3D Scanning and Printing¶

Group Assignment

Test the design rules for your 3D printer(s)
Document your work on the group work page and reflect on your individual page what you learned about characteristics of your printer(s)

Individual Assignment

Design and 3D print an object (small, few cm3, limited by printer time) that could not be easily made subtractively
3D scan an object (and optionally print it)

Learning outcomes

Identify the advantages and limitations of 3D printing
Apply design methods and production processes to show your understanding of 3D printing.
Demonstrate how scanning technology can be used to digitize object(s)

Have you answered these questions?

Linked to the group assignment page
Explained what you learned from testing the 3D printers
Documented how you designed and 3D printed your object and explained why it could not be easily made subtractively.
Documented how you scanned an object
Included your original design files for 3D printing
Included your hero shots

Time Management¶

You can access my timetable here.

Group Assignment¶

You can access the documentation for our group project here.

3D printer¶

The 3D printer at our lab is the Prusa i3 MK3.

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Machine and Specifications¶

Build volume : 250 x 210 x 210 mm | 9.84 x 8.3 x 8.3 in

Layer height : 0.05 – 0.35 mm

Max travel speed : 200+ mm/s

Max hotend/heatbed temp : 290 °C / 120 °C (572 °F / 248 °F)

Mainboard : Einsy RAMBo 8-bit board

MMU2S/3 support : Yes

Nozzle diameter : 0.4mm (default) / other nozzle diameters supported

LCD screen : Monochromatic LCD

Print surface : Magnetic heatbed with removable PEI spring steel sheets

Cutting Tool Chuck : Collet method

Filament diameter: 1.75mm

Here is a picture of us working!

Reflection¶

This group assignment was quite fun for all of us to work on. Since all of us had forgotten how to use the 3D printer at our lab, this assignment helped us learn it all over again. Understanding the limitations of our 3D printer will be very beneficial and helpful for future projects involving the 3D printer.

Individual Assignment¶

Our individual assignment for this week required us to design and 3D print an object and scan an object. We started this week off by firstly understanding the difference between subtractive and additive maufacturing.

Necesarry information¶

Subtractive and Additive manufacturing¶

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Subtractive manufacturing refers to a process where material is removed from a solid block (or sheet) to create the final shape. It uses methods like CNC milling, drilling, cutting, and grinding.

Additive Manufacturing a process where material is added layer by layer to build an object. It uses methods like Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), Stereolithography (SLA), and Selective Laser Sintering (SLS).

FDM printer vs SLA printer¶

In our local session, Rico also talked about the different printer types; specifically FDM printer and SLA printer.

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FDM printer

Fused deposition modeling (FDM), also known as fused filament fabrication (FFF), or filament 3D printing, is the most widely used type of 3D printing at the consumer level, and the most recognizable for the average layperson, who may associate the broader concept of 3D printing with this ‘hot-glue gun’ method of building parts. -Formlabs.com

The material will be delivered as rolls of plastic filament and fed to the head of the printer. Inside the head, the plastic is molten and deposited through a fine hot nozzle onto the plate. The movement of the head in the x and y direction is computer controlled. The deposited material is cooled and becomes hard. The printer at our lab is a FDM printer.

Advantages	Disadvantages
Affordable & Accessible	Lower Detail & Surface Finish
Stronger & More Durable	Less Precision
Easier Post-Processing	Weaker Layer Adhesion

SLA printer

Stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing was the world’s first 3D printing technology, invented in the 1980s. Despite this, SLA has taken longer than FDM 3D printing to achieve widespread adoption and awareness due to typically higher prices and a slightly more complex printing process. -xFormlabs.com

Unlike the FDM printer, the material will be in the liquid form and delivered in a bottle. The build area will consist of a small bath with a see-through area, which will be filled by the material.

Advantages	Disadvantages
High precision and detail	more expensive
can be painted w/out much sanding	requires post-processing
Better for Small, Complex Parts	Limited Material Strength

Prusa vs. Bambu Lab 3D Printers¶

Prusa and Bambu are 3D printer brands that use FDM but have different mechanical systems.

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Prusa 3D printer

Advantages	Disadvantages
easier to troubleshoot	Slower Printing Speed
Open-Source & Customizable	Less Rigid Frame

Bambu 3D printers

Advantages	Disadvantages
Fast Printing Speed	can’t modify firmware
Multi-Material Printing	Not open-source, fewer DIY modifications.

3D designing and printing¶

I will be using the software Fusion 360 to design my model. Since the design should not be easily made subtractively, I decided to make a complex looking hollow chess priecewill spiral designs.

Create the base circle.
Select ‘offset plane’ from the ‘construct’ drop down menu.
Select the circle and drag it to the height of the cone.
Create a smaller circle on the new plane.
Under ‘create’, select ‘loft’.
Connect the two circles together.
I then made the other part of the body by following the same instructions.
Now, let us create the spiral cuts. Go to ‘modify’ and then ‘shell’. Select the whole body and then set the thickness to 2.
Create a sketch on the front plane. Draw a horizontal and a vertical line.
Now that we have the outer cover of the chess peice, we can create the spiral design. Go to ‘sweep’ under ‘create’
Make changes to its features.
Now let’s thicken the design.
Change its settings.

This is what it will look like.

To create the pattern:
Change its settings.

This is what it looks like:

To make it look more like a chess piece, I made the head more realistic.

Now, we can start printing it. Download the design file as .obj and import it to Prusa Slicer.

This is the settings of the printer I set for the design:

NOTE: I set the supports as ‘Everywhere’, instead of ‘None’.

Tap on slice now.

Export.

Now, eject the SD card where the G-code is avaiable and insert it in you 3D printer. You can then start printing.

Here are the final results!

Here is a link of all the tutorials I followed:

Now, lets print it.

After about 3 hours, it finally finished printing. This is what it looked like intially with the support.

Here is a video of me taking out the support material, and like my instructor mentioned, it was HELL.

This is the final result. Heroshot!

Why it cannot be easily made using subtractive manufacturing?

My chess piece cannot be made subtractively because of its hollow and spiral design. Since subtractive manufacturing (a laser cutter for example) involves moving a tool through material, it will not be able to mimic the spiral, circular, hollow design.

3D scanning¶

To 3D scan, I used the application, Scaniverse. It a a very user-friendly applciation which provides very good results.

Using Scaniverse¶

If you also want to use Scaniverse and this is your first time using it, you can follow along here.

This is what the workspace looks like. Press the ‘+’ sign to get started.
You will be provided with 2 options. I went with the 2nd one.
You will be provided with another 3 options. Pick the one that suits the object you want to scan best.
You are now ready to scan.