Welcome to my blog! This week in my prototyping course, I revisited the fascinating world of 3D printing, a technology that enables the creation of complex structures often unachievable by conventional manufacturing techniques. My history with 3D printers dates back to my undergraduate days, where they played a pivotal role in my capstone project for crafting the housing of a device, as well as in another course where I printed a 3D model of a brain, which was particularly thrilling. For my recent assignment, I was challenged to select an ‘impossible object’ from the Thingiverse website—an item that defies fabrication through the methods we’ve studied so far in the course. I was drawn to the design of a duck with a helmet, which stood out due to the intricate helmet design that would be tricky to replicate with traditional techniques.
To brush up on my 3D printing skills, I revisited the educational modules on the Canvas learning platform, focusing on the operation of various printers available at the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK). Subsequently, my classmate Pablo and I set out to bring our chosen designs to life at the OEDK. We began by downloading our respective files to the OEDK’s printer computer from Thingiverse. Opting for efficiency, we used the Prusa printer first, loading both objects into the Prusa software to save time.
The initial print revealed that the helmet on my duck wasn’t rendered with the precision I hoped for—the FDM method of the Prusa wasn’t ideal for such detailed work. In pursuit of better quality, Pablo and I switched to the Bambu X-1 Carbon printer. Although also an FDM printer, it promised a quicker print time, and I was able to incorporate supports to enhance the helmet’s fidelity.
The Bambu printer improved some aspects of the print, but the helmet’s finer details still fell short. Therefore, I turned to SLA, confident that the Formlabs 3 printer would capture the intricacies of my design. The SLA process indeed yielded the most precise rendition of the duck, with the software’s recommended supports contributing to the success. However, the higher costs and longer print times associated with SLA made it an impractical choice for such a small object.
Ultimately, I settled on producing the remainder of my ducks with the Bambu X-1 Carbon. While it didn’t match SLA in precision, it offered a satisfactory balance between speed, detail, and practicality for this project.
| Material | Cost | Amount/Hours | Total Cost |
| Formlabs Grey Resin | $199.00 | 4% | $7.96 |
| PLA filament | $49.95 | 8% | $4.00 |
| 3D printer operator | $21 | 2 | $42 |
| Prototyping Engineer | $39 | 2 | $78 |
| Total | $131.9 |
We assume for the cost analysis that we get the printers from the OEDK.
