Hello fellow reptile admirers! Today, I’m going to take you through my journey of creating my 3D-printed serpents, where the road to success was just as twisty as the creatures themselves!

STEP 1: Idea for printing

I went onto Thingiverse to find ideas for what ‘impossible’ objects to print. I came across a serpent which fascinated me as I am a reptile enthusiast coming from Australia! After choosing my idea, it was time to choose which printing methods I would go about with printing out these serpents. For this project, I decided to use the PRUSA machine (FDM) which used PLA filament, and SLA.

STEP 2: FDM – PLA Printing using prusa

I decided to scale and print 9 serpents on the PLA printers using the computer in the OEDK, in hoping that at least 4 would turn out to be successful however, I came back to the OEDK the next day and only 3 of them turned out to be successful which shocked me so I reprinted 4 more to get 1 more serpent. Luckily there were 2 serpents that turned out to be satisfactory and those were my PLA serpents done!

STEP 3: SLA Printing using Formlabs

Similarly to the PLA serpent, I used the computer to scale the 2 serpents (in hope for just 1 to work) I needed to print and I also added automatic supports to lift the serpents off the build platform. I came back to the OEDK the next day to collect my SLA serpents and it turned out perfectly but was later told by my classmate (shoutout Cal) that my SLA serpents didn’t print all the layers so Cal decided to help me print it again last night. A lab assistant had also washed and cured the print already and I was disappointed as there were still resin not washed off in each of the tail segments, making the serpent sticky and the body no longer mobile. I tried to move the body around to make the interlocking parts not stick to each other but to my dismay, the body broke and I was left with only 1 SLA serpent which I needed to be very careful with. I did some further curing to remove the stickiness after carefully removing the supports and luckily the serpent turned out perfectly!

Conclusion

From PLA printing mishaps to SLA slip-ups, creating my five serpents was a roller coaster ride of emotion and filament. But the end result? A handful of serpents each with their own tale (or should I say tail?) of resilience and learning.

So, dear readers, remember that whether your project is serpents or something a little less Slytherin, the journey is all part of the fun. And when in doubt, always have a Cal in your corner!

Until our next crafting adventure, keep those printers printing and those serpents slithering!