This article will list a few thoughtful last minute Christmas presents that you can make if you’re into the whole maker DIY thing. These are mostly a mixture of 3D printed and electronics projects. Some of these I’ve found online and some are my own designs.

For The Anxious/Fidget-er

3D Printed Fidget Spinner Ring

One of my favourite quick prints to make is the Customisable Fidget Spinner Ring. It’s pretty easy to customise, already has numerous remixes/modifications and can be printed in approximately 20 minutes at 0.3mm layer height. My recommendation is to print several in multiple colours and then mix and match depending on the recipient’s tastes. My personal favourite colour combos are dark grey/metallic silver and silver/gold. You can get the files on Thingiverse.

3D Printed Gyroscope

Another enjoyable fidgeting toy is the print-in-place gyroscope. It’s quick to print, runs nicely when removed from the printer and is just very enjoyable to make and manipulate. You can get the files at Thingiverse and you can see one I made (one of my first 3D prints) below.

For the Mathematically Minded

3D Printed Solids of Constant Width

Shapes/solids of constant width are a very interesting toy. These are special mathematical objects that have a non-spherical shape and a constant width. This makes them roll as if they were spherical. These shapes are pretty easy to 3D print and are fairly quick to print, which is good because you need at least 4 to show off the rolling nature of the shapes by placing a board or book on top of them and moving it around. There are several designs on Thingiverse but the one I’ve printed is a design by Thingiverse user roklobster04. These came out very nicely however I did make the mistake of trying to polish the prints resulting in a slight loss of the constant width properties.

3D Printed Stereographic Projection

In simple terms stereographic projection maps a sphere onto a plane. This can be illustrated with a patterned spherical object and a light source. There are many designs for such objects on Thingiverse. These won’t be quick prints but they will be striking and some designs are customisable so you may be able to make one themed to the recipient’s tastes. I haven’t printed one yet but I’m frequently tempted, usually when I’m already mid-project.

The video below, by Numberphile shows some examples of stereographic projection.

There are loads of interesting 3D printable mathematical models available. If the suggestions above don’t take your fancy just search for maths art on sites like Thingiverse.

For the Board Gamer

3D Printable Royal Game of Ur

The Royal Game of Ur is an ancient game and is a precursor to the much loved game, Backgammon. There are several designs on Thingiverse however I documented my own design on my game site before starting this blog. It includes files and detailed instructions for printing, as well as several different designs depending on how much additional hardware you want to add to the build. I also have a post on how to play the Royal Game of Ur. I hope you enjoy the design and find it easy to print if you decide to gift it to someone. This project isn’t the quickest to make at about 8-10 hours of print time but it’s very satisfying and the game itself is very enjoyable.

3D Printed Custom Sub Terra Horror Tokens

Sub Terra is a very fun co-operative exploration horror game. I backed the initial release on Kickstarter and while I was overall very happy with the game and the quality of the components, there was one component that was very disappointing. In the game there are Horrors, creatures or ethereal entities that hunt the characters around the game. These are represented by black wooden cylinders which is a little immersion breaking. Thanks to the print and play version of the game available on the Kickstarter campaign and a 3D printer I was able to create some custom glow in the dark tokens. I documented the design process in a blog post. I haven’t released the files for this project as I didn’t get a clear indication from the publisher of the game that it was OK to release them because I was using official artwork from the game itself but the process to design your own is pretty simple and should only take an hour or so. Printing the 3 copies needed for the game takes about 25 minutes at 0.3mm layer height. If you would like to make them glow in the dark all you need is some strontium aluminate powder and a medium to suspend it, such as clear nail polish, super glue, epoxy resin or wood glue. I’d recommend blue or green powder as it produces the best quality glow and is closer to the colour of the glowing parts in the game itself, other colours such as purple tend to be much dimmer and harder to charge. If you can’t get a fast delivery on some glow in the dark powder, you could try some glow in the dark filament instead, it might not have quite the same threatening outline but should still look impressive. I’ve not personally used glow in the dark filament and I’ve read reports that it has particles that can wear out your nozzle over time so use at your own discetion but it’s definitely something I keep meaning to try.

For the Video Gamer

Controller Steering Wheel

This is a recent invention but seems to be very popular among video gamers looking for finer control in racing games. Being new there are a few little kinks, such as needing a paperclip to hold it together) but it’s still a pretty nice custom gift and with a total print time of about 4 hours could be perfect for a racing game enthusiast. There are several designs for various controllers. Currently you can find a couple of designs for the Playstation 4 controller, one for the Xbox One controller and an Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 design.

Other ideas for quick gaming presents are little trinkets based on video games such as little Triforce pendants from the Legend of Zelda games or action figures from the games. However I haven’t listed anything specific as these depend very much on the recipient’s favourite games and the designs will most likely end up on the wrong side of copyright infringement. Still it can be a nice gesture, just have a look on sites like Thingiverse and MyMiniFactory for designs and I’m sure you’ll find something that’ll please.

For the Videographer/Photographer

This isn’t necessarily a quick present to make if you intend to 3D print the frame but a really nice thing to make is a photography arc/bridge light. These give a very even, nearly shadowless light over the subject, great for explainer videos and product photos. Some designs use fully 3D printed frames which depending on the size of the arc can take a long time to print but there are simpler designs that use an aluminium extrusion to mount the LEDs. An example of this kinda of design can be seen in DIY Perks video on making one below. Personally I wouldn’t make it using a concrete base but the rest of the design is great.

A couple of designs you could investigate from Thingiverse include this design by user ChrisF3D and another by user Opposums. I haven’t built any of these designs yet but it’s definitely on my imminent to-do list.

The Snappy Dresser

Adafruit produces a lot of wearable electronics such as the Adafruit Gemma and individual Neopixels. Combined with some conductive thread, a battery and a tie or waistcoat you can create a great little custom wearable gadget. With a little care they can even be washed (carefully), just make sure the battery is removed first. If you’d like some inspiration you can find lots of ideas on the Adafruit site, just search for wearable electronics.

Other Cool Things For No one In Particular

SMARS

SMARS is a little modular robot designed to help teach robotics. The body and wheels are quite quick to print, about 6-7 hours for all parts and it’s very simple to code to get some basic “smart” functionality. The main issue for doing this as a last minute present is that the motors it’s designed to take aren’t easy to find in both a cheap and fast to deliver state. Still it could be a neat little kit present to give to someone to teach about delayed gratification while you wait for the motors to turn up. If you’re adamant about providing a complete kit you could look at somewhere like Hobbytronics but you’ll be looking about £13 for a motor that costs about £4 elsewhere and you need two of them. You can find a complete list of required parts on the SMARS Thingiverse page.

Various LED Projects

There are loads of 3D printable/laser cut LED based lamp designs available online but it’s also pretty easy to design your own. These can make great gifts as programmable LEDs, such as WS2812/Neopixels, allow for really interesting lighting effects and can be bought in bulk for a decent price. They’re also pretty energy efficient.

I personally created a small light designed to take an Adafruit Gemma and a 24 Neopixel ring that looks a bit like a cross between an Arc reactor from Iron Man and the battlements from a castle, it’s a little weird but the parts fit pretty well and once the LEDs are programmed it creates a nice, soothing rainbow effect. It prints in about 90 minutes and doesn’t really need supports. I’ve since updated this project to use a much cheaper Arduino Nano rather than the Adafruit Gemma. I may release both of these designs once I’ve tested the latest revision.

Let me know if you make any of these on the Discord or on Twitter and be prepared to post photos!

Remember when making projects from repository sites like Thingiverse to acknowledge credit for the designs you make per the license terms.