Box for Love Notes

When you think of 3D prints, you don’t usually think of softness. This Box for Love Notes is my attempt to change that, by creating a texture that calls out to be touched. It features two different textures: the lid’s, which is formed by thousands of narrow boxes, and the wall’s, which is the result of a repeating arc.

I spent a lot of time fine-tuning the jitter applied to each box and arc. Too much jitter and the units overlap chaotically; too little and boring rows emerge.

Because of the visual complexity of the wall texture, I kept the overall form factor simple: gem-like trapezoids make up the base and lid. The knob is a compressed ellipsoid (a shape that was big back in the Renaissance, and is overdue for a renaissance of its own imo), and the feet are sleek, horn-like appendages, with just the right curviness to contrast with the rectilinear scheme above.

Printing is not for the faint of heart: it requires expert support blocker management, and at least two days of print time. I invite you to skip all the trouble, and buy the finished product in my shop!

You'll support a starving artist, and get a high quality product that will delight for a lifetime.

NOTE: please follow the below instructions to the letter. This is an advanced print.

Print base and lid at 0.2 mm. This is the only step size at which the wall texture prints cleanly.

The box base can be printed as-is. Do not use support material. Use at least 4 shells and high infill. (Note that this piece is 254 mm x 182 mm x 89 mm.)

The lid should be printed vertically, i.e. with only one lip edge touching the build plate. To enable this orientation, I have included support struts, which will need to be cut off post-print. Only the lower edge should have support material (or in other words, place a a support blocker around all but the bottom ~1 cm of the lid).

The feet should be printed at an angle (roughly 45') to maximize resolution of the tubular shape. Layer height for the feet can be lower, e.g. 0.15.

The knob should likewise be printed at a low layer height such as 0.15. Use high density support to keep aloft the horizontal cylinder. I have included a support conic at the base that should be cut off post print.