Firstly, I decided to start every blog post with a picture of this fella

I was really strapped for time, so the “impossible” object was chosen based on 1 simple factor: ease of post processing. I ended up choosing a very straightforward design comprising a grooved ball (the ‘rona) trapped in a cage, by FilipDesign at Thingiverse.

For convenience’s sake, the two methods chosen were SLA and FDM. Both methods can be used because this structure is relatively geometric and straightforward. After a couple of failed prints due to filaments not sticking, the FDM prints from the Ultimaker 3 turns out to be relatively aesthetic. However, some manual processing was needed to remove the support (consisting of some in relatively elusive spots).

For the SLA print, 3 of us decided to use the same printers so that the designs can be printed overnight. Unfortunately, even though the print finished, all 3 prints “vanished” by the time 9 am the next day, not to be found anywhere. Due to the time pressure, we make the decision to scale them down to 60% to save printer time and reprint them. The exterior turns out to be much smoother, and the automatic support dissolution saved a lot of trouble removing support, leading to a generally “better” print for this particular design.

And here are all 5 of them in their little homes 🙂

Total cost

= Material cost + machine time cost (assume a flat rate of $1 an hour for both the form2 and Ultimaker 3) + labor time x hours spent

= $0.27*4 (FDM) + $2 (SLA) + $1 x (6 hours for 4 FDM prints + 4 hours for 1 SLA print) + $15 (per hour lab assistant rate)*3 hours

= $58.08