see on drawstring pouches, bags, shorts, etc.  It is spring loaded and pinches the cord so that the string stays taught.  After examining it for a moment, I realized that it was a super simple mechanism and I had everything I needed to print something similar.

I’ve uploaded it to Thingiverse, so I hope someone gets some use out of it.  The only catch is it makes use of a standard ball point pen spring. ³  Then again, I see reusing something previously useless as a huge bonus.

1. Be sure and check out the amazing derivatives of this Thing. [↩]
2. Read: Man-purse [↩]
3. I’ve been dying to find a legitimate MakerBot use for one of these! [↩]