This week, the project was to use a 3D printer to make something that cannot be made subtractively and to use a 3D scanner to scan an object. For my 3D print, I made a cylinder with a raised pattern of hexagons on the inside. I printed this on a Formlabs Form 1 printer. At first I was going to make the cylinder opaque so that it looked like a plain cylinder but if you put a light on the inside, it would make a pattern of hexagonal shadows. But then I decided to just print the cylinder in clear. The hexagons are visible now even without the light, and with a light on the inside, the hexagons glow. To get the light inside the cylinder and also to allow the resin to drain, I made a small hole in one face of the cylinder. Then I put some LEDs in the small hole and powered them with a button cell battery.

For my 3D scan, I used the app 123D Catch. I first tried to scan one of my 3-in-1 utensils, because I thought it would be cool if I could print another one. This didn't work out, presumably because it was so flat against the table, and I ended up with just a scan of the table around the knspork. Next I tried to scan a small pumpkin, and it mostly worked, but it's a little messed up in a couple places. A picture of the 3D scan is included below. The stl file can be found in my public folder.

Week Three: 3D Printing