Spirit House Updated Version by GhostMouse

Last crawled date: 3 years, 4 months ago

Among the first things I ever designed was the Spirit House Incense Holder https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2734677
It was the first thing I ever designed that wasn't an incredibly simple preset shape slapped to another one or two of them to meet a practical purpose, so I kind of consider it my first "real" or "serious" design.
But from the beginning I was looking forward to making it better as I improved with Tinkercad, so it could look more like an actual spirit house. I'm so excited to have finally done it. This is more what I was thinking of when I made it in the first place and I'm so happy that now I've learned enough to do that. Not only does this one look much better, it also prints much better. I had a lot of issues printing the roof on the first one but the print you see in the photos was done entirely without supports! I wanted to see what it would do, and kind of expected it to fail to be honest, but while I had to clean up the bottom of the platform a wee bit as it was understandably messy, other than that it is perfect. For subsequent prints I recommend using supports only for the underside of that platform. Tree supports may work best, but either way, avoid excess support right by the column to avoid snapping it right off!
A spirit house is a Thai tradition- there are more details on the original entry. This model includes dedicated slots for incense sticks, or possibly flowers, little flags, messages, whatever. I added a staircase into the cavity in the house and put the whole thing up on a stand, as most spirit houses in Thailand are. You can just use it as a pretty incense burner, but if you want to be more traditional you can place a teeny, tiny doll inside to represent the friendly spirit you would like to provide a home for- usually ancestors and departed family. Then you can burn incense, leave offerings, and proffer prayers or ask for guidance. "Aunt Lucy, I miss your biting wit. My neighbor is being a butt, please tell me the best insult for the next time that jerk lets their pet stegosaurus poo on my lawn. I have brought your favorite chocolate covered raisins."
I'd be over the moon to see people's prints of this item so please post it or otherwise link me if you print or remix it!