My friend was putting together a Blink ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink_(comics) ) cosplay costume for the Dallas Comic Con this year and asked if I could help her come up with some Teleportation Shards. Of course I gave it a shot!
We went through several iterations of "bolt" vs "splinter" vs "shard" and I struggled with how best to attached the print to something strong enough to hold, small enough to hide in the hand and big enough to hold batteries and a circuit.
After testing the fit on a PVC pipe and the shape of the shard several times I ended up modifying pmoews (thank you for sharing your work pmoews!) Teaching Aid for Quartz Crystals. I completely ruined the teaching aid part of it by scaling it to all sorts of weird angles and then adding a sleeve to slip fit over a 3/4" PVC pipe.
I printed six in translucent purple (four for the shards and two spares) and then nine or so in translucent white for the quiver. April did an amazing job on her costume! All custom and all perfect!
Printer Brand: RepRap
Printer: Prusa i3
Rafts: No
Supports: No
Resolution: 0.3mm
Infill: 0%
Notes:
Print with one perimeter, two bottom layers and one top layer. Use translucent filament if you're going to add lights. I used Atomic Filaments translucent PLA. It worked great!
After printing snap off the " * " on the bottom. The part should slip right over a 3/4" schedule 40 pvc pipe snug enough not to fall off. If you want to add the lights Dremel out a hole at the top of the sleeve and poke the LEDs through.
The LED circuit was made out of scraps in my garage. 6 white LEDs, 1 momentary switch and two AA batteries. I know, I know. I should have a resister in there two but there were enough LEDs in series that the current was limited just enough and I really didn't care about protecting them. The whole thing only needed to last a day to be a success.
After the event I realized I should have bought a cheap flashlight or four from Harbor Freight or Walmart and hacked those apart to hide them in the PVC. They probably would have been brighter and last just as long. There's always next time!
