Nausicaa’s Treasure (Trinket / Jewelry Box)

A pearly nautilus, and its wooden semblance, hold the ancient jewels of a mythical princess.

The outline is an exponential spiral, parameterized to approximate the shape of a nautilus shell. The chambers closely follow the locations and shapes of those found in the real mollusk. The holes at the back, used for opening the drawers, are placed along a spiral as well.

The wooden version is printed using wood-filled PLA; it is then treated with wood putty, sanded and stained.

Print instructions

Everything prints at 0.2 mm layer height.

The drawers need supports. However, only the outermost part of the top section needs them; the rest prints as a bridge.

For Slic3r (and variants) enable supports everywhere and check the “Don’t support bridges” option under Print Settings > Support material > Options for support material and raft. This option is visible in Advanced and Expert modes. These settings will generate easily removable supports for the outer part only.

In Cura, place support blockers throughout the inner part of the top section and enable tree supports with the option: Support Placement -> Touching Buildplate.

Note that if you print this in wood-filled filament, you might need to adjust the tolerance, especially if you plan to post-process it; the drawers of the wooden model pictured were printed at 98% their original size.