As some of you are already aware from previous posts… I recently acquired some Sainsmart L8 laser engravers and Ender 3 V3 Plus 3D printers. One of my favorite Engraving projects is engraving on Ceramic Tile….. buying them NOT so much fun lol. But I have some 12×12 tiles I special ordered in and some 4.25 inch plain white ceramic tile. While I am still getting used to everything and perfecting my engraving solution mixes…. I had engraved up a bunch of different designs just for practise, but was struggling to find the right project to finish them up into actual pieces instead of a pile of tile.
So along come the 3D printers…. and yes I did what everyone does with a new printer.. No Not Benchy. I confess he didnt even make it onto the plate until they were over a month old, and only because Lil Man D kept bugging me for one lol.
I started off with all the usual articulated something or other, knitted critter, Trex head and the like…. I hunted high and low for just the right box model STL files.. No luck
.. lots of great designs..but not what I needed. I then tried all the usual AI generated stuff.. looks great…. till you actually want to print it. I don’t have time to mess around and figure that out right now. So then I found Luban3D, << insert heavenly music and angels… maybe a full choir.…. WOAH loads of cool tools.
One being a box maker, you have to check it out.. this is no ordinary auto gen box maker. This box tool will generate whatever shape you desire.
You want a box that looks like a cactus, a cactus box you can have.
You want a box in the shape of a butterfly.. click click boom..one butterfly box, two,3,4,5 butterfly boxes..all from one simple design.
Be sure to check out my other post A foray into 3D Printing… Boots on the ground ..and she’s off ! and a giveaway. for a chance to get your hands on a 1 month license so you can try this and all the other cool tools out.
But then I got totally sidetracked by this awesome Lithophane tool they have… More about that in another post.
But I did finally pull my head out of that and went back to my original task of creating a box specifically to mount my engraved tiles in.
I am still learning Luban, so I did end up taking my Luban Generated box into another program, or two to tweak it and get it just right because I am more familiar with them. << barely lol.
But I now have a base version that fits my tiles so snugly you don’t even need glue to hold them in place. I am sure as I learn more about my Printers and the software you will see more of these emerge in various shapes and designs… but for now these are just straight forward simple square boxes with an inlaid tile.. and I love them. Not only will they work for my engraved tile.. they can work for wooden inlay, slate inlay, lithophane inlay, resin, plaster.. heck I could even sublimate and have fabric inserts.. this design is so basic, but so versatile.
I am such a tangent head that before I even have this perfected I already have 15 other design variations in mind to expand on the basic box to expand my Mashup possibilitites.
As a side the lids with a minor modification to add a hanger make great little frames to hang these engraved tiles and other projects as wall art too. This simple base design is very versatile, you could turn them into coasters and of course my original intend when buying a 3D printer… for making molds for resin and plaster projects.
I was honored to be asked to make one of these boxes today for a new friend as a gift to her MIL who recently lost her husband. I can’t wait to be able to work on the photo she sent me
Be sure to check out my other Luban post for a chance to get your hands on a 1 month license so you can try this and all the other cool tools out.
