Week 5: 3D Scanning and Printing

1.First I created a sketch in the Top plane.

2.Then I made a 60X60 mm using the Center Rectangle tool.

3.After that, I extruded it 60 mm.

4.Subsequently, in the front plane, I made at the center of the cube half a circle of 70 mm of diameter and revolved it using the revolve cut tool.

5. Here comes the funny part, I made another cube inside the cube, of 40x40 mm, but this time i extruded 20 mm in one direction and 20 mm in the opposite.

7. Inside that cube I made another half circle in the center, as the other one, it was in the front plane and it also was 10 mm longer than the cube lenght. The idea behind that is to exceed a little bit the cube in every face in order tu create a circular shape in every face.

I revolved the half circle of 50 mm diameter with the revolve cut tool.

8. Finally, I made another half circle inside the cube inside the other cube. This half circle was of 40 mm diameter in order to not be able to get out the cube, because the circular shape y tinier than the sphere. I revolved the shape using the revolve tool.

9.To export our piece, we have to File in the top menu and save our piece as an STL document.

1.To add a printer we have to click on the tab and select add a printer.

2.Then the program will ask if we want to add an ultimaker printer or a Non ultimaker printer.

3.And then add a local printer and follow the steps.

1.After creating a new project (which is created opennig the program), we must go to the top menu, in File and open an STL file.

2.After opening our file we have to set the printer values. It is important to notice if our piece is in the right position, if we want to change its position after slicing it, we'll have to do it again.

3. Then we have to set the parameters and slice it.

1. First I took the SD card attached to the printer.

2. Then I used a USB adapter and uploaded my G-CODE.

3.Subsequently, I attached the SD card again and look for the files in the "imprimir" (print) section.

5. Finally, I selected my file and started to print.

1. After downoading the software, it will ask for a connection to a Creality family scanner.

2. For using the scanner, first we have to connect it to the computer and the software will automatically recognize it.

3. Scan a QR code that comes in the box to calibrate the board.

4. Then we have to scan in different positions the calibration board to calibrate our Scanner.

5. Once we have calibrated our scanner, we will return to the menu and start a new project. For our scanner, the settings should be infrared, face, texture, and disable the flat base.

6. Next, we will need to slowly move the scanner around our surface. The scanner gets lost on very dark surfaces, so it is important to add references to guide the laser.

7. Finally, we need to mesh our scan and export it, either as STL or obj.

To mesh the scan we have to click in the One-click process button.

To export the piece we have to click in the Export button.

EXTRA. I followed the same steps but with my head, because my hair is very long and black, the scanner kept losing track, so I decided to put my shirt over my head. We also placed reference points in different places where the scanner kept losing track.

1. We have to open Meshmixer and import our STL.

2. After importing our STL, we have to move and rotate it. For that we must use the Edit tool in the left menu and select the Transform option.

In Transform we can move the position of our STL, rotate it and scale its size.

3. After changing the position of the STL, I scaled it to 100 mm in the X axis.

4. And using the Select tool in the left menu, we can cut the parts of the mesh that we don't want to work with. In this case I just want my head.

5. Then, with the Edit tool and selecting Make a solid we can do exactly that, and select the quality and quantity of nodes we want our solid to have.

6. In Edit we can also select Close cracks to also do what the tool says.

7. Finally, we can export our file by clicking on FILE and then EXPORT. We must export it as an STL for the next steps.

1. We have to open Anycubic Photon Workshop and import our STL.

2.Next, we will hollow out the figure and assign an appropriate thickness to its walls. In my case, I selected a thickness of 3 mm. The Hollos function is useful for saving resin and preventing it from detaching from the bed, which in this case is upside down.

3. We will then add two holes in order to release the air inside the figure and the residual resin.

4. Next, we will tilt the figure 45 degrees, since minimizing the surface area of each layer drastically reduces the suction force that separates the piece from the tank, improving print quality, releasing residual resin, and making it difficult for it to detach from the plate.

5. Then, we have to add supports in order to facilitate the printing process. The software offers three types of supports: Light, Medium and Heavy. I choose heave because it brings more grip.

6. To slice we have to click the button in the bottom right. But before slicing we have to make sure of having the correct resin. In my lab we have High Speed Resin, so that is the one I used.

7. Finally, we have to save it in a USB disk.

1. First, I connected my USB adapter so I could load my document.

2. Then I removed the cover.

3. After that, I made sure that there was nothing that may obstruct the printing process.

4. Then I logged into the USB and uploaded my document.

5. After that, I started the printing.

5. When the printing was finished, I gently removed my head with a spatula. My print consisted of 640 layers.

6. Finally I used an Anycubic Wash & Cure 3 to cure my piece and cleaned it using a paper towel and Isopropyl alcohol.