This week’s selection is “3D Printing Projects” by Dorling Kindersley, a.k.a. “DK”. 

This is definitely not a book for 3D printing practitioners, or is it? It’s chock-full of simple fun projects that are designed for children’s entertainment. 

The book begins with a basic explanation of how 3D printing works, including the standard workflow and slicing operations. Then it gets into a series of specific build projects, each of which can be made easily with a handy desktop 3D printer. 

3D Printing Projects

The projects include: 

• Desk caddy

• Impossible box

• Dinosaur stamp

• Coat hook

• Photo frame

• Treasure box

• Phone stands

• Star lantern

• Plant pot

• Fridge magnet

• Race car

• Troll family 

• Chess set

• Castle

This book is truly one where you can start without any knowledge whatsoever of 3D printing and associated technologies. The book explains basic concepts with both illustrations and detailed images that are annotated for easy understanding. 

I’m impressed with the very straightforward explanation of 3D modeling. The author recommends Tinkercad and similar programs, and I agree strongly with those thoughts. What’s interesting is the simple graphic manner of explaining how to use them in only a few pages. It should be understandable by anyone, even young children. 

Teaching Children to 3D Print

While the book may not be specifically targeted at adult 3D printer operators, or even beginners, I think it could be of great use to adult 3D printer operators — who are parents. 

I suspect many individuals who work in the field of 3D printing may have a desktop 3D printer at home — or two. This book may be ideal for those parents wishing to take a child into the 3D printing world through the projects listed within it. The diagrams are surely straightforward enough for a child to learn enough to get started, with the help of a parent.

Via Amazon