Victorian Christmas Ornaments – Vase Mode Set

Eight Christmas ornaments inspired by antique Victorian glass: fluted, diamond-cut, twisted, pearled, star-shaped and pine cone. Every piece prints in spiral vase mode as a single 0.7 mm wall, so each one weighs 10–13 g and takes 40 to 60 minutes. Silk PLA gives the glassy shine you see in the pictures, and clear PLA gives a frosted-crystal look.

The surfaces are smooth and high resolution, not low-poly. The relief is reduced automatically wherever it would push the wall past 48°, so every ornament prints cleanly in vase mode with no supports.

• Fluted ball: Ø 74 × 77 mm, 18 concave flutes

• Diamond-cut crystal: Ø 71 × 84 mm, sharp pyramid facets

• Twisted drop: Ø 61 × 113 mm, 8 twisted ribs

• Onion dome: Ø 79 × 92 mm, 14 melon ribs

• Eight-point star: Ø 77 × 79 mm, star-shaped cross-section

• Pine cone: Ø 61 × 101 mm, scales in natural 8/13 spirals

• Hobnail pearls: Ø 67 × 79 mm, staggered glass pearls

• Victorian finial: Ø 50 × 120 mm, fluted spike and double bulb

Hanging

Each ornament ends in an open neck, Ø 19.0 mm and 7 mm tall, sized for standard 3/4" (19 mm) metal ornament caps, the same caps used on glass baubles. Pinch the spring wire, slide it into the neck, and push the crown down. Caps are cheap and sold in bulk at craft shops.

No metal caps? Print cap-printed: a crown cap with a loop that slides over the neck (6 small ribs give a snug fit, add a drop of glue to make it permanent). It prints upright in normal mode, with no supports: 0.12 mm layers, 3 perimeters, 20% infill, about 10 minutes each. cap-printed.3mf holds 8 caps.

Print settings (PrusaSlicer, vase mode)

• Open the ornament's 3MF. It already sets 1 perimeter, 0 top layers, 4 bottom layers, 0% infill, 0.7 mm extrusion width and 0.2 mm layers.

• Turn on Spiral vase (Print Settings > Layers and perimeters > Vertical shells, in Expert mode). Accept the changes PrusaSlicer suggests.

• Nozzle 0.4 mm, extrusion width 0.7 mm (perimeter and external perimeter). Thinner lines make the ornament fragile.

• Layer height 0.2 mm, or 0.16 mm for an even smoother silk finish.

• Silk PLA: 215–225 °C, max volumetric speed about 8 mm³/s, fan 100% after the first layers.

• Twisted drop, pine cone and finial stand on a Ø 16–18 mm base: their 3MF adds a 5 mm brim. Remove it gently once the print is done.

• Using the STLs in another slicer: spiral vase on, 1 wall, 0 top layers, 3–4 bottom layers, no infill, line width 0.7 mm.

• Do not scale the ornaments: the neck has to stay at Ø 19 mm to fit the caps.

Make it yours

Everything comes from one parametric Python script (gen.py, manifold3d): profile points, number of flutes, ribs, facets or pearls, twist, relief depth, neck size. On every run the script checks that each ornament is one closed piece, that every layer is a single outline (required for vase mode), that no wall exceeds 50°, that no rib or groove is thinner than 0.8 mm, and that the neck is exactly Ø 19 mm.

Designed with AI assistance (parametric Python script).

En français

Huit boules de Noël d'inspiration victorienne (cannelée, cristal taillé, goutte torsadée, oignon, étoile, pomme de pin, perlée, flèche), imprimées en mode vase : une seule paroi de 0,7 mm, 10 à 13 g et 40 à 60 minutes par boule. Le filament soie donne l'éclat du verre, le PLA transparent un effet cristal givré.

• Accroche : col ouvert Ø 19 × 7 mm pour les calottes métalliques standard 3/4" (19 mm) ; calotte imprimable fournie (cap-printed, impression normale sans support, couches 0,12 mm).

• Réglages : ouvrez le 3MF (1 périmètre, 0 couche du dessus, 4 du dessous, 0 % de remplissage, largeur 0,7 mm et couches de 0,2 mm déjà réglés), puis cochez « Vase spirale » dans Réglages d'impression > Couches et périmètres.

• Buse 0,4 mm, largeur d'extrusion 0,7 mm, couches de 0,2 mm (0,16 mm pour un rendu plus lisse).

• Goutte torsadée, pomme de pin et flèche : bordure de 5 mm déjà prévue dans le 3MF.

• Ne pas redimensionner : le col doit garder Ø 19 mm.