For this ENGI 210 project, we were tasked with 3D printing an “Impossible Object”, that being a design that could only be practically manufactured using 3D printing. After looking through a few options on Thingiverse.com, I finally settled on a rook chess piece created by Chris Gizzi, which involved internal geometry of a staircase wrapped inside the rook.

After choosing the design, the first step involved scaling the piece to best maximize the space available in the capsule that would be placed in the OEDK gumball machine. After measuring the capsule and scaling the rook, I then started with using the Bambu Lab X1 FDM printer to print my first piece. This is when I ran into my first obstacle, where I didn’t account for the curved nature of the capsule, which resulted in my print being too large.

After resizing the piece, I was able to get the correct dimensions, and printed four FDM based rooks using the Bambu printer. This process was fairly straightforward, and I was surprised with how automated the process was compared to the laser cutter.

Next, I moved on to the form labs SLA printer, which was a bit more complicated. I had to introduce supports by recommendation of the form labs slicer, which required a bit of trial and error. After a few hours, I was able to remove the piece from the printer to be washed and cured, and finally removed all the supports to leave an SLA based rook piece.

In the end, I was left with five rooks printed using two different printing techniques, which all fit within the capsules provided. Throughout the creation process, it was important to maintain a clean workspace, with constantly cleaning behind myself being a necessity. Therefore, the clean workspaces shown below allowed others to use the space seamlessly after me. This project was my first foray into 3D printing, and I am amazed with the possibilities opened by this technique.

Finally, I have included a cost breakdown below as a reference:

Item	Quantity	Estimated Cost ($)
PLA Filament	1/2 Spool	8.00
SLA Resin	1/10 Tank	10.00
Gumball Capsules	5	2.00
Labor	10 hr @ $10/hr	100.00
3D Cutter Use (Free)	20 hr	0.00
	Total Costs:	120.00