Initially, I'll have to say that 3d-printing for the construction of a single puppet head (or other parts) is not faster, cheaper or simpler than any other construction method.
One big advantage of 3d-printing is that you can recreate a 3d-printed part again and again - this makes it much easier to try new things (without having the worry about breaking something that cannot be replaced) and it makes repairs very simple. I bought the 3d-printer to have more spare time - the printer can do the work while I do something else - so far that worked very well.
I have made many printable 3d-models for puppet and costume head bases. Most of my models are dual-use - depending on how large they are printed (16-18cm wide is the size for a puppet head - 26-30cm wide for a costume head). Apart from that, I made models for teeth, noses, ears, movable eyelids, etc.
My models are on Thingiverse.com - https://www.thingiverse.com/Tioh/designs - free to use for non-commercial purposes. You can change the size as you like.
Update: I copied my models to https://www.printables.com/social/192044-tioh/models (Thingiverse has too many bugs lately).
Some examples of 3d-models that I made for 3d-printing (the photo in the middle is a 3d-printed costume head base with felt ears attached).
Here's the archived thread with my older models: https://puppetsandstuff.com/archive/topic/8462
Please do not sell prints of my models - that would create unfair competition for my friends who sell their 3d-printed head bases (not based on my models).
If you want more information on how to use them to build hand-puppets go to http://puppet.tioh.de/
More photos of finished 3d-prints are in my Blog https://tioh.livejournal.com/
The finished puppets look like this:
Comments
WIP
Bear
A new variant of my head base version 44 - optimized for puppet use (slightly smaller eyes, more space for the puppeteer's hand and a plate in the upper jaw).
Bear A new variant of my head base version 44 - optimized for puppet use (slightly smaller eyes, more space for the puppeteer's hand and a plate in the upper jaw).
Teeth for the polar bear
WIP: toon bird
WIP: Toon red panda
Realistic red panda
Lizzard
Puma
WIP: Marten
WIP: Rino
I use this handle to push or pull on two Bowden cable - this controls the eyelids or ears of my hand-puppets - simple cable animatronics. The springs keep the cable in a neutral position when I do not use it. It took only around 5 minutes to assemble these parts, instead of 1.5 hours with the old models.
You need two 10cm long, 4mm diameter steel or messing rods, four springs (you have to find some springs that are easy enough to compress, but powerful enough to return to the default position), and two screw nipples with up to 6.7mm diameter. The springs that I used are 45mm and 20mm long - 8mm diameter).
Pretty cool Tioh. Looks simple enough. Did a search to see where a person could get screw nipples. Have to say it came up with some interesting results. 
If others are looking try using "phillips head brake cable screw nipple" . That should get you the correct results.
Oh and for those who would like to download the model it can be found at: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4460394
If others are looking try using "phillips head brake cable screw nipple" . That should get you the correct results. Oh and for those who would like to download the model it can be found at: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4460394
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Discussion Started Nov 24, 2019 By
