Design of the Week: Knot Knits

By on August 15th, 2016 in Design

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 A model wearing a piece made from Knot Knits
A model wearing a piece made from Knot Knits

This week’s selection is the amazing “Knot Knits” part set by UK artist Rob Elford.

We’ve featured Elford previously, as he has produced a number of startling 3D printed works. Now he’s released a set of components with which you can easily construct a wide variety of 3D printed fashions, called “Knot Knits”.

Elford explains:

Over the past year I have been developing an innovative and highly flexible modular construction system for creating “knitted” 3D printed garments. “Knot Knits” are made up of 6 individual, interlocking parts which can be easy printed on desktop 3D printers. The parts clip together to create a vast range of 3D patterns and garments. Knot Knits can be used to quickly prototype and model new fashion items like belts, body jewellery and dresses.

Here you can see an overview of the “Knits”:

 The complete set of Knot Knit pieces
The complete set of Knot Knit pieces

There are several aspects of this project that I find attractive. 

 A model wearing a piece made from Knot Knits
A model wearing a piece made from Knot Knits

First, it’s feasible. You can 3D print these pieces on virtually any desktop 3D printer, and in quantity as they are not particularly large. Some of the pieces are so small you can 3D print them individually in less than ten minutes! In fact, Elford has made them available for download on Thingiverse at no charge. 

 A model wearing a piece made from Knot Knits
A model wearing a piece made from Knot Knits

Second, it’s creative. The Knot Knits set is essentially a toolbox from which you can build much more complex items by assembling them in different arrangements, some of which you can see in the images here. 

Third, it’s custom-sized. If you have a fashion design in mind, you can, by adding or subtracting components, custom-fit the design to any person. In fact you might even “build” a design overtop a patient model in real time. 

Warm up your 3D printer and get set to print out a collection of these, as you’ll likely be developing many different designs with them. 

Via Rob Elford and Thingiverse

By Kerry Stevenson

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has written over 8,000 stories on 3D printing at Fabbaloo since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!