3D printing blog

Here is a link to my blog that contains more detailed explanations on my experiences with 3d printing.

http://steves3dprintingadventures.blogspot.com.au/

Nest stage two modelling and test print

Hey there, once I had a file to work with I imported it into blender to remove some of the unattached blobs and soon realised it was necessary to reduce the number of faces to make the file workable.

This involved exporting the file from blender as an obj file and importing it into sculptris. Using the reduce brush tool I took the number of faces from one million to two hundred thousand. I also manipulated the nest in sculptris which was far easier than I expected. Once I was happy with the shape I exported the file as an obj again and back into blender where I then could export the file as an stl format which was necessary for the makerbot and up software.

I uploaded the file into the up and began printing, the makerbot needed another step. The software known as makerware needs to convert the stl file into a x3g file which involves slicing the model up to understand it. This took some time and once the file was ready I saved it onto the sd card of the makebot and put it on to print.

Both prints turned out well, after removing the support structure I was happy with the detail. The models would need a little tweaking and then I will go for a full size print.

Nest stage one complete

Hello there, I have completed my first step in the nest project by scanning the nest in using a makerbot digitiser. Because of the unusual shape I had to do a multiscan which came out pretty well the first time I did it. Here is a photo of it scanning plus an image of the result.

As you can see below, there were some unattached blobs around that need to be removed, plus the lack of detail inside the nest which will take some remodelling.

You will also notice the massive amount of detail, this will be an issue and I will need to decrease the amount of faces to make the model workable as a digital file.

Nest Gant Chart

Task	Week 1a	Week 1b	Week 2a	Week 2b	Week 3a	Week 3b
Scan nest
Create model
Print nest
Finishing

As you can see, I have devoted the majority of the time towards printing because it takes a long time and the failure rate of prints can be quite high, especially in the case of large builds.

Nest design document

Hello, here is the brief I was given. It's a little light on detail and I seemingly have been given the freedom to produce the nest as best I can on my own.

Design Document

Nest

Client – Artist from Albury

Purpose – To display at opening of a gallery and exhibition promoting various arts including 3D printing.

Timeframe – Due 1^st September

Requirements  - To be as realistic as possible

                         - Use supplied nest as model

                         - To be printed in a glow in the dark material

                         - Multiple items requested, will print as many as possible

                         - Size not determined but will try to produce the nests as big as possible

Project on the go.

Hello there, in this blog I will be sharing my experiences in creating and managing some major pieces for the module Manage Projects.

I have chosen to base my projects on using 3D printing technology. My first project was to approach a local jeweller to see if they would like me to prototype some designs for them. I will pursue this option however, I was presented with another opportunity to create an artwork for a local artist in a neighbouring town so I will use that as my first project.

This first project involves the scanning and printing of a birds nest. This will be quite challenging as the technology I will be using is still at a development phase. I will talk more of the project in my next post, a design document of sorts.