Sno-Bloks Prototype Test & Beta Testers...

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

So - a prototype design I have been working on for a little while - I was excited to finally give it a Test today. This was done in the quaint downtown of Willoughby, OH - where I now live - in the main kind of public park 'square'. I decided to do my test - and build some of the blocks onto a picnic table:

Then - back at my building - in the back courtyard area - I did another test. Whilst working on it - a couple kids came outside - while their family was inside in the lobby playing pool - a 5 year old girl and her 13 year old brother. It was funny. They both loved it. In the end, I gave the kids my prototype unit - so that they could play with it - and then return it to the front desk when before they leave Ohio. So - the boy got to play with it more - he messed up my blocks a little - but, here is the 2nd test - after I started it:

Overall - my prototype is working fairly well. But, I already see something things I need to change. 

If anyone in this group would like to help me test out my prototypes (before I attempt to bring my product design to the world - probably via KickStarter) - feel free to drop me a line here - and I will send you the STL files.

FYI - the flatter piece - you flip it - the square part goes thru the hole in the main unit. It allows you to help push the block out.

Happy Holidays Folks!!!

-Kurt

[3D Printing Tips and Tricks]

Cool… uhhh… actually quite cold. Brrrr.

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Dude - at times here - it is ABYSMALLY COLD!!!!!!!!

That's the one thing I HATE about living here - and why I LOVED SoCal so much!

Glad you liked the Sno-Bloks(tm). I already have plans for an updated version SPECIFICALLY for creating Igloos. Also, a plan for an additional tool to assist in using the Sno-Bloks as well as cleaning up the blocks after putting them in place. 

Needless to say - I'm in the Perfect place right now - to Push forwards with this prototype design (and, Yeah - Pun intended - to push the Bloks out of the units)!.

Maybe Kurt-the-Doppelgänger might like to print them up for his grandchildren to play with!

-K

[david merten]

Looks like a really neat idea, especially if you get the igloo one going. Your like 2 weeks to late to test in KC ( and the wet snow would have been perfect ). The snow is all gone and we are having spring weather. 80% chance of setting a new record high on Christmas.  

       David

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[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Ur funny David,

Seriously - Winter officially began today!!! Like - Officially!

So - if you want to print up the prototype - let me know - and I will send you the files. 

I just prepped up printer to kick off another print of the project - I will start it printing in the morning - before going to work - but, YEAH - make sure first layer is GOOD before I hit the road!

Wanna hear weird?

I get a Txt msg today - from the main accountant at my job - she is sister of CEO. Tells me there will be NO HEAT Tomorrow. Like - WTF - co. go bankrupt and now they can't pay for Heat!?!?! Yikes!!

They say - dress warmly and bring a Space Heater!

Unbelievable!!!

-K

[Anthony Rothert]

Kurt, I'm only a few short hours from you down in the Pittsburgh region.  We had a nice storm uncommon storm come through and I would have definitely given this a go.  We had about 6-8 inches.  Its nothing compared to that lake-effect snow... which you will get to enjoy over the next few months.  I would definitely love to give these a go.  I bet my kids would enjoy them as well.  I want to send you an email, but I'm not savvy with google groups.  I can't seem to find out how to get your email address out of these posts.  I've tried on the phone and a PC, even went a-googling for answers but can't figure it out.
Anyone care to give me a lesson in google groups? 

[3D Printing Tips and Tricks]

If you look to the far right on the top of any posting you’ll see three vertical dots in a column. Select that and you’ll get a popup menu which will include a “Reply to author “

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Anthony - thanks for trying to reach out to me. 

Project is still a bit of a Work-in-Progress. I did a bit of a redesign to the main part - after Beta testing the units this weekend. I will send to you via DM. I printed a new set last night & yesterday whilst at work - printing another Pusher unit right now. Then, once done - I will start up another main Block unit - to print whilst I am at work. 

Hopefully the DM on here to you will work properly - so - Hold Tight...

-Kurt

[david merten]

Hey I just had a thought, did you put a little draft in your mold to make removal easier? 

               David

On Tue, Dec 23, 2025, 6:10 AM Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!! <vr...@optonline.net> wrote:

Dang it all!!!

Andy - as I've reported the issue to you in the past - I will get the email reflections - but, NOT All of them - which SUCKS this time around. I got Your reply - but, NOT the one from Robert in my Inbox. If I DID - I could have DM'd him. And, using your suggestion - it doesn't come up as an option to reply to Robert - only to the OP of this posting - Me. 

As such, I'm just going to drop the STL files directly into this forum. 

So - Robert - do keep me posting on your Beta testing of the parts!

-Kurt

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[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Drafts - like in a Draft house?

I've already been testing it - the Pusher unit with the handle - works quite well. Obviously - as you will see - the handle was never fully completed. Idea was to make something that would kind of Snap onto the top of it - but, I never finished that part...

There's more to say about it - but, for now - print it out - and try it out. I printed 3 more complete sets - I just gave one to a co-worker - so she can give it to her grandchildren. She promises to get feedback from the Kids on beta testing the unit!

Once you print and try it - I'd be delighted to hear your feedback. 

-K

[Bryan Eckert]

Kurt a draft in this instance would mean the top is a little narrower than the open bottom, to make it easier to release. 

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[david merten]

Thanks Bryan, I forget my machinist lingo is foreign to many.

Kurt, lol at least you tried. A slight taper in the mold cavity allows a molded part easier removal. And the reverse can cause all kinds of problems.  I have seen some crazy things on cheap Chinese molds.

        Davidɓ

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[Bryan Eckert]

I work in packaging and displays, we do a lot of work with vac forming. So I’m pretty familiar with such things 😀

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Bryan - I was really meaning to be Humorous. I did do a Draft kinda thing - but, that caused other issues during my testing. So - I kinda removed the Draft - since the Pusher unit works well enough to get the blocks out. I will be doing more testing this week - with the new units that don't have the Draft you guys speak of.

Also - I did a BUNCH of work last night - on the piece to complete the handle part of the Pusher unit. As it WILL Snap on. But, I'm doing a few more tweaks right now (already printed FOUR versions of it - as each was getting closer to what I really wanted/needed). 

However, one of the More Important parts of that piece - I need to do that NOW!

Hold tight - as I will follow-up shortly with the finalized version of that piece design!

-K

[Bryan Eckert]

Well it was pretty funny, and now I want a holiday beer! 😀

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[Anthony Rothert]

I have PETG and PLA versions printed already of the first files you posted Kurt.  A nice easy and relatively quick print at bout 3 hours on a Bambu Lab P1S with both parts on the bed.  Set to 4 walls, and 3 top/bottom layers, this uses about 160g of filament.  There was no infill shown in the slice with these settings, so its solid.  

Now I just need to wait for snow... which could be next week or.... next month.

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Good job sir on the printing. Definitely post a pic of the PETG ones. I plan to print in PETG when I get back - as that's a stronger material and MAY Hold up better in the Cold!

I designed the parts to print QUICK - so, yeah - your settings meant NO Infill. Which works. I hope the new handle top prints well on your P1S. with decent print of the lettering.

-K

[Anthony Rothert]

As requested, here are some pictures.  The magenta and cyan are Bambu Lab PLA Basic, and the black is Pinball PETG (cheap Amazon filament).  
After printing the handle, my only critique about any of it is that the handle is too large to fit through the block opening to act as a pusher.  I can fit it an an angle, but not straight as would be expected.  

  

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Anthony - sorry about the handle issues - you're implementing it incorrectly - sorry I didn't explain this before. 

The point was to apply the handle logo unit AFTER you insert the pusher unit into the Block unit! This way - it keeps the pusher unit connect with the block unit - but, allow printing of everything Sans Supports!

Does that make more sense?

Also, I suspect you have not yet tried it in the snow???

Thanks again for joining me in this project!

-K

[Anthony Rothert]

Ahh, I understand now.  I will correct that later.  Unfortunately no, I haven’t been able to test them out.  It was 58 degrees and rainy yesterday.  There is no snow in the forecast for at least a week or more here.  As soon as I get a chance to test them, I will report back.

[Kurt]

Sounds Great to me Sir! Thanks for the Beta Testing Help and for the follow-up!!!

-K

[Anthony Rothert]

We got a few inches of snow Wednesday night so we got to try out the Snow Bloks on Thursday.  Unfortunately the snow is the soft and fluffy kind that isn't good for snowballs and snowmen.  This meant we couldn't get good blocks.

These tools are nice and easy to pack, fill it up, pack it down, flip, and push/lift to release the block.  The few blocks we made fell apart with some snow sticking in the tools as well, but this is due to the type of snow.
My kids' first reactions to seeing the tools was, "we can make an igloo!"  My thoughts exactly, lol.  I like the size of them and the captured pusher (after I reassembled them correctly).
I will continue to try these out as we get snow.  At some point we will get the good snowball snow then I can post up a good picture of the results.

[Anthony Rothert]

I just gave the Sno-Bloks another try (once each) today.  The snow is a bit thicker now a day later.  In the image, the 3 block in the back were from yesterday.  The two in the front that look the best are from today.  The one closest to the black Sno-Blok came from that tool (PETG)
The block on the far right missing both top edges, came from the pink PLA one.  The pink (PLA) pusher plate sticks in one of the corners, but the PETG tool doesn't.  A smidge of print setting tweaks would probably fix that.  I just did a quick fire away print for these two.

The good block took me maybe 15 seconds to make.  I can totally see a few kids (or adults) with these quickly building a fort or igloo of some kind.  
Very cool!

[Kurt A 3d]

Lucky I guess we dont have enough snow to test these in New Jersey. 

2 years ago I printed a couple of sno toys for the granddaughters where you could make a bird

https://www.printables.com/make/1468432 

These were an early print of mine on my XL, used 0.6 nozzels and OLD OLD fillament :-)

The snoblocks look great if you have deep snow.  Many many many years ago, during the Lindsey snow storm 1969 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_1969_nor'easter My next door neighbors sons (much older than me) Build an actual igloo by hand in their back yard.    One of those boys (They were the Katz’s) later went on to found Buddha Records https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddah_Records the rock bands used to rehearse (not too loudly) in the same back yard (though in warmer weather).   Ms Katz was a favorite stop of mine when I was selling Cub Scout cookies, she was always good for 6 boxes.   She had a wall that was overed with gold records from her son’s company. 

Kurt-A

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Anthony - thank you SO MUCH For all your Testing Efforts!

VERY Interesting - about the PLA one having problems that the PETG ones didn't. Sounds like a Tolerance type issue on my end. 

And - actually - your comment from your kids is IRONIC! Since - the End-Game of the blocks is to produce a Tweaked version that is Geared DIRECTLY Towards producing an IGLOO! 

Winter here in Ohio is INSANE - it's been Multiple Snow Storms over this past week - TONS of Supplies for Snow Building!!!

Actually - I have None of my units right now. I gave one set to a coworker - a Gal who has Many grandchildren. I gave one unit to the folks who run my apartment complex - to have them Lend it to kids here - to try it out. Then, another set - I gave to a gal friend this weekend - who has a roommate - with 2 boys - around 9-13 years old - good prospects for testing the unit. 

So - now I MUST Start cranking out more units! 

All of this got me thinking again about doing Production runs on my 3D Printer. But, as in - print several items - and then in the GCode - do a Cool Down - then a motion of the printer to PUSH the parts off the print Bed!  I did it YEARS AGO at SD3D in San Diego - and maybe it's time for me to experiment and come up with a solution for my own parts - to print Multiple parts while I am at work! How COOL Would that be???

Anyway - probably not going to make THAT HAppen this weekend...

Either way - keep me posted on prototype testing - and I will be soon working on a version Specific to Igloo making!!!!!

Stay Tuned...

-K

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

OK Mr. Doppelgänger - I am going to reply to this tomorrow - as it's getting late and I gotta make some Dinner then NetFlix and Chill with some Strange show...

I loved your reply - I gotta look at the links - and yeah - I DID do an Igloo with my son in Long Island - like maybe 14 years ago - MORE on that soon...

-K

[3D Printing Tips and Tricks]

A suggestion…

After a block is made, get a sprayer and lightly spray a bit if water on it. It will freeze and make the block a lot more cohesive.

[vr...@optonline.net]

Andy - that sounds like a GREAT IDEA!

I really have to get going to Motor Vehicles this morning - to deal with a way delayed Car Reg issue. So - I gotta make this short...

I will mention - there a bit of a process in using the design - in how you put snow in and pack it. If not packed properly - you can WAY Bad corners and edges! I will eventually have to make a video - to explain how to use it - or, rather - how I USE IT - to get optimal Bricks. 

I'm also Seriously working on some design issues of the parts - as well as a need to produce them in a better material instead of PLA - like PETG or PCTG. 

And - again - End Game - producing blocks conducive to building a True Igloo. I actually plan to do some research - to confirm how Eskimos do it - like sizes of blocks - angles and such...   Planning to have AI do the research for me and just feed results back to me!
 

-K
 

------ Original Message ------
From: 3d-printing-...@googlegroups.com
To: 3d-printing-...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, January 2nd 2026, 09:23 PM
Subject: Re: Sno-Bloks Prototype Test & Beta Testers...
A suggestion…

After a block is made, get a sprayer and lightly spray a bit if water on it. It will freeze and make the block a lot more cohesive.

 

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[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Just a heads-up. I just now pulled all of my replies with the files in them. Will explain later. For now - follow the advice from Andy if you would like me to send you the files - his advice I highlighted below in Red - to make it more obvious. 

-K

[Kurt A 3d]

Kurt-1

My DIL just sent me this model from makerworld;  https://makerworld.com/en/models/2056981-snow-brick-block-maker?appSharePlatform=more#profileId-2220512  Looks like you have competition mate

Kurt-A

[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Thanks Dude for Making me Depressed and RUINING my Weekend!!!

That being said - I think my design is more sophisticated...