For this project, I chose to follow this prompt: "A device that neatly holds 4 toothbrushes." The first idea to come to mind was a small, slug-like monster with holes along its back, so that when the toothbrushes were slid in they looked like spines. The initial sketch was this:
The eyes were going to be very shallow indents, but I scrapped that idea partway into creating the item in Inventor due to issues with the curvature of the front, as well as conflicts with the holes running through the middle for the toothbrushes to slide into.
Using Inventor
Early on in my process, I tried fiddling with spheres to make the main bulk of the body. However, I very quickly realized that using an ark and beveling the edges would be far more effective. Once I got that out of the way, the modeling process went very smoothly. By creating a new work plane on the top surface of my holder, I was able to cut the necessary holes into the body. As I stated before, I scrapped the eye holes in favor of adding something to its surface later; this was due to issues with extruding on the curved surface, as well as deciding that it would look better overall without the indents.
Here is the final model. Other than the lack of eyes, the biggest change was simply the scale- I drastically overestimated the amount of space in the printer I had to work with, as well as how large it needed to be in the first place. I scaled every dimension down by a few inches, excluding the holes. The holes remained in the same relative position and didn't require many changes.
Printing
The printing process was relatively straightforward, though I hit a few snags due to issues with the filament I chose; the filament I chose glows in the dark, and must be printed at a higher temperature than the others. With a slight adjustment, we were able to get it to print after a few unsuccessful attempts; the following is the final product:
Note: the holder can hold 4 toothbrushes, I just don't have 4 toothbrushes in my house that I could slide in.
Summary
Over the course of this individual project, I learned how to create rounded edges in inventor, as well as how to extrude a shape asymmetrically. I gained experience with the arc tool as well as with creating new work planes, which I used to cut holes into the top surface of my toothbrush holder. I also learned that this specific filament needs to be printed at a higher temperature, and therefore needs to be set up slightly differently than the other choices of filament. More than anything however, I became more well acquainted with inventor and more comfortable using the software to create more complex objects.