Week 1 - 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)

The assignment of the week was to get familiar with the lab, its machines, namely the laser cutter and the 3D printer, how to prepare the files and operate the machines, another objective of the week was to be able to use free files downloaded from the internet.

Tool Chain

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

For the laser cutting I used a laser cutter (obviously, yeah), 3mm plywood, and "LaserWork" software package.

For printing I used Prusia Mk3 printer, White generic PLA filament, Rhino for adjusting the design, and Ultimaker Cura for converting the .stl file into printer gcode.

Laser cutter

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?

First: Laser cutting

I downloaded the file at (https://3axis.co/download/qommzgro/)

Converted the file from .cdr file into a .dxf file using an online converter.

Adjusted the file size and the cutting size on LaserWork software, the parameters of cutting were speed 20m/s and 65% power

This is the final product, a small laser cit keychain.

Second: 3D Printing

Downloaded .stl file from the following link

(https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:302394)

Edited the .stl file in rhino to adjust its proportions to fit bigger tablets and ipads

This is a mockup I created to the product to ensure its fit and to visualize how it looks.

Then I used Cura to convert the new .stl file to gcode, I edited the infill to be linear, decreased its density to 15% and increased the number of perimeter layers to be 4 and decreased the layer height to print the part in less time, also the temperature was set to 215C to better suit the PLA material found in the lab, the print consumed 21 grams of PLA

The stand in action after it was finished

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?

First: laser cutting

Using the laser cutter was easy, I opened the .rld file in the lab computer, named it, downlaoded it to the laser cutting machine, sat the orgin, tracked the frame to make sure that my work lies withing the limits of the plywood sheet, checked the estimated time for the cutting, which was about a minute and started the cutting process.

Second: 3D printing

For the 3D printing, I sent the .gcode file generated from cura to the printer using an SD card, and using the unique name I sat for the file I found it in the printer file manager and selected it, the printer took a while to reach the desired temperature, which is 215C for the nozzile and 60C for the bed and started printing.

I watched the print checking for any problems that might have arisen in the first few layers, which fourtunately printed well.

After the print was finished taking it out was easily as the prusia i3 had a magnetic deteachable bed which flexes to detach the printed model from the bed which facilitated taking the model out.

Community of Learning

Did you ask for feedback? What are the ideas that others have contributed or suggested? What was someone else’s idea that you built upon? How did you help your peers? How did your peers help you?

The file I prepared when I went to the lab had the printing temperature set to 200C as this was the default setting in cura, the lab instructor explained that the printing temperature is material dependant and for the PLA available at the lab to give it best result the temperature needed to be set to 215C.

(The image is not for this exact print but it shows the bed and printing tempeatures on the same printer for illustration)

Overcoming Challenges

When you got stuck, what/who did you turn to? At what point did you have to pause to research or learn more before moving on? What are some mistakes, pitfalls, or challenges that others can avoid if they were doing this assignment?

The results turned out to be great in both projects, however with regular use I found the 3d printed stand to be uncomfortable to carry around especially with the weight of the tablet due to its corners being very sharp, had the model been filletted it would've imporved the user experience a lot.

Final Project

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

Well, the exercise of the week was on how to operate the machines to make parts, and the final project most definitely requires parts, so yeah, I guess I'd be beneficial :"D

Also getting to know the websites where prople share their projects and models is a great asset, not just for downloading and using models, but I find it a great asset for learning from people who have undergone similar project and have more experience they were kind enough to share with everyone in the maker community.

WOW!

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

Well for me, understanding how something works usually makes my day, so what I found most interesting thoughout this week, even more so that making the actual project was understanding how the laser cutting machine works, as the instructor explained how the laser beam is generated from the CO2 tube and how it is then reflected and focused, I realized that my conception of how the machine works was totally wrong, as I expected it to reflect the laser to the work piece through a bendable optic fibre, which wasn't the case.

Assignment Design Files

Stand.stl

cat.rld

stand.3mf

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