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Apr 1, 2017 | By Benedict

Devin Montes, the 3D designer behind the Make Anything YouTube channel, has designed a set of 3D printed "Super Satisfying Twist Containers" that can be downloaded for free and used to store small objects. Montes has also published a video tutorial covering how to make your own containers.

Kettles, tables, refrigerators, placemats, cushions, 3D printers. These are just some of the household items that I find more interesting than containers, the subject of a recent Make Anything 3D printing tutorial. Fortunately, Devin Montes’ 3D printed receptacles are probably the most interesting containers I’ve seen this year, possibly ever, and the maker’s YouTube video guide shows container-ambivalent idiots like you and me how to make our own.

Calling these 3D printed twist containers “super satisfying” might seem like an exaggeration on Montes’ part, but only until you watch the containers’ constituent parts lithely slipping in and out of one another. Each 3D printed container consists of two (or more) hollow halves, one of which fits perfectly inside the other. And because each container has a threaded shape—like the Z-axis of your RepRap 3D printer, perhaps—the two halves “twist” together in a smooth, visually satisfying motion.

“All these designs are basically an iteration of the same concept,” Montes explains in his video, embedded below. “The idea is that I have a container with an inner and outer shell, and it’s extruded and twisted together. So these containers are essentially threaded together, but the thread itself is what makes the design of the piece.”

Montes explains that he designed each of his containers in SolidWorks, using the Swept Boss/Base function to turn two overlapping and identical 2D shapes (offset by .55 mm) into two overlapping 3D cylinders, before using the “secret” Specify Twist Value box to add a threaded twist shape throughout the model. The maker then adds a lip to an end of one of the halves, allowing it to be grabbed.

Montes offers a few tips for makers looking to create their own funky containers, such as offsetting the inner half inward to create a larger tolerance helps the two halves, which helps them connect and disconnect with greater freedom. Additionally, 3D printing with a layer height of .15 mm instead of .2 mm can improve layer adhesion.

For those who just want a Super Satisfying Twist Container as quickly as possible, and who are happy to skip the whole 3D design business, Montes has uploaded a couple of his own models that can be downloaded for free. Container lovers can also buy containers that have been 3D printed by Montes at the Make Anything store.

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Application

 

 

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