I encourage my students to “dream big”, so in that spirit, I brought those words to life. I spend every summer making a new oversized art supply and this year I decided to make colored pencils.

The first step in bringing these colored pencils to life was drawing a 3D tip and cap which would later be 3D printed. I’ve created designs in the past making giant crayons, highlighters, and markers and placing them on cardboard mailing tubes.

3D printing is a new and exciting tool that I use to create things but your limited sizes. The 3D printer I use is a Makerbot Replicator 2 and the maximum size you are able to print is about the size of a cinder Block. Due to this limiting factor I knew that if I wanted to make oversized items I would have to attach them to something. It wasn’t until on day, I received a call from a local carpet company and said they asked if they donated some large mailing tubes if I would use them. I said absolutely!

Once I had my large tubes, I knew that I could start creating. My first attempts weren’t as pretty as the final versions but I learned a lot through trial and error. I ended up purchasing new tubes from Uline. The size I use is 3” x 36”x.08”. This was the same size I used for my giant crayons so I was familiar with the demos ions. However, I knew that if I made oversized crayons 36” the pencils would have to be at least double the size.

So, I decided to create a 4” cylinder that would connect to two tubes together. With both mailing tubes connected it would extend the length to 72”.

Then, I connected the two tubes together with a two part plastic epoxy.

After two tubes were connected, I started to work the wraps for the tube. I decided to use rolls of paper since it would give a more polished look rather than paint. I decided to go with Pacon Fadeless paper and cut the paper 6”x80” so I would have some overhang that would later be trimmed to the same length of the tube.

Being satisfied with length, I decided to focus on the creating the top and bottom of the colored pencils. After many failed attempted I was finally able to create the top and bottom and would fit on the tube.

I decided to print the top and bottom using a sand colored PLA filament. I picked this color because many of the nude or lighter filaments when printed were transparent after completed.

When designing the cap, I left a small indentation so later I would fill with acrylic paint so it would look similar to a piece of lead.

When designing the tip, I knew it would be difficult to print the two different colors. So, I decided to use acrylic paint and simply dunk the tip into the paint. I really liked the final result.

Here is the final result after the paint dried.

Lastly, I attached the tip to the cap permanently to the tube using a plastic epoxy.

I needed up find an oversized outdoor trash container that resembled a wire basket and placed a 5-gallon bucket inside wrapped with pool noodles so the pencils would stand up.

Lastly, here is the final result!