This one was not a particularly good experience. 3D printing is by nature extremely slow (although modern tech is getting surprisingly fast). I went into this project with a mindset of what is the most efficient way of doing it. After being bit by the celtic knot on the plasma cutter I am very hesitant to go all out. Initially I chose a slug because it fit the “Impossible Object” aspect of the assignment and would entertain people. The print came out well and everything worked but the issue was raised that it has been done many times before. I decided maybe I should try something else. I came to regret that decision deeply.
The next thing I tried was a bracelet. The bracelet that prints with pre-interlocked joints. Seemed fins so I tried an 80% scale and a 50% scale and sent them to two of the printers. The first 20 minutes of layers went down just fine so I left it to do its thing. Then I get an email that my print has been canceled. Apparently the 3D printer started making a loud squeaking noise when it started working on the links that worried the assistants. Honestly I can’t blame them. Next I tried printing on a different printer. Same problem. Then I switched to a 70% scale and tried it on another 3D printer. Still failed. Finally I got frustrated and sent 5 different prints at 100%, 90%, 80%, 70%, and 50% to 5 different printers. Finally I got some results. peeled my bracelets off the bed and found the 100-70 had printed just fine but they couldn’t bend. The slicing software had put a large amount of support inside the joints and in trying to remove the support I only managed to break it. At this point I abandoned that design.
Next I tried just a simple chain link. How bad could it be right? I never really found out because each of the 3 times I tried to print it it vanished. My guess is lab assistants were canceling it because of built plate adhesion problems but I was trying rafts and skirts and nothing was existing so I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. It also seemed likely to have support issues. Finally I just asked around among my friends for a file that was consistent because at this point I only had about a day and a half to complete the project. This led me to the Snakez print (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1709106). I decided to be risky and seitched from using the Prussia’s to an uncalibrated ultimaker because I have always had good luck with ultimaker. I decided to do a full send and print 4 snakez on one bed with a massive raft because that seemed most likely to guarantee adhesion and come out fine. The result was beautiful. 4 snakez that bent and looked cool and fit in my plastic thing. Now I needed to figure out what to do for the other print I needed to make. This is where I hit a bottle neck.
Initially I had planned to use the carbon fiber printer and the ultimaker. Unfortunately when I reread the assignmetn I realized that the carbon fiber printer and the ultimaker are both FDM printers. This left one option since the nice printers in the wetlab have been shut down for good. I joined the bottle neck of people trying to print on the SLA printers. Unfortunately, SLA as a process is a very slow process so a bottle neck is very bad. I checked in 4 times throughout the course of a day from 2 pm to midnight and never made it on one. I ended up coming back at 7:45 AM the day it was due because my options were gone. Naturally the machine decided to have a mental breakdown in set up. The sensor that detects if the tank is in place in the Form 2 is dirty and doesn’t work well and it didn’t think the tank was present. Thank God for Matthew Whaley coming along or I might have just given up at that point. He helped me trouble shoot it and get it to work. Nick Lester also helped me greatly by explaining the basics of how to use the software. I printed the file and did the UV bath with very little time to spare. The bath had to be changed by the lab assistants and they were kind enough to do it for me. Finally, I gave it 10 minutes to cure. This was followed by cleaning it with a pair of snips and pliers. Of course, as all the lab assistants had warned me, SLA is VERY bad at producing articulating joints so the snake promptly shattered when I tried to articulate it. I am out of time so Rest In Pieces Snake #5. I included the slug in the case as an apology to whatever poor kids gets this out of the gumball machine
Material Cost
PLA: $0.75
Resin: $2.63
My Time: $1
Cost: $4.38 for 5 snakez. Honestly it would be higher in development but it is easy an infinitely repeatable.
