Star Spinners: Pencil Toppers, Keychains & More

Print in place models! Star spinners are fun options for kids, party favors, celebrations, and more. Those young and young at heart will enjoy these Pencil Toppers, Keychains, and Spinners. I designed these as a follow up to the Heart Spinners project I did with my kids for Valentine's Day.

20 STL Files Included

★ Note: All STL files are included in a .zip folder. Copies of a few of the files are included outside the folder for the Cults preview on this page.

Pencil Toppers, Keychains/Pendants, and Spinners as singles, triples, quintuples and in grids of 3 x 3 and 5 x 5 stars.

Bonus! Print "feet" (pegs) for the grid models so they can rest on a flat surface for spinning.

Try a filament swap half way through the print for a two-color look! This works for any of the models. Make a Tic-Tac-Toe style game out of the 3 x 3 grid.

See my Kids & Toys Collection for more.

Details about Models

Spinners
Spinners have thick and thin versions. The thick was the original design based on the pencil topper. The thin style works better for the keychain. The thin one prints faster, of course, but I think the thick one is more satisfying to hold. Play with both!

Keychains/Pendants
The keychains with the "Raised Loop" look better with a centered loop, however the loop needs supports to print well. (See note in 3D Printing Settings below.) The "No Supports" version has the loop flush with the edge of the ring for simpler printing.

The keychain models could work well as a pendant, but a jump ring would help it hang better from a necklace.

Pencil Toppers
The Pencil Holders are provided in six different hole diameters: 7.0, 7.5, 8.0, 8.15, 8.25, and 8.5 mm. For the pencils we were using, I found that 8.0 mm works best with prints from one printer but is too loose with prints from another printer. I included an STL file that has test models of the six different sizes so you can try out and keep track of the options. (If you don't want to print all six test models, separate the models in your slicer.)

Pro Tip: If you plan to give away the pencil toppers with pencils (as valentines in school, for example), be sure to acquire the pencils you plan to use BEFORE you print a whole class set of toppers. Test the sizing!

Models print flat without supports. (*See note below.) Pencil Topper and "Thick" Spinners are 11 mm in the z-direction. The "Thin" Spinners and Keychain models are 8 mm in the z-direction.

I printed everything with 0.2 mm layer height, 3 or 4 perimeters, 10% infill, and 3 top and bottom layers. A brim helped with some of my prints to prevent the ring from detaching from the bed. See photos.

Bridging
The bar through the star prints using bridging across the diameter of the ring, so you may need to be attentive to your bridging settings for the most success with these. I noticed that the prints with one of my toolheads were not spinning well and I could tell it was an issue with the bridging. I tried rotating the model 90º in the slicer and it printed significantly better.

Note About Supports
*If you prefer the Keychain with "Raised Loop" in the center of the ring, it will need a little bit of support under the loop. However, be sure that you include support ONLY under the loop or at least select supports to print only from the build plate. Otherwise, the slicer may generate supports inside the star around the bar and it will not be able to spin.

Not for commercial use. No derivatives. See © link below.