The CEO at my student job turned 70. Having a 3D printer & scanner at work there was only one thing to do: make candles.
Why not print the mold directly?
I don’t have any ABS. I tried once and i didn’t like it. Wax melts at about 60°C and PLA gets soft at the same temperature.
Even if you have ABS i recommend you to use a silicone mold. It will last longer and is soft and flexible. With this complex structure you need a flexible mold in order to remove the candle without damaging it.
What do you need
A 3d model. If you have a Kinect (or similar) and a good computer with the right GPU you can scan yourself (with the help of your friends/brother or your mom). Maybe a nearby hackerspace can help you. I did it with ReconstructMe and a PC-Kinect.
A 3d printer. If you don’t have one you can order a print online or go to your local hackerspace/fablab to print one (don’t forget to bring some beer).
Silicone mold mass. You can get it for 40€/kg on the internet or at some hardware stores.
Old candles or wax (+ color) and candle wick. I got 10cm long wicks with a little metal base plate: perfect.
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!
Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!
The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!
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