[Bad-ass Matrix-style music]
When you were social-distanced brunching, I printed the blade.
While you were on awkward Zoom calls, I mastered the slicer.
And now that there's one week until Christmas and Amazon won't ship your presents in time,
you have the audacity to come to me for help?!
Well, you made an excellent choice, because I have 10 free 3D prints that will make awesome gifts.
[Sleigh bells intensify]
I am Zack Freedman, and welcome to Voidstar Lab. As an accredited mensch,
I've never had much stake in Christmas, until I was contacted by today's sponsor, Thangs.
Thangs is the fastest-growing site to find 3D-printable models, and as far as I can tell,
they're the only search engine on the web for 3D geometry. This is going to come in handy,
because there's just a week til eggnog day and the stores are all
pandemic-y. There's no time to waste, so let's unleash number 10: Collapsing Katana.
This is one of the coolest 3D models I found on Thangs, not just because it's a bad-ass blade
that will delight any wannabe ninja. This is an exciting demonstration of what a creative maker
can accomplish with a 3D printer. Even though the sword is made of a bunch of telescoping segments,
it's only a single 3D model. All the parts print together, nestled tightly enough to
lock the sword open but just far enough apart that you can snap it off the plate and they
slide freely. Thangs searches for models on Thingiverse too, so you can find even more
iconic weapons like a pirate cutlass, bo staff, even a lightsaber. Just don't expect to cross
blades in pirates-vs-ninjas-vs-jedi showdowns; these swords are for swashbuckling only.
[Clackety noises]
This next one is perfect for that annoying uncle
who just won't stop telling terrible dad puns.
We're gonna give him coronavirus. Number nine: Coronavirus.
This reasonably accurate facsimile of that little jerk is based on imagery from the CDC
and makes a really adorable stocking stuffer. Just look at his wee little protein halo. He's so cute.
As previously mentioned, the most important feature of this particular
print is that you get to say you gave the recipient coronavirus.
If you disregard social distancing and don't wear a mask, you can even make that literal!
Side note: I printed this little guy out of the most bizarre filament I've ever seen.
This is purple PETG, not PLA, and it glows green in the dark. Also it's full of glitter. It's weird.
This printable virus makes an appropriate ornament or even a mildly sardonic tree topper,
but it's the remixes that really send this to epidemic proportions. Here's a 'rona for your
extruder! Here's a 'rona that holds your masks. Here's a 'rona to open your Corona. Some Americans
may fear the 'rona less than others, but they'll change their tune once they see the BUFF 'RONA.
Number eight: LiftPod.
Photographers and videographers are THE worst people to buy gifts for, because everything
camera-related costs a fortune. That's why I was so excited when I found the LiftPod. Plot twist:
a whole bunch of shots you've seen so far have been recorded with this LiftPod!
Except except this one. I suppose I could have lied and said I printed two of these things, but
I respect 'ya too much. The LiftPod is different from a tripod because it sits right on the table
and it's really easy to adjust. This makes it easy to experiment with different shooting angles and
positions, especially when you're trying to dial in one of those fancy pants close-ups.
The commercial version of this thing costs 150 bucks, but this one is entirely 3D-printed.
Even the nuts and bolts are 3D-printed! You don't even need to have a fancy camera to
use this thing. All you have to do is print the phone clamp instead of the camera clamp,
and they can start recording overly-scripted maker content or whatever the kids are into these days.
Or they can put their switch into it if they're too lazy to hold their own games consoles.
Entitled brats.
Number seven: PBC Dream Blaster.
Maybe you're doing office secret Santa and you got Gary, who never talks to anyone,
has no social media, and only wears plain Uniqlo t-shirts. Who
the hell knows what Gary wants? WHAT IS GOING ON INSIDE YOUR HEAD, GARY?!!
When you don't know what they want, give them something nobody - absolutely nobody - asked
for. Download a crossbow that fires peanut butter cups.
[Slow-mo peanut butter propulsion sounds]
It all started with a girl named Kelly, who fell asleep one night and dreamed of
a mighty weapon capable of flinging nutty chocolate confections into a friend's eager
and waiting maw. Her friend Fernando took up the challenge and designed the PBC Dream Blaster.
Simply pull back the tray, chamber a peanut-buttery payload, take aim, and I quote,
fling them majestically through the air. All you need is a rubber band, a touch of glue,
and a big ol' bag of ammo. You don't even need to use peanut butter cups; the Dream Blaster
will also propel cookies, throwing starfruit, and other cylindrical combustibles through the sky.
Number six: THE PUZZLE OF EVIL! [Thunder crack]
I sold this thing short when I first saw it. I have seen countless nesting puzzles and I've
beaten many of them. What I didn't account for is this puzzle is EVIL! [Thunder crack]
This is the first item on the list that I printed, and I gave it to Brooke, who is way better puzzles
than I am, to test it out. The Puzzle of Evil's [Thunder crack] position in the top 10 was secured
when a week later, Brooke was still trying to tangle with this torturous tangram but getting
totally trounced. She hadn't made an inch of progress in an entire week, and she was working on
the easy side! And yes, the puzzle is possible. I confirmed the solutions online, which I can assure
you are not easy to find, so spoiler-seeking cheatyfaces are gonna have to work for it.
The Puzzle of Evil [Thunder crack] is the perfect way to shut a kid up for 15 minutes or utterly
consume an entire table of drunken nerds who each think they're the smartest person in the room.
Speaking of rooms full of smart, drunk nerds, the Voidstar Lab Discord is now online! Just
click the link in the description to join a budding community of friendly project-building
smartasses. There's a channel just for projects, there's one just for bad jokes,
there's even a voice channel so we can schmooze while we solder. The best part is,
everyone there is the same kind of socially-awkward ADHD weirdo who put
their Christmas shopping off for 51 weeks and is still watching 3D-printing YouTube
videos instead of just doing it! Link's in the description, I'll see you there.
Also, [REDACTED] this puzzle. [Puzzling noises]
Number five: Gift Kit Cards.
These ingenious prints are a fun twist on those old-school snap-out model planes that
boomers grew up with, and they're also the cheapest, easiest prints on this list. There
are tons of these things on really anywhere you can find STL's, and I think it's fun to
hunt down the perfect card for everyone. You can download functional mechanisms,
iconic military planes, siege weaponry, holiday cheer, and even fictional spaceships that
totally aren't abruptly destroyed. [Airplane crashing mouth noises]
What I love about these is that they barely need any plastic, so you can run off a whole
pile of kit cards with the irksome remnants of filament on your spool. If you're in a rush,
you can also bump up the layer height and it doesn't really affect the quality that much.
Kit cards are really easy to assemble - you just pop them off of their sprues
and slot them together no glue... or... slot them together... no glue required.
Number four: Cute Dumpster.
2020 was a rough year. Life plans were shattered, loved ones got sick, jobs were lost,
and politics got very, very weird. This lovable dumpster bebeh is the perfect symbol of the year,
if only because my printer gave me non-stop trouble the entire time. This guy dealt with
layer shifts, ugly blobs, and all kinds of disruptions, but he's still smiling because
the surprisingly supportive Voidstar Lab community is watching. Just attach his little dumpster doors
to his adorable dumpster body and hand him off to that special someone who had a real trash 2020.
What they tuck inside him stays between the dumpster, the recipient, and the fire department.
Number three: Lithophanes.
A lithophane is an obnoxiously technical term for a thin panel with an image etched into it.
The markings are too subtle to make sense of with the naked eye, but when you pass light through it,
the picture is revealed crisp and clear. What's cool about
lithophanes is that they're really easy to personalize with pictures you care about,
and you don't even need to open up a 3D-modeling program at all. Just head to lithophanemaker.com,
3DPRocks, or many other easy-to-use sites, pick a shape, load an image, and get to squirtin'.
Print a family picture on a heart so granny can see the little ones when she makes her
morning tea! Fall asleep to the image of your real family. With the ability to turn
any picture into a hidden masterpiece, the possibilities are simply endless.
[YOU BEEN RICKROLLED FOOL]
Number two: 3D Maze Puzzle Box.
You normies make me sick. You've watched 80% of the way through a 3D-printable gifts video and
you STILL want to give them cash! Well, if you insist on buying your way out of your profound
lack of creativity, know that you can at least make the recipient suffer for it. This dastardly
little tube imprisons your dead presidents in an obnoxiously labyrinthine challenge. It might not
look like much from here, but remember that this isn't the gift - this is the gift WRAP.
That little twerp needs to navigate this maze with everyone at the Christmas party staring them down,
checking their watches, impatiently fidgeting with the unopened presents in their laps.
They're not allowed to take their turn opening their present until
your victim thanks you for the gift, and they can't do that until they know
what you gave them! You don't write the rules. You just play the game.
Of course, you will need to solve the puzzle yourself in reverse in order to LOCK the box.
You could have made a collapsible katana. You brought this on yourself.
The final print on this list, numero uno, represents everything there is to gain by
3D-printing a gift. It's unlike anything sold in stores, it will blow the recipient's mind,
it'll make the entire Christmas party think you're a Tony Stark super-genius,
and requires zero skill and zero effort on your part. Say hello to number eleven...
wait... that's not an eleven, that's a one.
Say hello to number one: The Cyclone, the triple-lift triple-track marble machine.
Weighing in at 250 grams of filament and taking 18 hours or longer to print, this group of loops,
chutes, and circuitous routes is an absolute hoot. Three intertwined marble raceways dance and weave
through a Rube Goldbergian masterpiece, and a built-in hand-cranked Archimedean screw carries
the balls back up to run again. It's a gorgeous, intricate model that exemplifies the creative
potential of 3D printing. It's hard to believe that this didn't need any supports or glue.
WHAAA--
This model prints beautifully with absolutely zero support or extra materials at all. I even
used PETG, which is a lot saggier than PLA, and apart from dropping that screw into place
and cleaning out the tunnels, what you see here is exactly what came off my printer. Even the marbles
can be 3D-printed, although in my opinion it's worth risking a trip to Home Depot to grab some
ball bearings. The Cyclone is truly a low-effort, high-reward print that anyone can make, but when
it gets unwrapped, you are going to look like a mastermind. You and your giftee are guaranteed
to be the center of attention until the piss5 finishes downloading 200GB of day-one patches.
And that, my precious present procrastinators,
is ten unique and impressive gifts that you can run off in time for Xmas. A friendly reminder,
we just opened the Voidstar Lab Discord, and you want to join our maker community!
Wait...
And we want you to join our maker community! Thanks again to Thangs for sponsoring this
episode. If you are still looking for ideas, head over to thangs.com and drop an STL right into
their geometric search engine. Thangs has tons of pop-culture characters and other high-fidelity
models for you to print, and they are all free all the time. Still haven't cleared your list? Well,
check out this collection of ten 3D-printable tools. Jump on that subscribe button like a fat
guy down a chimney and jingle that notification bell allllll the way. Thank you so much for
watching, have a very merry non-denominational winter holiday, and I will see you in the future.