3D Printing + Scanning

Form Studies for Final Project + Eggplant Exploration

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1. 3D Modeling
2. 3D Print
3. 3D Scan
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1. 3D Modeling

This week we experimented with 3D printing and 3D scanning technology
I chose to 3D print the form I'd like to create with my final project, and then I got inspired by some beautiful Eggplants I found at the Farmers Market and decided to scan and print a few of these!

Figure 1. 3D scheme

The scheme is intended to create an infinite surface, loosely inspired by Escher's staircases. The idea is that the water within is infinitely moving, an endless flow.

2. 3D Print

I took the form and translated it by exporting the model to an STL file and then took it into the 3Dwox software. The first size, maximizing the bed size of the Sindoh 3D printer would have taken 11 hours, so I scaled it down to half this size which was predicted to take 2.5 hours and went with it. Ultimately it took about 3 hours, but the fidelity was quite high, and I was very happy with the piece. The supports (which i'd selected as "touching bed" - the surfaces directly below the form) I felt were a bit much, in the future I might try to go with less.

Figure 1. 3D model

Figure 1a. Infinite Surface creating an Endless Flow

Figure 2. 3D printing

Figure 3. Final Form

Figure 4. Final Form II

3. 3D Scan

On Saturday morning, despite the rain, I went to the Somerville Farmer's Market, and discovered this beautiful array of Eggplants. In thinking about what it would be fun to experiment with, I found some pretty interesting twisted eggplants I simply could not resist!