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 was to design and fabricate a simple pen holder, applying most of the features we already learned during the week. After a little search, I found many great and creative 3D printing ideas for a pen holder, but they all somehow looked alike. Then I saw a different and unique one on amazon manufactured by deli company (stationery provider and manufacturer ). It quite sounded like a challenge to me, but I decided to make it.

Tool Chain

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

I used Fusion360 to design my pen holder. It was a little tricky for me cause of the two rotational cuts.

I exported the design as .stl file to be prepared for Ultimaker Cura.

Prusa i3 MK2

Then I used Ultimaker Cura to slice my design, get the exact amount of time and material needed to finish the design, and get the G-code to use it for printing.

ESUN PLA filament

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 Fusion360, in order to make this shape. I drew a simple rectangle with some dimensions, then I applied the Revolving feature to it. I then used the Shell feature to make it hollow. I also did the same for the cylinder in the middle.

That is the final design. :D

As a user experience feature I used the color plastic black.

After that I made a small rectangle on the same sketch of the outer cylinder, then I used the mirror feature for it to be on both sides.

I started another sketch and drew this weird triangle in order to achieve this rotational-shaped cut using Emboss feature, then I used the circular pattern feature to create it on both sides.

On Cura, I spent much time trying to fit the design into the time and material bounds. It started by 60g and 4 hours. I then started changing the infill ratio to 5% then 0%. I also used scaling to decrease its size, in addition to changing the profile to 0.3mm . The design didn't need any supports, fortunately. I ended up with 27g and 90 minutes.

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?

After finishing the design and slicing:

I saved the file as .g-code, specifying the file name, time, material, and layer height.
I went to the lab for fabrication and added the file to the printer's SD card.
I added the card to the printer.
I started by preheating the bed, then loading the filament.
I choose the file from the SD card and started printing.
After printing, I used hot air and a cutter to remove filament residues.

VID_20220809_170901(0).mp4

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)

At first, I didn't have a clear idea of how to make the rotational cuts in the design. I then asked our instructor and he guided me with some designs, then I searched for some youtube videos. I found a video elaborating on the Emboss feature, which actually was the one that did the job for me in the end.

Final Project

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

Title of Media

WOW!

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

The latest end-of-week session was great. It was so challenging to design the LEGO parts with very many details. Also, reading the dimensions was not that easy for me, but we ended up doing something great. <3