Glow in the Dark 3D Printed Spine Necklace

This instructable is designed to help you print your own 3D printed spine necklace. In this project you will learn the basics of AI image generation, 3D scanning, digital mesh manipulation, & 3D printing. I hope you have as much fun with this project as I had creating it!

This project is created as a course assignment at the California State University, Long Beach; taught by Behnaz Farahi: DESN 551: Materials, Tools, and Techniques of Prototype.

iPhone or iPad with LiDAR (iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, and iPad Pro devices from 2020 and later)

Scaniverse

Autodesk Meshmixer

Blender

Bones (this project uses an ethically sources otter spine)

3D Printer (optional)

Polymaker Glow in the Dark PLA Filament (optional)

After selecting your item to scan (otter skeleton), you can use MidJourney AI image bot in discord to help generate some quick concepts before moving into your final piece. These images above were created by prompting the computer with a few key words such as “necklace made of spine” and “choker necklace made of bones”. The bot will generate four image variations with the ability to upscale the gicen options or to continue iterating on similar designs. My advice during this stage is to have and get creative! This is simply a process to help with concept generation.

The ideal setup for 3D scanning is an area with bright light and a neutral, non-reflective background. Natural lighting or a ring light will be the best setup for lighting. Use a space that allows you to comfortably move around your object. For this project I chose to take multiple scans, propping up the bones with weights.

Note: my setup was not ideal

Open the Scaniverse app on your device and select scan small objects. Here you will need to adjust the range of the object you are scanning. You will want the red outline to be positioned just outside of the bones. To scan the bones rotate around the item until any blank spots are filled in. When you complete your scan, it may first appear blurry. Select detail processing and wait for your scan to generate. Export your model as an OBJ file.

Scaniverse does a phenomenal job creating 3D scans, however, there may be some spots you need to clean up using Meshmixer. Fill in any gaps and manipulate the geometry until the spine is smoothed to your liking. I personally chose to smooth out significant surface bumps and thickened some areas for better structure when 3D printing.

In this last stage, I used Blender to assemble all of my pieces. For a custom fit I used a scan of myself to model around. Move the vertebrae into place, wrapping them snug around the neck without intersecting with your model. All of the pieces should overlap so the fuse during the printing process.

Optional: The final step is to 3D print your bone necklace. For this piece I will be using Polymaker Glow in The Dark PLA Filament. This final print took just under 23 hours

I used a CR10-S5 for this print. Should your printer have a smaller build volume I would recommend fusing parts together for assembly.