A Simple Fold out Handheld Fan

This fan has been designed and created for the contest, but I have found it quite nice to fiddle with too, so ig it doubles as a fidget toy.

The Design is made for 7 blades and such the axel piece is also made to have that many stacked.

Version 2 [The New Design]

The new and updated version uses a new method of notching (keeping the blades locked) that makes them easier and faster to print as its is kept in “2D” with the nothing being moved to the core, currently the core is 2 part with a cap that screws in with printed threads, which is still to be improved on, but I got a working assembly that is visible in the pictures above, there will also be made a version of the core / axel that screws together with a bolt for simplicity, in the future.

For the Core part I recommend printing at 0.2mm layer height for the best threads.

Version 1

The standard blades are made with notches along each side of the blades to make them latch on to each other for a uniform and full fold out without leaving gaps.

Supports Recommended for standard blades because of the notch, alternatively print the notchless blades.

Also for the support, the normal grid works best, and with my 0.6mm nozzle the layer height 0.3mm has worked the best, 0.2mm sticks a bit too well to the supports whereas the other is just peeling off.

Updates

UPDATE 14-06-2025: Axel Piece V4 is now tested, and it seems to be a lot more reliable than the V3.

UPDATE 15-06-2025: I have designed a new latching mechanism, that makes it print support free buy keeping the blades “2D”. 

UPDATE 15-06-2025 2: After a lot of testing with different threads I've realised that it was not the model but the print settings, I strongly encourage printing the SteppedCore at 0.2mm layer height.

UPDATE 23-06-2025: I realised that contest criteria explicitly states .3mf or .stl so I have added STL files for the Version 2 parts. I have exported them in as high a quality I could while still keeping the filesize close the step files.