As a little kid, I remember hunting for Easter eggs, but sometimes they were stuck closed, and refused to open easily. I thought to myself.. what if one was designed like that on purpose ?
I chose to make a pixelated Easter egg because I hadn't seen one before, and the pixelated design elements, along with the gap between the two halves draw attention away from the hidden screw base on the bottom that allows the egg to open.
I hope this is fun for some kids and parents out there !
Printing Notes
- This is probably obvious: print the egg halves with the shells facing down. See picture for orientation.
- Use supports (organic/tree preferably) to support the inside domes of the egg halves (see green regions pictured for support areas).
- If you can get away without brims for the main parts, the result will be better. I was able to print fine without brims on everything but the little pins.
- I printed in cloudy white PETG at 0.16 mm layer height.
- Print 2x of the pins if you want to lock the egg halfs' rotations (see assembly notes).
Assembly Notes
- You might need to resize the pins up/down a tiny bit to get the fit right, but they're very little filament and quick to print. The 2x little pins are designed as undersized in length and are slightly conical, as are the holes in the bottom part. Put the thinner end into holes and glue in place with superglue. This will help assembling the egg and keep the top from rotating off.
- If you want an alternative version of the egg where the two halves move relative to each other, you can skip the pins and watch the user try to endlessly rotate the two main egg halves. This method is less foolproof, and assumes you've tightened the screw down well enough. This effect worked well in PETG due to the slippery nature of the filament, but might not work in others. Try it out before you put the pins in, if you wish.
- Lastly put the top on, and screw in the bottom part from below. This completes assembly.
Design Notes
- I used 2 alignment pins to make sure that the egg halves in place and to prevent simply screwing the top part off.
- The plain pixelated egg design will be posted as a separate remix file, for people who want a simple egg without the hidden screw mechanism.
- Fusion360 and STEP files included, because I hope it helps people learn.