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Models shared by the SO3D.xyz community. Open any of them in the generator to see exactly how it was built, remix it, or print it as-is. Browse the model library by category

Preview of Sphinx rep-tile nesting trays
By Krypto
Complexity
Simple
MAIN PURPOSE: Fill one sphinx-shaped tray exactly with four smaller trays of the same shape
Very few shapes are rep-tiles, shapes that four copies of themselves can tile into a bigger copy of the same shape. The sphinx, six triangles in a lopsided trapezoid, is one of the strangest, found in the 1960s. Print one big tray and four half-size trays: the four small sphinxes fit perfectly inside the big one (turn two of them over), and each of those could in turn be filled with four even smaller ones, forever. A desk tray that doubles as a puzzle.
AR view Open in app
Preview of Kanizsa illusion snack trays
By Krypto
Complexity
Simple (set)
MAIN PURPOSE: Set four notched trays together and a bright square appears that is not there
Put four of these round trays in a square with their notches pointing inwards and a bright white square appears between them, with crisp edges that do not exist. It is the Kanizsa illusion: your brain fills in the outline of a shape it expects to see. Fill them with snacks and watch guests swear the square is there. Cats seem to see it too: in a 2021 citizen-science study, pet cats sat in the invisible square about as often as in a real one.
AR view Open in app
Preview of Venus flower-basket wedding vase
By Krypto
Complexity
Medium
MAIN PURPOSE: Hold wedding flowers in a lattice vase modelled on a deep-sea glass sponge
The Venus flower basket is a deep-sea sponge with a skeleton of glass lattice so strong that engineers copied it for the Gherkin in London. A pair of tiny shrimp swim in when young, grow too big to leave, and live inside together for life, so in Japan the dried sponge is a traditional wedding gift. This tall, round-cornered vase has the same diagonal lattice cut right through its walls; drop a test tube inside, add two stems for the couple, and the light pours through the walls.
AR view Open in app
Preview of Einstein-tile coaster
By Krypto
Complexity
Simple
MAIN PURPOSE: Protect the table with coasters in the one shape that tiles without repeating
In 2023 an amateur mathematician found the shape people had searched for since the 1960s: the "hat", a single tile that covers a plane completely but never in a repeating pattern. Mathematicians call it an einstein, from the German for one stone. Each coaster is one hat. Lay a set out on the table and they fit together endlessly without the pattern ever repeating. It is a conversation piece, a puzzle and a coaster at once.
AR view Open in app
Preview of Rangoli diya platter
By Krypto
Complexity
Simple
MAIN PURPOSE: Arrange a ring of tea-light diyas round a centre candle
A flower-shaped platter for Diwali and festive tables. Each of the six petal bays holds a tea light or two, and the round centre takes a pillar candle, marigolds or sweets. Fill the bays with coloured rice or petals for a rangoli that can be put away again.
AR view Open in app
Preview of Ofrenda three-step altar
By Krypto
Complexity
Advanced
MAIN PURPOSE: Build a small Day of the Dead ofrenda
A three-step altar for a Día de los Muertos ofrenda on a shelf or sideboard. Each step is a tray: photos and candles on top, marigold petals and favourite foods in the middle, and water, salt and sugar skulls on the bottom step.
AR view Open in app
Preview of Aroma Stele
By Krypto
Complexity
Multi-part assembly
MAIN PURPOSE: Diffuse essential oil from a hidden felt strip
A slim standing stone for scent without flame or power. Drip essential oil onto a strip of wool felt, drop it inside and close the cap: air drifts through the carved vertical slots on both faces and carries the scent, while the felt stays hidden and the oil never touches the furniture.
AR view Open in app
Preview of Ember Cairn
By Krypto
Complexity
Multi-part assembly
MAIN PURPOSE: Keep matches, a striker and spent ends together
A match safe built as a little cairn of stones. Matches stand in the middle stone under a friction cap, the flat crown of the cap takes a strike strip cut from the matchbox, and the small pebble beside the base is the dish for spent matches, so the kit for the fire or candles lives together.
AR view Open in app
Preview of Portico Clock
By Krypto
Complexity
Medium
MAIN PURPOSE: Tell the time on a mantel or shelf
A mantel clock in the shape of a round-headed portico. Fit a standard quartz movement behind the face through the 8 mm hole, four small pierced dots mark the quarters, and the hollow back hides the movement and its battery; it stands on its own stepped plinth.
AR view Open in app
Preview of Andon Cube
By Krypto
Complexity
Medium
MAIN PURPOSE: Diffuse an LED puck through a paper-lined lattice
A paper lantern for a battery LED puck, after the Japanese andon. Line the inside with washi or baking paper, stand a puck on the floor and the grid of square windows on every side glows like a shoji screen; there is no flame, so it is safe on a bedside or in a child room.
AR view Open in app

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