The New Hotness

Start with a picture of a dog paw:

Dog Paw Coaster - starting picture — Dog Paw Coaster – starting picture

Rescale the paw to about 100 mm vertically to properly fit a normal-size glass / tumbler / mug. This may be considerably larger than life, but dog owners always want more dog, so it’ll work.

Generate an outline mask in GIMP:

Dog Paw Coaster - paw mask — Dog Paw Coaster – paw mask

Generate another mask for the pads & toenails:

Dog Paw Coaster - pad mask — Dog Paw Coaster – pad mask

Convert those into paths, save them as SVG files, and hand them to OpenSCAD:

include <BOSL2/std.scad>

/* [Hidden] */

PadThick = 1.2;
BaseThick = 2.0;

RimHeight = 0.4;
RimWidth = 0.8;
RimOffset = 1.0;

Clearance = 0.1;    // embiggen pad recesses

OutlineFN = "Dog Paw - Outline.svg";
PadFN = "Dog Paw - Pads.svg";

union() {


  linear_extrude(h=BaseThick)
    import(OutlineFN);

  color("Green")
    up(BaseThick)
      linear_extrude(h=PadThick)
        difference() {
          import(OutlineFN);
          offset(r=Clearance)
            import(PadFN);
        }

  
}

Which will get you a solid model like this:

Dog Paw Coaster - OpenSCAD model — Dog Paw Coaster – OpenSCAD model

Should you want decorative raised rims around the perimeter and pads:

Dog Paw Coaster - raised rim - OpenSCAD model — Dog Paw Coaster – raised rim – OpenSCAD model

Then turn this on:

if (false)
  color("Red")
    up(BaseThick + PadThick)
      linear_extrude(h=RimHeight) {
        difference() {
          offset(r=RimOffset + RimWidth)
            import(PadFN);
          offset(r=RimWidth)
            import(PadFN);
        }
        difference() {
          offset(r=-RimOffset)
            import(OutlineFN);
          offset(r=-(RimOffset + RimWidth))
            import(OutlineFN);
        }
      }

Run the solid model through PrusaSlicer, send it to the MK4, and, while the printer is buzzing away, run the pads through an online nesting program to see how well that works:

Dog Paw Coaster - Pads nesting - LightBurn layout — Dog Paw Coaster – Pads nesting – LightBurn layout

While nesting didn’t save much material, it might come in handy for something more intricate and now I’ll be able to find it again.

Then get busy:

Stick adhesive sheet to the chipboard
Mirror the pads to cut adhesive side up
Cut the pads, rescue a toenail from the chip tray
Import the paw outline SVG
Offset 0.75 mm inward
Stick adhesive sheet on the cork
Cut paw outline (adhesive up, but not mirrored!)
Peel & stick

Which turned out pretty good:

Dog Paw Coaster - assembled — Dog Paw Coaster – assembled

I used Concentric infill on the top to resemble the fur pattern, but it came out way too subtle.

The owner liked it, though, which made it all worthwhile.

The New Hotness

Dog Paw Coaster