Iris Toothpick Holder

The goal of this project was to create a lid for a piece of a glass bottle. The main challenge of this project was thinking outside the box and creating a dynamic final piece that benefits the user. I created an iris mechanism that opens and closes (similar to a camera shutter) by twisting the top of the lid. As the user keeps using toothpicks, the lid can adjust to hold the remaining toothpicks properly.

Process

Medium
PLA Filament, Glass Bottle

Size
4in x 4in x 5.5in

The first step in the project was sketching possible ideas for this project.

I then had my first experience glass cutting to get the piece of the bottle I was going to make a lid for.

I began modelling the pieces for the iris mechanism in Onshape.

I created a first prototype out of paper to get a feel for how the mechanism behaves. I then went through multiple 3D-printed versions. The final model is a version of the prototype on the right side, but with a slimmer and sleeker form factor.