Introduction: How to Make an Iphone Case With a 3d Printing Pen

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This is a simple tutorial on how to make a phone case using only a 3d printing pen. The pen I used for this tutorial is called the 3Doodler 3d printing pen. It is very user friendly, and I recommend it for anyone who is looking to buy a good quality 3d printing pen.

Step 1: Materials

The materials that you will need to make this work are:

  • Your phone or a sample phone of the same type to put under the tape
  • Masking or painter's tape, I used some 3M painter's tape
  • A 3d printing pen
  • Flexible filament for the 3d printing pen
  • A pair of scissors to cut the tape (if necessary)

You could probably do this using non flexible filament, however it would be much harder to work with, and would probably break when you tried to remove the completed phone case, so I highly recommend using flexible filament so it will be able to bend around your phone.

Step 2: Tape the Phone Up

First, lay the phone down on a flat, even surface screen down, and completely cover it with the tape. When you apply the tape, make sure that you apply tape on the top, and continue down the sides of the phone with the tape, so you can make the sides of the phone case. If you just apply tape to the top of the phone and don't take it all the way down the sides of the phone, the phone won't fit in the case very well. Also make sure you tape the phone tightly, because if the phone shifts while you are working, it could mess up the case.

Note: I recommend marking where the camera, buttons, and ports are on the phone after you tape it, so you know to make holes in the phone case for those. I didn't when I made mine, so I later had to go back with scissors and cut holes where the camera, buttons, and ports are.

Step 3: Outline the Sides of the Phone and Work Up

Once the phone has been securely taped to a flat even surface, take your 3d printing pen and outline the outside edge of the phone. Try to keep this outline as close to the phone as possible, or else the case will end up being too large for the phone. Once you have a good outside outline finished, you can start working up the sides of the phone until you reach the top. Remember to leave holes for buttons, ports, etc...

Note: I chose to do my sides in black filament, but you can choose whatever color you would like. If there are holes in the layers, you can always go back later and fill them in with the pen.

Step 4: Fill in the Top

Now that you have the sides taken care of, you can fill in the top part with any color/design that you want! I just chose to do yellow, but I might go back and make a radioactive symbol with black on top of it later. Just remember to leave a hole for the camera of your phone, and you could also leave a hole for the apple on the back of your phone if you have an iphone, or incorporate it into your design. Also, make sure when you fill the inside in, you are fusing the edges of your inside filling with the outside outline. If you don't, you will end up with two separate parts, the sides of the phone, and the back. You want those to be connected.

Step 5: Finishing Touches

After you finish filling in the back, you may have the problem that the case is too loose on your phone. This means that the sides haven't been filled in enough, so after you are finished you might want to go back with the 3d printing pen and bulk the sides up more so your phone fits snugly inside the case. Also, if you forgot to leave holes for buttons, ports, or cameras (like it did) it is possible to go in with scissors and cut them out. However, this doesn't look as nice as if you were to leave holes in the first place, so I recommend doing that. Have fun and be creative, the design options you have are unlimited! I will provide a link to 3Doodler's website, I used a 3Doodler Create for this project, and I would recommend it for anyone who wants to get into 3d printing pens. Happy making!

Here is the link to the 3Doodler website!