I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the uses around the house that I’ve found for the 3d printer my wife got for me last Christmas. This is about one such use. A couple of years back we saw some silhouettes of black bears in a yard while we were on vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains. I found patterns for some online and with plywood, jigsaw, and paint, we made a mama bear and two cubs. We love them, and they drew a lot of attention and positive comments from our neighbors. Unfortunately, the birds also like them, perching on them and doing their business. My wife had the good idea to look into spikes, but then the question was how to attach them. Our son suggested 3d printing clips. I modified that a bit into brackets, and we were in business.
Plastic spike strip, which has three segments and flexes between them.
Printing the clips on my printer
The bracket design, a modification of a plywood bracket that I found online.
This is the bracket. I found a plywood stand design online. The base was too large, but I liked the fillet where the supports meet the base and the slot was already pre-sized for 1/2″ plywood.
I couldn’t just scale the design, since it wasn’t parametric and shrinking it would also shrink the slot opening. Instead, I just used TinkerCad to cut off the excess on all four sides.
The 3d printed brackets were a great solution for the question of how to mount the strips. The strips aren’t invisible, but with their black color they don’t jump out too much, either, and I think the silhouettes still look pretty good from a distance. Time will tell what the birds think.😊
What uses around the house have you found for your 3d printer? Please share in the comments.
One of the plastic spike strips with two of the printed brackets glued onto the bottom, ready for installation.
Mama bear sporting her new punk haircut
The spike strips aren’t invisible, but they don’t stand out either. I think they still look pretty good from a distance.