Assignment 5
Brief
- Design and 3D print an object (small, few cm3, limited by printer time) that could not be made subtractively
- 3D scan an object (and optionally print it)
Desining and Printing
The enclosure I made in week 2 could definitely be made on a mill. And want to have a crack at some print-in-place design.
Design
Our only criteria is that it can't be made subtractively, i.e. think anything on a 5-axis mill. Internal geometries or print in place are the perfect candidate.
A pumps enclosure and impeller is a great.
I started with the casing, no angles above 45 degrees to the horizontal and lots of surface area for build plate adhesion.
Next was the shaft and one of the fins, I checked the maximum size of my drills chuck for the end of the shaft. I added small tabs at the bottom to provide support while printing, while being small enough to easily break (with assistance from some vice grips).
Then patterned the fins around 6 times.
Then with the help of some datum planes the input and output tubes.
Printing
I used my Ender 3 Pro with BL touch to print this first version.
My slicing settings are often focussed around rapid prototyping, fast but relatively weak prints.
My key slicing settings were as follows: * 0.25mm layer height * 2 walls (horizontal and vertical) * 20% Gyroid infil * 80mm/s base print speed * 5mm brim, with 0.5mm distance
Key printer details: * 0.6mm nozzle * Glass bed, for good adhesion I used Magigoo
Total print time was 4 hours
EDIT: I used Cura but the uni team I am in have converted me to Prusa slicer(and derivatives).
Frustrations with cheap 3D printers
EDIT2: I realised that the Ender 3 stopped me from 3D printing parts since it was an effort fixing it everytime so purchased an A1 Mini.
The print came out much better, was printed much faster:
Slicer settings: All stock, just the updated nozzle - 0.6mm (I like to use just one colour, the AMS is mainly for auto-swapping filament when a spool runs out).
And with an updated time of 2hrs, thats a lot of time and hassle saved. (time for more projects and documentation)
Result:
As you can see its almost flawless, for the file we sent it and slicer settings, this is so good. Highly recommend Bambu printers.
Resources - DESCRIPTION
3D Scan
Story time: While procrastinating uni a while ago... I was watching Corridor Digitial a VFX channel, they mentioned in one of their videos a 3D scanning app, Polycam. So would be using this to capture my 3D scan.
I installed the app on my Pixel phone (unfortunately it does include a 2D ToF array like the iPhones do) A scanned my handy coding buddy.
After about 30 minutes, my 78 photo scan was compiled into this 3D file.
I'm not profitient in Blendr so opted to use Windows built in 3D software - 3D Viewer. Upon completing the scan and trimming it, I realised that if we mounted the object on a stick a little higher it would be easier to trim.