A continuation of "A 3D Tradition is in the Making".
For the 2020 Gingerbread Village, the OHS Superiors with volunteers from the OHS National Honor Society (NHS) are on deck to decorate 3D printed houses for display in the exhibit. The Superiors are a group of self contained special education students learning academic and occupational skills that will prepare them for greater independence after high school.Their teacher, Kristen Busby, and I have been planning since last year for her class to participate in the project. We were both shocked that 2020, with its long list of cancelations, was going to be the year to make it happen. With less than three weeks to complete the houses, I quickly got to work. I found a free gingerbread house design on Thingiverse (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2716899). Following the advice in the summary, I tweaked the original file to create a quick print version. I adjusted my infill density to 1% and my layer height to .25mm. This adjustment cut the print time in half to a little over 2 hours. I decided to use the Makerbot Tough PLA filament to give the structures an added layer of support. Tough PLA filament is designed for prototypes. It is more durable than the standard PLA that I usually use for printing. Even though the houses have a thin outer shell with minimal infill, they are sturdy enough for decorating. With a quicker print time, I would be able to print 12 houses in less than a week, leaving two weeks to decorate them.
During the printing of the first house, the CTE Engineering teacher walked through the library and offered to print some houses on his 3D printers. Within two days, I had 12 houses ready to for decoration and one new idea for next year. One of my NHS students, who is an online learner this year, really wanted to help with the project but could only do so from home. So, I packed the houses in a box with a couple of glue guns, bags of glue sticks, and several boxes of graham crackers. She picked up the box from the library curbside table to take home to prepare for decorating next week. Traditions are built in layers. Each new layer reinforces the information, customs, and beliefs that form the tradition. The process is much like 3D printing. Layers of PLA build the tradition of making in the OHS Library.
To learn more about the Holiday Village at the Ford Center, visit https://fordcenter.org/build-a-gingerbread-house/.