If you’ve ever traveled through the Czech Republic, you know the allure of the Wooden Tourist Badge (Turistické známky). These circular wooden souvenirs are more than just collectibles; they are a physical map of your adventures. But as a collection grows, the challenge becomes: how do you display them in a way that honors the journey?
Inspired by the Hexa Nástěnka model on Printables, I decided to take it a step further. Instead of a simple board, I wanted to recreate the entire shape of the Czech Republic on my wall using 3D-printed wooden hex-tiles. This idea had been in my head for quite a long time. Boosted by coffee and a bit of silliness, I finally hit the "Print" button.
Creating a map out of hexagons isn't as simple as it looks. From the beginning, it seemed easy, but as the printing progressed, I realized this was going to be a challenge. To get the proportions of the Czech Republic right, I couldn't just "eyeball" it.
With the help of the Gemini CLI, I developed a custom web application to solve this. The tool allowed me to:
Upload a map: I started with a white silhouette of the Czech Republic.
Overlay a Hex-Grid: The app generates a grid that I can rotate and scale.
Interactive Design: By clicking individual hexagons, I could "paint" the shape of the country. This allowed me to decide exactly which tiles to print.
The original Hexa Nástěnka model is great, but to create the jagged edges of a map, I had to modify the tiles. I used two main techniques directly in the slicer to avoid having to use complex CAD software:
Splitting the Model: I took the base models and split them into parts, printing only the 3-hex and 4-hex sections needed to finish a specific edge.
Negative Volumes: To get the exact curvature of the borders, I used the "Negative Volume" tool in the slicer to cut specific shapes out of the hex tiles.
I chose Aurapol Bamboo Wooden PLA for its organic look and feel, but I soon realized it behaves differently than standard plastic due to the organic fibers.
Lower the Heat: While I usually print PLA at higher temperatures, my temp tower print revealed that 205°C was the "magic number." Anything higher caused local overheating and excessive stringing, especially in the final phase when printing the pins.
Retraction is Key: I increased the retraction distance to fight the "ooze" that happens between the pins on top of the hexagons.
Post-Processing: It took me a few nights of manual cleanup. Because it’s a wood composite, you can sand and finish it like real timber. It truly behaves like wood.
The final map holds 237 badges, turning a pile of souvenirs into a massive piece of interactive wall art. It’s a 700g "puzzle" that represents years of travel and over 60 hours of 3D printing.
The project was a massive undertaking—printing this amount of tiles takes time and patience. But seeing the map of the Czech Republic on the wall is incredibly satisfying. Each badge now has a "home" that corresponds to its real-world location.
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