I saw this super cute articulating capybara on Thingiverse.com and decided to use this as my impossible 3D printing object. I used two printing methods: FDM (Bambu) and SLA (PreForm) printing.

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)

For my first print, I printed a 45 mm long capybara with FDM (which is a faster printing technique) and PLA material to test the size. The results turned out to be too small for the gumball capsule, so I enlarged it to a 70 mm long capybara but it was too large. I learned that the bigger the 3D-printed part is, the more difficult it is to bend the articulating parts. At last, I settled with a 55 mm long capybara. Each capybara takes around 30 minutes to print.

I removed the supports with a tweezer and lightly sanded the rough parts with 400 grit sandpaper.

A lab tech taught me to 3D print with various colors, so I decided to do a black and white capybara (which looks like a panda!) However, though the results turned out really cool and nice, the print took around 3 hours because the machine changed and heated the thread after every layer.

Stereo-Lithorg Aphy (SLA)

For SLA, I used Tough 1500 material. I let PreForm auto-generate the orientation and supports. My friend and I combined our files into one since there was only one available SLA machine. The print took 6 hours. I came back that night to remove the print from the base and put it in the washer. As instructed on FormLabs, I did one cycle of 10-minute wash and another cycle of 20-minute wash (so that it would be safe for skin contact). Then, I let it cure for 60 minutes and at 70 degrees Celcius.

I removed the outer supports by hand first. Then, for the supports in between the articulating parts, I used a cutter tool to break the supports. However, in the first joint between the head and the arms, the resin seems to have merged together while curing, so that the part does not move freely. I finished it by lightly sanding the rough parts with 400 grit sandpaper.

 

The final result of the three types of capybara:

2*white PLA. 1*black and white PLA. 2*Tough 1500.

Cost

1. Labor fee: 3hrs x $15/hr = $45
2. Material:
   1. PLA filament (7.5 cents/meter):
      1. Test pieces: 1.48m + 4.14m = 5.62m
      2. Final pieces: 2 x 2.32m + 1 x 18.31m = 22.95m
      3. TOTAL PLA COST: $0.075/m *28.57m = $2.14
   2. Tough 1500 resin ($0.19/mL):
      1. Final pieces: 2 x14.63mL = 29.26mL
      2. TOTAL RESIN COST: $0.19/mL *29.26mL = $5.56

Total: $45.00 + $2.14 + $5.56 = $52.70

Clean workspace