Zion’s 3D Printed Gorillas | ENGI 210: Prototyping and Fabrication

My 3D Printing Journey

The first thing I would like to say about this project is that I loved it. 3D Printing in my eyes is amazing and I love how the possibilities are virtually endless as long as you find the right 3D printing process to create your vision. For this project I was tasked to create an impossible part that fit inside of a gum ball capsule, a part that couldn’t be manufactured by any other method besides 3D printing. Not only was I to print 1 impossible part but in fact 5 of the same impossible part using 2 different printing methods in my case FDM and SLA.

Due to time constraints with the project we didn’t create our own parts using CAD. We ended up sourcing our parts from Thingiverse. Here we were able to download an STL file which would be used in the 3D printing software when trying to slice and print our parts. The file I decided to go with was an articulated gorilla which had a moving head, arms, and legs. What makes this gorilla impossible to physically manufacture is the fact that it was all one part yet had moving hinges that allow you to individually move the legs, head, and arms.

Shows the gorilla file I downloaded from Thingiverse

After downloading the file, I started out with 3D printing using FDM printers. The first printer I used was the Prusa i3. In order to send actually print the design i downloaded I had to open the STL file in the prusa slicer. In this slicer I had to resize/scale the gorilla down to a size that fit within the gum ball capsule. I chose to use a size of 1.8 inches since the gum ball capsule measure about 2 inches in diameter. After rescaling my part I had to add supports and a brim to add better adhesion to the 3D printing plate and to keep my part from printing incorrectly. After I set the supports and brim correctly I downloaded my file to the printer and let it print. I printed two gorillas at the same time on the Prusa i3 printer. While that was printing I also decided to print two more gorillas on the x1-carbon Bambu Lab printer. When using this Bambu slicer i didn’t have to add supports because the plate already had some sort of sticky adhesion that prevent parts from sliding/moving. This slicing software wasn’t as easy to use as the Prusa slicing software however the speed of the Bambu 3d printer seemed to move a lot faster.

This shows the Prusa i3 printing out 2 gorillas

This demonstrates the gorillas getting ready to print on the x1- Carbon Bambu printer

After both printers finished printing I had a total of 4 completed gorillas and I just had to print one more. For this next printer I had to use and SLA printer which printed using a resin. The machine I used for this was the Form 3 from Formlabs and the resin used was called grey pro v1. I upload an STL file into the Prefrom slicing software and like before rescaled and added supports.

This shows the gorillas with supports inside of the Preform slicing software

After printing I had to wash and cure the resin printed piece. After taking it off of the supports I tried to move the arms and because the resin actually fused the small hinges together the arm actually broke off.

Gorilla printed and take off supports (left) gorilla with broken arm (right)

After reprinting I tried to move the gorilla’s arms and legs and they once again did not move so to not break the piece I left it alone. It became apparent that when trying to make very small movable parts it is very difficult to make with an SLA printer. After having all of my pieces printed I set them up to pose for a picture and then put them in the capsules to be submitted.

Strengths

Some strengths in this project was adding supports and FDM printing. I didn’t have to print multiple times and my parts printed correctly on the first try for all of my FDM printed parts. I think furthering my knowledge on supports, brim, infill, etc. would be good to continue growing however for this project I did pretty good with those things. Another strength I had was correctly scaling my part to fit within capsule.

Points of Improvement

I believe some things that I could have done better was have a resin printed piece from the SLA printer that was able to move. I tried a total of 4 times to get the SLA printer to print a moveable piece but each time it didn’t work and the hinges would either fuse together or break off. I tried to changing the supports and I even took away the internal supports to see if this was causing the part to fuse but this attempt was also unsuccessful. I tried washing the piece and moving it slightly washing it again and moving it slight to try to gain some mobility before curing it and even that didn’t work. So moving forward I need to improve upon my SLA printing skills especially with small moving parts.

What I Liked about this project

I liked the fact that this project exposed me to multiple types of 3d printing and printers. In this project I used three different 3d Printers and even got to experiment on my own with one additional 3d printer (Raise 3d N2 plus). I created some other impossible parts such as a snake and a lizard/dragon. You can see some of the pictures down below in the “Additional Photo Dump” section. Getting exposure with these machines has equipped me with more skills and has expanded my knowledge on 3d printing. For me this 3d printing experience won’t be the last. I will continue to grow and explore the world of 3d printing.

What I would do Differently

Given the chance to use a SLA printer again beyond this project I think i would increase the size to see how this effects the hinges and if it would allow motion or if the parts would still fuse together. I think in order to save time next time I would also print everything at once. I would have the FDM and SLA printers going at the same time so that I don’t waste time just waiting around.