Summary

The silhouette of the daughter of a friend - turned into vase.

This is the perfect custom gift for friends - personalized, quick to print, and very little filament used.

Instructions describe (briefly) how to turn a picture into a vase like this.

Instructions

1) Take a profile picture of the person
2) Use Inkscape to draw a bezier curve profile line
3) Ensure there aren't any horizontal sections in the profile by rotating it as needed
4) Save as DXF
5) Import DXF into FreeCAD
6) Translate into desired location to set vase 'width'
7) Use FreeCAD OpenSCAD Revolve tool to create vase shape
8) Save as STL
9) Import into Meshlab to close one or both ends (if desired) and save STL
10) Load into your favorite slicer and print!

This example was printed with a FlashForge Creator Pro in ABS. Simplify3D 'Vase Mode' was used with 4 shells on the bottom, and zero on top. Extrusion width of .6mm on a .4mm nozzle - makes for a fragile, but workable model.

EDIT: After some experimenting, printing .8mm on a .4mm nozzle seems to create better results. A good thickness that isn't too wide to generate problems, but creates thick enough walls to not be so fragile or unwind at the top.

Custom Silhouette Vase - How To