3D Printing and Scanning

This week, we focused on 3D printing and scanning. I've been learning and using Solidworks for this class as I find it easier to make parts that fit together, but this week I decided to use Rhino. I wanted to experiment with some of the Transform tools like twist, bend, taper, and stretch.

I made a simple base object (some nested cube skeletons rotated within the outside frame) and then used the taper and bend tools to create a set of three objects. I wanted to create simple objects with different emotional qualities communicated through form.

I have also been working on a mechanical toy. For the toy, I tried to print all of the moving parts in one go, and ordered from Shapeways. These parts were printed with an SLS process where nylon powder is fused together by a laser. Unfortunately, I did not leave enough tolerance between the parts and they do not move. I learned my lesson - next time I will leave more space!

The cubes were printed on the Invision printer with wax supports. After they were printed, we put them in the oven at a low temperature to melt away the wax. After the oven, the prints were still a little shiny, though I could have removed more of the wax with an oil bath (oil bath procedure explained in more detail here.)

Tomer and I also experimented with the Sense 3D scanner. We tried scanning various objects around the shop, including a squeeze bottle with a small tip extending from the bottle. The Sense wasn't great at picking up the details of the tip, so we tried another object that was a bit simpler and more solid. We found that you had to maintain a very consistent distance from the scanned object, and that bigger objects were much easier to scan. After we scanned the object, Jon helped us import it to a nearby computer where we patched up some of the holes with AutoCAD.