The Dino Chair project by Lychee

Why did we decide to do this project?

Here at Lychee, we love being creative! You wil often see some of our creations on our Creative Fridays at the office posted on social media. However, we wanted to push that further to challenge our 3D printing creativity and originality in a project we can share it with our community!

Being creative has huge importance here in our offices. It makes us constantly search for new ideas and new horizons. Most importantly, it allows us users of our own product Lychee Slicer just like the community does on a daily basis. Because of this we have grown to love 3D printing and as such are always looking for ideas on how to improve Lychee Slicer for ourselves and our users.

Also, some team members are real dino lovers; we even have a former paleontologist on our team (can you guess who?😉)! This is why we first came up with the idea of of using dinosaurs as our design theme for this project.

So how did we get there?

Creating and printing these 3D chairs was a long creative process!

First, we needed to develop an idea to fit our office and be fun for our community to try too! We had some renovation work done in our offices in Bordeaux and Liège, and we wanted to add more fun and practical things to the office! Also, we often switch places in the office when we need to discuss things with each other, so we need to have something easily transportable, stackable, and amusing! As we said, we love dinos! So we quickly decided to go with some dino inspirations for the designs!

Then, we needed to sketch the first drafts. Daniel, our Artistic Director, made various drawings in 2D about how we could design our chairs. Here came the idea of the T-Rex and the Hungrysaurus! But there are also more designs we are working on!

We are fans of the art toy and cartoon culture, so going with this kind of design for our model was obvious! Also, it was easier to design and match the print constraints of this big print.

After the 2D design, let’s go to sculpting the models! Thomas, our CEO, who loves sculpting, turned Daniel’s drawings into 3D sculpts! If the choice of the Art Toy inspiration, it was pretty fast! But we needed to keep in mind the constraints exposed earlier! The chairs had to support the weight of adults who could sit on it.

Once the 3D sculpts were finished and validated, we moved on to the printing! We first tested on the model smaller prints to ensure the final result matched our expectations. Then, we started printing them their required full practical size! The final size of the chair is 42x42x50, so it’s a pretty big 3D print!

And now, we have our nice stools sitting in our office! Pretty cool, right?

So what challenges did we face?

To ensure the 3D sculpt could be successfully printed, we needed to create the 3D models while also keeping in mind the constraints of the 3D print, including whether it will be printed in Filament or Resin.

Another challenge was to design a model strong enough so we could sit on it, as its primary purpose was to have a chair. Jonathan and Thomas completed various tests during the design and development stages of the project. We also printed the 3D models in different sizes to limit the Resin or Filament waste if there were design issues.

After validating the 3D models, we needed to split the model up so it could be printed in different filaments colors or painted separately.

Finally, our biggest challenge was to print this big model! We did several tests to find a filament colour we liked and ordered huge spools to avoid running out! We printed for many hours on the giant 3D printer we had at the office: the Neptune 3 Max! To speed up the process, we also printed the separate parts of the model on different 3D printers.

It was challenging, especially for Jonathan, who was responsible for the printing, but we are thrilled with the result! These two models are only the beginning of our long list of chairs, with more already in the making!

What are our printing recommendations?

These models were designed to be printed in different sizes, in Filament or Resin. If you want to print this model in a big size like us then don’t hesitate to print a test model to make sure your printing parameters so the final 3D print gives you the expected result.

Also, this model can be adapted and scaled in many ways: adult chair, kids chair, art toy, decoration… You can simply use the scale function to adjust the model to your needs or your 3D printer.

The model has been designed and sculpted in a specific way to fit the 3D printing constraints of Filament and Resin printers. We do not recommend splitting or modifying the model to ensure that all the 3D printing constraints and outcomes are respected.

If you want to print with a Filament 3D Printer, you can directly print it on the plate; you don’t need to add supports. If you prefer to print it in Resin, we have provided 3D models we prepared ourselves. These models are pre-supported, hollowed, and we tested the files here at the office to ensure the prints are successful!

Where can you print the Dino Chair?

Both the Hungrysaurus and Cubo T-Rex designs are already "Certified by Lychee" and available in Lychee Library. Certified by Lychee means that they are already ready-to-print.