abacus bracelet

I have wanted an abacus bracelet ever since I saw one on the Instructables website. Unfortunately, my wood working skills were not up to the task.  Now that I have a 3D printer, I can have my bracelet and I can share my love of math with so many others.  

I found that this model prints best at .16 mm layer height.  When I printed it at the standard .2 mm, the vertical holes (for the headpins and beads) were a bit difficult to use.  Supports are absolutely necessary and must be removed completely.  I accidentally left 2 of the holes plugged and had to clear them before the pin would go through.

In addition to the printed model, you will need 8 headpins of at least 2 inches (50 mm) in length.  The beads that I used are 3 mm plastic.  If you are using significantly larger beads, you may have to increase the model height (z-axis).  Also, if you prefer a 5/2 abacus rather than the 4/1 that I made, you may need a bit more height. 

My wrist is small and I have to make most bracelets smaller in order to wear them.  For this reason, I printed mine 10% smaller than the size of the file that I uploaded here.  I decreased the model by 10% only on the x-axis.  Now it fits perfectly.  I uploaded the full size file here since I assume that it will fit most people better.

I love the fact that this ancient calculator is made using modern technology.