Merry Christmas to all of you! I had the intention of undertaking a larger project for a long time, and the Christmas season was the perfect opportunity. A project that brings people together, both family and community.

A Christmas pyramid!!!

It consists of multiple parts that need to be assembled. All very simple.

But so that you can express yourselves individually, I designed the outer wreath for the tea lights in a way that allows you to either leave it as a decorative wall or replace it with a light image (a so-called lithophane).

I have included a large number of lithophane images for you to use as print profiles.

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What should you consider and what mistakes did I make that you can avoid?

For this print, it is crucial to have the belt tension properly adjusted! Just print a cylinder as a test and check if it is truly 100% round. I had this problem initially. Not severe, but enough for the first test model not to rotate due to friction.

Plate 1: Base Segment

Very simple and shouldn't cause any problems. Here, I learned that the text only needs to protrude by half a millimeter and is still easily readable! Why did I learn that?! Because having more overhang of the letters generates more support behind them. This resulted in the print requiring significantly more filament and taking an extra hour!

Plate 2: Handrail

The handrails gave me fewer problems than I expected! I experienced a bit of stringing for the first time. I think the filament wasn't completely dry. I thought I could quickly and easily get rid of the strings by passing a lighter near them. It worked, but it also caused an ugly dark discoloration... Lesson learned: Use this trick with caution.

Plate 8: Rotor Blades

Less is more! The initial design of the blades was rough and angular, and it weighed three times as much because I wanted it to be stable... Unfortunately, it didn't rotate...

So, I not only reduced their weight to one-third but also doubled their surface area exposed to the upward air flow!!! The rotor blades are printed without infill and have only one wall layer. This actually calls for Vase Mode!!! But then I couldn't fit all eight on one plate...

So, my job is done!

Now it's your turn! The pyramid doesn't have any figures yet....

I thought it would be a really cool thing if I used your own 3D-printed figures or great figures that you found!

Take a photo of your personal Christmas pyramid and your figures in the evaluation (don't forget to include a link to the corresponding MakerWorld profile so that people who like your figures can also print them!!)

I wish you lots of fun with the printing and Merry Christmas!