Week 3 - Journal

Ideation

Tell us about your assignment's idea for this week. Why do you care about this idea? What inspired you? (Please include images or links to sources of inspiration)

This week's assignment is to print a pen holder.

I wanted to make something simple but cool.

you can find this design here and I tried to make something like it.

Tool Chain

Which software/machines/materials did you use in the assignment? Why?

Fusion 360 to design the pen holder

prusa i3 mk3 for 3D printing using PLA.

Ultimaker cura software for slicing and preparing 3D designs to be printed.

Design/Preparation Process

Explain the design and/or preparation process of your assignment. How did you use the tool or software to design and/or prepare your assignment before fabrication/implementation?

On fusion 360, I sketched a vase model then I revolved it.

The whole point of this sketch is to draw on the curves of the vase and to have different diameter at different heights, but it's not the final body.

Then at different heights I drew different planes using offset tool to offset the bottom of the vase.

Then sketching a hexagon on each plane starting from the bottom one, to make sure that the hexagon I drew on each planes would intersect the body I used the tool project/include from the create dropdown list.

After that I created a sketch in 3D and started to connect the hexagons to make triangles.

Then I used loft feature between every two hexagons and the triangles I drew earlier used them as rails.

Finally I used shell feature to shell the body of the holder 2mm and I changed the appearance of it.

Now the body is ready to be exported as STL.

Development/Implementation Process

Explain the development/implementation process of your assignment. How did you use the machine/tool to manufacture or implement the design of your assignment?

On cura, I imported the STL file and sliced the body with 0.2mm, 20% infill, 8g and it took 43 mins.

At the lab, first I unloaded the current filament and loaded the white filament, then I downloaded the STL file to the SD card and then started printing.

Here's a time lapse of the fabrication process using the 3D printer.

My Movie 5.mov

Final product

Overcoming Challenges

What kinds of challenges or problems did you face while doing the assignment, tutorials, or exercises? How did you solve them? Did you ask for help from an instructor or peer? Please provide a link to the tutorial or article that you used to solve your problem (if any)

The design was so hard to make, I didn't even know where to begin or what keyword to search for.

In the end of week session, I asked the instructors how to make it and someone suggested I should search for "low poly" pen holder, which really helped a lot.

Second challenge was printing,

Slicing the holder with shell feature from fusion made some gaps in it, I didn't notice this at first, but Asmaa pointed out this in the meeting because it happened with her when she printed.

She also told us the solution which was to print the holder without the shell feature using the vase mode, you can find it in the expert settings and choose special mode, check spiralize outer contour.

Final Project

How can you use the skills and knowledge that you've acquired this week in your final project?

I think I might print the keys for the piano using the printer because it would be so much cooler, but I'm still not sure if there would be enough time for that.

WOW!

What is the coolest thing that you've learned this week? What is something that you will never forget from this week?

I learned how to change the joints movement according to the required, and how to change the appearance of the body making it more real.

Assignment Design Files

Pen Holder [STL]

Pen Holder [gcode]

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