In our first Maker Space workshop activity we were introduced to a subject that I was particularly exited to look at and that would be the concept of 3D Printing. Kevin introduced this to us by showing us what it is that 3D printing can do and one key example was one of Aardmans films Pirates in an Adventure with scientists, it seemed that they had used 3D printing for the characters facial expressions and were painted to look like the characters which was a surprise as it did look a bit like plastercine which was one of the main materials that Aardman used for some of their films.
Our objectives for today were to identify the purpose of 3D printing, its materials, printer types, practice tips and methods, basics of CAD programs, Identifying the purpose of slicing and a final demonstration of where we could take our ideas. Kevin the head of this workshop explained to us what 3D printing was good for such as prototyping parts and models for cars or even sets on films. In terms of manufacturing there were two types additive manufacturing and subtractive whilst rapid manufacturing was subjective and to do with timing, and an on demand process.
In 3D printing there was a variety of different materials that could be used.
Our objectives for today were to identify the purpose of 3D printing, its materials, printer types, practice tips and methods, basics of CAD programs, Identifying the purpose of slicing and a final demonstration of where we could take our ideas. Kevin the head of this workshop explained to us what 3D printing was good for such as prototyping parts and models for cars or even sets on films. In terms of manufacturing there were two types additive manufacturing and subtractive whilst rapid manufacturing was subjective and to do with timing, and an on demand process.
In 3D printing there was a variety of different materials that could be used.
- PLA Polylactic Acid- A biodegradable material, and is derived from natural sources
- Plastics: PVA,ABS,Nylon,CCE
- Metals: Steel,Aluminium, Titanium
- Carbon fibre, Chocolate, skin
Some of the materials such as PVA wern't very strong and would easily melt or degrade away over time. What I found to be rather disgusting was the fact human skin was considered a material for 3D printing, however Kevin informed us this was for good reason this would be used to create prosthetics for people who have lost their limbs in either an accident or as an old war injury. This was a validated reason and in the future it could be used to create limbs that move.
In terms of the printer itself there were different types the one we would be using today was the Ultimaker 2 plus, which was a similar model used in Fab Lab Altrincham when I do laser cutting for AWAH or my own projects so I could possibly learn how this technology works at the same time for use at Fab Lab.
Printer types:
- Stereolithography (SLA)- works with photosensitive liquid resin, and builds from the ground up.
- Selective Laser sintering (SLS) Good for fashion designs, using a liquid resin in a large tube of powder and can be used with a variety of strange materials e.g gold, concrete and carbon fibre.
- Selective Laser Melting (SLM)- This is 3D printing used to create aircraft or even nuclear reactors and the laser is specially designed for detail the narrower it gets making the model accurate and strong.
- Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM) This is a new methodist style of printing where layers of the adhesive material is compressed and cut using a laser followed by the feed laser and knife to cut the shape much like a laser jet printer however its not a strong method.
- Binder Jetting (BJ) Works with finery powder much like sintering and works very similar to HP printers, however whilst the work looks good its not functional work.
Our next section of the session was in three simple stages design, prepare and print, we were shown how to design a 3D object using an internet based program from Autodesk named Tinkercad, which was similar to maya when we set up a document we could have a play with it to see what we could do with the program and make something as a test piece. I kept this in mind if in the event AWAH wanted me to do any 3D printing based projects, or we could even use existing designs from a website called Thingiverse which had designs from every description such as the Star Wars Millennium Falcon ship which he brought in to show us and whilst unfinished it did give us an inside guide to what our 3D printed objects would look like.
This especially took my interest as I've always wanted to do 3D printing, be it making some of my own figure designs or even making my own Voltron. The file we saved would be saved onto an SD card as that would be what the printer would accept, and it would need to be printed standing up otherwise it wouldn't print fully on the base. When being shown the process of printing Kevin showed us the basic principles of how to set up the printer. One element for the printing process was the use of a glue stick to cover the platform once heated up so that the material used would be stuck down in place when building the 3D model which in this case was a small tin robot the logo of the Ultimaker Brand. When it began printing we could see that it started with a base then built up the model layer by layer until culminating into the final product.
However the model somehow came loose from the base and so couldn't be finished but this was a basic demonstration of the concept of 3D printing.
Looking back on this workshop this was a very insightful lesson into 3D printing and getting to see a practical demonstration of an apparatus that I've seen at Fab Lab Altrincham was very helpful. Hopefully what I learned here could be beneficial to future products for the course and in my volunteer work. However there was one thing to remember and that was the cost of the materials as 3D printing was very expensive to come by. I would need to wait and see if any of my projects required a 3D printed asset, but for the time being getting to learn the techniques and tools was an enjoyable experience none the less.
This especially took my interest as I've always wanted to do 3D printing, be it making some of my own figure designs or even making my own Voltron. The file we saved would be saved onto an SD card as that would be what the printer would accept, and it would need to be printed standing up otherwise it wouldn't print fully on the base. When being shown the process of printing Kevin showed us the basic principles of how to set up the printer. One element for the printing process was the use of a glue stick to cover the platform once heated up so that the material used would be stuck down in place when building the 3D model which in this case was a small tin robot the logo of the Ultimaker Brand. When it began printing we could see that it started with a base then built up the model layer by layer until culminating into the final product.
However the model somehow came loose from the base and so couldn't be finished but this was a basic demonstration of the concept of 3D printing.
Looking back on this workshop this was a very insightful lesson into 3D printing and getting to see a practical demonstration of an apparatus that I've seen at Fab Lab Altrincham was very helpful. Hopefully what I learned here could be beneficial to future products for the course and in my volunteer work. However there was one thing to remember and that was the cost of the materials as 3D printing was very expensive to come by. I would need to wait and see if any of my projects required a 3D printed asset, but for the time being getting to learn the techniques and tools was an enjoyable experience none the less.
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