3D Printing

 individual assignment:

- design and 3D print an object (small, few cm)   that could not be made subtractively

Assignment: 3D OBJECT

The assignment of this week is to make a 3D object to print with a 3D printer in Fablab. My idea  is to model  an object that is not easy to make by milling  because the assignment requires so. My   model   is   a   sphere   penetrated   by   a   sort   of   tentacle   inside   and   outside   it.   In   addition,   to   make   it   more   difficult,   I   decided   to   have   a   readable   text inside the sphere. The software chosed  is “Rhinoceros 6” because i really like this program. The first step is add a sphere from the tools panel and after sets the radiant of sphere  by a mouse pointer; clicking to confirm.

The Fablab’s Printer:

In my Fablab in Siena we have a Ultimaker 2 and a Ultimaker 3 printer. To start to learn to use this technology all students can use Ultimaker 2. This is a very famous model of 3D printer.

Setup Cura Software for 3D Print

Cura   Software   need   to   set-up   for   print   the   object,   Layer   Height,   infill   density,   the   modeled   object   is   exported   to   gcode   file   that   will   be   copy   in   the   sd card ,and finally printed by 3d printer after insert SD-Card in the slot and load the file from logical control display.

G-CODE FILE

I   need   a   base   for   my   sphere   and   I   make   it   with   solid   tools   that   are   in   the   lateral   bar   ,   with   the   box   maker   command.   Next   step   is   to   place   the sphere over the base. I select the sphere (left mouse click) and drag it, with left mouse button  hold , to final position.
To   drill   the   sphere   I   need   to   use   the   boolean   operation   for   solids   ,   in   particular   the   subtraction   of   cylinder   from   the   sphere   object.   I   create   the cylinder   with   relative   tool,   move   it   at   the   center   of   the   sphere   and   proceed   to   the   boolean   subtraction   using   the   command   found   in   the   lateral panel.I select the sphere first and after the cylinder as subtractive element.
Next I  draw the path of tentacle with the tool named “freehand curve”, then I use the “tube tool with flat teminations”  to generate the tentacle on the path drawn. The tool requires the diameter of the initial and final circle of the tentacle. The next step is create a little base inside of sphere, with the same method I used to create the supporting base.
Now   I   create   the   text   object and      place      it      inside      the sphere    on    the    top    of    little base   and   use   the   text   tool   to write   the   text.   The   window   of function   requires   to   fill   many fields,   but   in   this   case   I   need to   input   only   text,   size   of   the character,      depth   and   select the field to group everything.
This is text tool Symbol

Finally My  3D OBJECT  is Printed!

Front

Rear

Final Render of 3D OBJECT

The sphere, the tentacle and the text inside has been modeled by me with powerful tools of solids geometry in  rhino program. After final render, the modeled object is exported to .stl file format  for Cura 3D slicer software.

Original Files and Useful Links

My mistake: Ultimaker 3 is

not Ultimaker 2+!

When   I   created   the   file   with   the   Cura   software   I   forgot   to check   that   setting   to   specify   which   3D   printer   is   used,   so   I generated     an     incorrect     file     that     the     printer     does     not recognize.
Cura  Software: printer selector