Discovery Education

Materials:

3D printer

123D Design

www.thingiverse.com

black and blue filament

green, gold, and gold paint makers

8 in Blue FLEX LED lights

Toggle Switch

Drill

Hot glue and felt

plumbers glue

I went through a couple of designs. It was difficult to to get the "D" and the globe to fit together like I wanted them too.

The problem comes from trying to simulate the Discover logo as close as possible. You will notice there is a small white halo around the globe. This suspend the globe in the Design. Not every two dimensional logo translate to 3D design.

The Discover Channel/Discover Education logo is a simple but really cool print.

Initially I was going to use a basic sphere for the globe. From there has I was painting my prototype, I decided that a texture globe could take this to another level.

I found a stl file through www.thingiverse.comand and merged the "D" and the globe together in 123D Design.

*note the a textured globe is a very complicated and large file, give it time*

With a texture globe I was able to use the texture has a way to set the sphere into place with the "D".

This took a little work.

On 123D Design with you subtract one shape from another you lose one of the shapes.

1. On the same design grid I put the globe intersecting with the D.

2. Then I trimmed the bottom of the globe so the globe has a flat bottom so that it will rest. One of the adjustments I had to make when I went from 2D to 3D on the logo.

3. After I created a flat spot on the bottom. I copied and pasted the globe giving me 2 flat bottom globes.

4. I subtracted the globe from the D.

Since I was printing in two different colors I need to separate the two solids, and export them to print individually.

I also wanted to print the "D" flat so I had to rotate it 90 degrees.

I exported each solid. From there I wanted to max print for my printer size. I scaled each solid up by the same factor.

*the texture globe is complicated file it takes time time to export*

I tried several shades of blue before I settle on one that I liked best.

The "D" is printed in a shiny black filament, so I wanted to complete it with the globe. I choose to use a translucent blue as I thought it worked nicely with the black.

Using a basic green and gold paint marker, I painted the land masses and changes in elevation.

I wanted to really bring the piece to live. I purchase some 8 in blue LED light switches from a auto parts store. The package comes with a battery and switch for trying the product in the store. I replaced the switch with a toggle switch from a old microscope(I'm a science and math teacher). From there I drilled a hole into the globe and carefully place the LED strips into the globe. I hid the wire and switch behind the back on the "D". The Discover Logo now glows with a simple switch to turn it on and off.

Cuts some felt fabric to cover the cords in the bottom of the globe using hot glue.

Glue the D and Globe together with some plumbers glue.

Here is a nice large decorative piece for the office.