Week 1. B. Principles and Practices

Introduction 🖊

Before entering the Fab Academy, I had the idea in mind of working with biomaterials. This world full of colors and smells caught my attention. I think that the Fab Academy final project is a good opportunity to develop a product made of them! Or even a machine which can be used to process them! We’ll see where the course takes me. 💫

But biomaterials and learning how to do almost anything are not my only interests within the Fab Academy. 😉

Since I moved to Amsterdam I have noticed that every Wednesday I find a lot of furniture or materials lying on the street (especially at the end of the month because of removals). Due to it, I would like to be able to use objects/furniture/materials that I find on the street to upcycle them for the weekly fablab’s assignments.

I created this instagram @paola_zanchetta_ profile where I will post every weekly assignment design.

In this way, I will learn How to upcycle already existing materials, develop new biobased ones and dress up my living room with funky products!

Fab Assignments 📚

  1. Sketched your final project idea/s
  2. Described briefly what it will do and who will use it

My Goals 🎯

Process 🏊‍♀️

1. Research

Attached are some interesting links which I researched during this week.

Desktop Extruder Machines to buy:

Desktop Extruder Machines to DIY:

Other interesting 3d printing options:

How to make a home-made 3D machine:

How to make home-made bioplastics:

Bio-Materials made from Milk / Cheese:

Inspiration from Fab Academy & Fabriacademy students:

2. Idea for my Final Project

Desktop 3d BIO Filament Machine

I would love to be able of recyling my food leftovers at home, using a 3d printer to build circular objets.

Due to my previous experience working with the Precious Plastic injection and extrusion Machines. I want to create a desktop extruder machine that I can use to make my own 3d filament using bio-materials &/or recyling plastics.

As a starting point, I would like to make 3d filament from the cheese industry.

Here in the Netherlands people eat lots of cheese, and due to the fast end life of the material - and its hard smell - the cheese is troughed out.

It would be nice to print 3d cheese cutters made from cheese!

FP - 0

The main fiels of this project are:

FP - 1

Features

Components

The basic components which the extruder should have are:

  1. The Hopper.
  2. The Barrel.
  3. The Nozzle.
  4. The Barrel Holder.
  5. Framework.
  6. The Electronics.

Plus, i have some extra features in mind which I would like the machine to have:

  1. Outcovering box, to ensure that the temperature stays constant.

  2. Easy to clean components, specially the Hopper and the Barrel.

3. First Ideas for my Weekly Assignments

Create upcycling concepts with the second-hand objects which I found in the Amsterdam streets.

Every week - especially at the end of the month - the streets of the city are filled with second-hand furniture due to removals. Where people see used furniture without function, I see perfect opportunities to do upcycling projects giving it a facelift. In the end, all these objects are precious material that we can use to give them a second life.