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3D Printing with Sand

1. As I work on my creation, I will document each major step of the process. I will use purple pads for the planning steps and yellow for building steps.

2. For each step, I will:

Add a photo or video showing my progress

Write a brief description of what I did

Include any challenges I faced or solutions I found

3. The posts are added in chronological order from left to right.

4. Each post has a step number included.

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Based on the Activity Plan, I collected the following materials:

Colored craft sand - bought at Michaels

White school glue - bought at Michaels

Clear plastic cup or food storage container - already had at home

Measuring spoons - already had at home

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Summary

Introduction

Don't have your own 3D printer? No problem! In this fun activity you will make your own colorful 3D prints using craft sand and glue. No 3D printer required!

This activity is not recommended for use as a science fair project. Good science fair projects have a stronger focus on controlling variables, taking accurate measurements, and analyzing data. To find a science fair project that is just right for you, browse our library of over 1,200 Science Fair Project Ideas or use the Topic Selection Wizard to get a personalized project recommendation.

Materials

Prep Work

Instructions

1. Scoop a thick, even layer (about 5 mm deep) of sand into the bottom of the cup.

2. Use glue to trace a shape in the sand.

3. Cover the glue with a thin, even layer of sand. Make sure you can still see the glue shape-do not cover it completely.

4. Add another layer of glue-in the same shape-on top of the first layer, then cover it with another thin layer of sand. Repeat this process until your shape reaches its desired height.

5. Cover the final layer of glue with a thick layer of sand, so you can no longer see any of the glue shape.

6. Wait 24-48 hours and check if your shape has hardened by poking it gently with your finger. If it still feels squishy, you need to wait longer. It will break if you try to remove it before the glue is completely dry.

7. Pour the cup of sand back into the bag so your shape falls out. Pick your shape up and remove it from the bag.

What other shapes can you make? Can you make taller shapes with many layers? Try adding more layers to only certain parts of your shape.

Cleanup

What Happened?

You should find that your layers of sand and glue bind together to form a three-dimensional shape. The shape should be sturdy enough that you can pick it up without breaking it. If you try to remove the shape from the cup too early, before the glue is completely dry, it will crumble and break. Read the Digging Deeper section to learn more about how this activity is similar to a real-life 3D printing technology.

Digging Deeper

3D printing is a type of "additive manufacturing": A way to build parts by adding new material, one layer at a time. This is different from subtractive manufacturing, where you start out with a solid block of material (like metal or wood) and cut or carve material away.

There are many different types of 3D printers. The most common "consumer" 3D printers use fused deposition modeling (FDM). They push a spool of plastic through a hot nozzle that briefly melts the plastic, then the plastic quickly cools and solidifies again. This process is repeated in layers to build a 3D part (think of it like squeezing frosting onto a cake, one layer at a time). Other 3D printers use stereolithography (SLA). They start out with a vat of liquid. The liquid is solidified by a laser, one layer at a time, and at the end of the process, all the excess liquid is drained away.

Some 3D printers start with a bed of loose powder, or granular material (like sand!). The bits of powder can be fused together with heat from a laser. This is called selective laser sintering (SLS). Depending on the type of powder, the bits of powder can also be bound together by applying a liquid, or binder. This process is called binder jetting. Either way, at the end of the process, the excess powder is dumped off and you are left with a 3D part.

The process you followed in this activity is most similar to binder jetting. You laid down layers of powder (sand) one at a time, and selectively applied glue to certain areas in order to solidify the sand and bind the grains together (however, the glue did not soak into the sand as much as the liquid binder would for a real 3D printer). You waited for the glue to dry, then shook off the excess sand at the end of the process, leaving you with a solid three-dimensional part made from sand and glue.

Ask an Expert

For Further Exploration

Can you make a multi-colored print using different colors of sand?

Try making more-complex shapes with variable cross-sections or hollow areas (for example, an arch, a wireframe cube, or a spiral).

Project Ideas

Science Fair Project Idea

Science Buddies has several fun robotics projects, like the Art Bot: Build a Wobbly Robot That Creates Art and Grasping with Straws: Make a Robot Hand Using Drinking Straws, where you use arts and crafts materials to make part of a robot. Have you ever wanted to design a more-advanced, sturdier, or fancier looking robot? Then computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D printing might be for you; both are simpler than you think! The directions on this page will give you an introduction to these... Read more

Activities

Are you wondering how a 3D printer works? In this fun activity, you will be the printer and make colorful 3D prints using royal icing. No 3D printer is required, and your prints are edible! Read more

Design and 3D print your own snowflake ornament with Tinkercad in this fun winter-themed STEM activity. Read more

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3D Print with Sand: No 3D Printer Required! | STEM Activity

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Make your own 3D prints with sand and glue in this fun STEM activity.

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I watched this video before starting to create so that I could plan better what I wanted to create.

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3D Printing with Sand and Glue (no 3D printer required!) | STEM Activity

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Here, I drew out the objects I want to create. Next year, I will be teaching a Math 8 Seminar, which is designed to help support students in 8th Grade Math by slowing down and focusing in on specific parts of the curriculum. There is a unit on volume, so I am thinking it would be cool if students could create their own cones and cylinders.

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First, I set up all of the materials and added then thin layer of sand to each cup. The cylinder will be in the blue cup to the left, and the cone in the red cup on the right. The three cups on the left side of the photo are the extra sand I will use for the layers.

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Here, I added the first layer in each cup. Notice - the circles are small. The sand quickly started to spread onto the glue.

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I quickly realized this was not going to turn out as I expected. The glue was spreading outward, making the diameters longer than I wanted. Not to mention, my shaky hands were not making nearly close to perfect circles.

I also decided to alternate colors each layer to see what that would reveal in the final product.

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Making Step 7: Trying to Troubleshoot the Cylinder

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Making Step 7: Trying to Troubleshoot the Cylinder

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The "circle" was quickly losing its shape, so I started to create smaller circles inside the outer circle to try and help it keep its height.

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Making Step 7: Trying to Troubleshoot the Cone

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Making Step 7: Trying to Troubleshoot the Cone

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The cone was really getting out of hand; as you can see it almost looks like it has a triangular base. At first, I was just trying to make each circle layer smaller than the previous, but around layer eight, when it was really spreading, I decided to just try to make the same size circle each time to try to balance out the glue spreading.

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Trying not to get discouraged... I decided to pause here and wait a couple minutes to see if that made any difference. I am thinking about WHY things went wrong and HOW I could still make this a productive, educational experience for my seminar students.

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I added 5 more layers for a total of 13 layers.

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When I went back to add more, it seemed like the figures were a bit more defined. I decided to add only 5 more layers each. With the cylinder, I do have hope that it will be relatively uniform, although with a larger diameter than intended. For the cone, I think it will look more like a smaller cylinder on top of a larger cylinder, and I do not think it is centered on the top but... I tried.

Stay tuned for final pics on Wednesday evening!