Outside of tattooing, I like to mess around with other art forms, especially 3D printing and digital model making. I use programs like Blender and Nomad to experiment, making everything from useful designs to silly models. Exploring these digital and physical processes keeps things fun and helps inform how I approach creativity in all my work.
With that interest I started a 3D printing account on Cults3D under the name TorchJoy, where I design and sell downloadable files for other makers to print at home. You can check out my work and prints over at https://cults3d.com/en/users/TorchJoy/3d-models.
This was my very first model. I treat 3D modeling as a hobby, so my goal was to keep things enjoyable. I began with a simpler design to get a feel for how models translate to real prints, paying close attention to supports and what prints best on a standard PLA setup.
From there, I began exploring how common household items could be incorporated into 3D-printed designs. That curiosity turned into a cockroach launcher powered by a rubber band. It was both ridiculous and satisfying, and a great way to see how much abuse a print can actually take.
After that, I wanted to experiment with larger-scale, more detailed sculpture, which led me to design a functional dice tower. The piece features an alien crab picking the last bit of food from a skull, with the dice traveling through a hidden Z or S, shaped internal tunnel before rolling out and settling inside the skull. Sculpting the interior of the crab was especially interesting. Finding ways to guide the dice, add rotation, and make the roll feel intentional while still keeping the structure organic.
The next project was a token my brother asked me to design for his coffee shop. Something he could hand out to help promote the business. That project sparked my interest in recycling PLA scraps by melting and casting them into a high-heat mold. While the experiment wasn’t fully successful, it was a valuable learning experience. A two sided coin really needs some form of plastic injection to capture the detail properly. I’ve held onto the molds though, with plans to eventually use them for metal casting in the future.
This wizard frog sculpture was a just-for-fun piece, made as a playful break from more technical projects.
After that, I wanted to explore something more playful and interactive. Noticing how popular articulated designs were, I decided to create the “Auto Middle Finger.” I imagined someone tired at work, done talking, and able to communicate exactly how they felt with the press of a button. The design uses a rubber band and internal lever to hold onto the middle finger, causing it to pop up and down. It took several test prints to get right. The lever needed to hold a joint at the base of the finger to function properly. Along the way, I also dug into research on mechanical joints to figure out what would give me the movement and reliability I was looking for.
This pendant project was another experiment with “casting” PLA scraps. I simplified the design so only one side was detailed. My first attempt involved softening the plastic in a pan and pressing it into the mold, it worked somewhat, but the details weren’t sharp, and there was a lot of extra plastic to clean up. Next, I tried melting chunks of PLA in the oven at 270°C and sprinkling them into the mold. That gave better results but still left big air bubbles along the edges. Finally, I blended the PLA into almost a powder and applied it in three layers, which produced a clean, successful cast!