Double-Sided Sliding Puzzle - LOVE & Hearts | #3Dprint #pdo | NoahMillerDesign

This model was designed for the #3Dprint #pdo challenge.

A couple quick notes to those 3D printing this model:

The heart side of the puzzle must be facing down on the build plate for the puzzle to print without support material All of the parts have been designed with tolerances between them to allow them to print in place and still move freely once removed from the build plate. The bottom side (Hearts) of the model already includes the appropriate geometry to account for normal amounts of first-layer expansion (elephant’s foot). This ensures that the bottom layers of the print won’t fuse together or cause the parts to bind. I have included images of the puzzle in both solved states for reference.

As I was brainstorming ideas of things to model for this challenge, I thought that making some sort of print-in-place puzzle could be interesting. I had never made any sort of 3D printed puzzle before, so I thought that this would be the perfect time. I was having trouble coming up with what kind of puzzle to model, so I asked my (currently 5 year-old) daughter what she thought. She immediately said “Make a slider puzzle!” So that's what I did.

I modeled the basic structure of the puzzle first, and did so using parametric parameters in Fusion 360. I did this so that I could make the base once, and then have the option to make a bunch of variations easily with different dimensions and number of sliders. As the basic form was taking shape, I was thinking about what the design should be that you’re solving. I thought of the famous LOVE statue and thought that would make for a good theme. This design holds special significance to me because there is one of the LOVE statues at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, in front of which I proposed to my wife.

I added that design to the front, but wanted to add a little bit more of a challenge. I decided to make this a double-sided puzzle, that could still be printed in place, without any supports. With this new challenge in mind, I started adding heart designs to keep with the love theme. They took a fair amount of tweaking to get right and to ensure that they would print well, but eventually it all came together.

One final, tedious note about the puzzle is that I decided to painstakingly “scramble” the puzzle in Fusion 360 by manually moving the pieces exactly as you would the real puzzle. I did this before adding the bottom designs. This way you are able to solve one side, and in the process, also be scrambling the other side. I thought that this would make it more fun since there will always be one side ready to start solving. There is probably a less tedious way to ensure that both sides are still solvale, but this method works just fine.