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 ?
This Halloween themed version [now with horns!] is designed to befuddle on the happiest candy day of the year, but is plenty appropriate for other days as well.
I chose to make a pixelated 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. For further frustration, I recommend orienting the candy embossing on opposite sides of the egg, to imply that the puzzle should be solved via rotation of the egg halves somehow… (which is not true).
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 in parent 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.
- 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.
- 3MF included.
Adam L
