Week 3 - Journal
Ideation
Tell us about your assignment's idea for this week. Why do you care about this idea? What were you inspired by?
Introduction:
The assignment for week 3 was to Design a model of ONE 3D Part using Fusion 360 of a pen and pencil holder that may rest on a flat surface. Also it was required to export .stl and .gcode files to get ready for fabricating it using 3D Printing the next week.
Why I care about the idea:
An eye catching design was my ultimate goal from the start of the thinking process to get my own design of pen and pencil's holder that reflects my personality and complete my first 3d design using fusion 360 and 3d printing.
My idea was to combine the simple form of the pen and pencil holder cup with a dynamic mesh instead of the conventional perforated one. Also the rotated lines directions are inspired from the pencils' free rotated position.
Simple pen and pencils' holder with conventional perforated mesh
Perspective view for my design with eye catching mesh
Normal free rotation of pencils (diagonal lines)
Perspective view for my design with eye catching mesh (With changed appearance)
Top view for my design simulating the natural rotation of pencils
Perspective view for my design with eye catching mesh
Final Printed Design
Tool Chain
Which software/machines/materials did you use this week? Why?
Autodesk fusion 360 for 3d modeling and exporting .stl file.
And For 3d Printing: PrusaSlicer software - Prusa i3 MK2S machine - PLA filament material.
Design Process
Explain the design process of your assignment. How did you use the tool/software to design and/or simulate your assignment?
First I started by searching to get inspiration for my design, made a hand sketch for the idea i chose and get stared with a new design in fusion 360 and saving the file with the name Pen and Pencils Holder.
1- Starting by sketching a circle with the needed diameter on xy plane.
2-A plane offset from xy plane with separated from the base by the needed height of the holder.
3- Sketch a circle on the offset plane with larger diameter and loft feature was made to connect the base with the top circle.
4-Then made plane offset from yz plane to create the diagonal cross section of the mesh. Select the offested plane and create anew sketch with the inclined connected lines.
5- Shell feature applied on the upper surface of the loofted body to create a thickness to the hollow model
6- Extrude the inclined closed line with Intersection to get the cross section of a single rod in the mesh.
7- Circular pattern of the rod around z axis to distribute them around the lofted body.
8-Mirror for picked rods around yz plane to complete the crossed mesh .
9-Extrude feature for the circle in the bottom sketch with Join to create the base of the holder to stand on.
10-Offset xy plane with specified vertical distance or could Apply Slice plane on a certain height on the holder and then create sketch on that plane with a circle . Loft was made to connect this circle with the circle sketch
11-Edit the sketch in the upper plane with offset to the outer circle to create a hole on the top for pens.
12-Cut the internal circle on the upper surface from the body (-ve extrude)
Timeline for the design generation after Combining bodies
Changing the Apperance of the body by right clicking it.
Saving as STL. to the one resulted body
Fabrication/Implementation Process
Explain the fabrication/implementation process of your assignment. How did you use the machine/tool to manufacture or implement the design of your assignment?
- Preparing file:
1- save combined body in fusion 360 as .stl file
2- import .stl lile in prusa slicer
3- choose Prusa i3 MK2S as a printer with print settings 0.35mm FAST
Generic PLA as filament material with infill 10%
With no Supports and no Brim
4- starts scaling the model to reach the restrictions in time and gms
5- start slicing
6- export gcode for the model with 17.56gm and 1:25 h
- Preparing printer:
1- checking the filament material that is enough and with the color I need and it was okay for me and with the color I need (black)
1- pressing the middle button and choosing preheating of bed and filament with 215 and 60 degree respectively
2- inserting the memory card of the printer with the gcode on it and choosing the file from the menu by pressing the middle button and enter the memory card and scrolling until reach the gcode of my file and pressing the big middle button again to choose the file and start printing
step 1 preheating .mp4Printing process:
1- printing starts and the handle is moved to start the print on the position of my model on prusa slicer
2- checking that everything is okay for 10 minutes and then I came back near the end of the print
After printing:
1- after finishing I waited for the cooling process and then picked my 3d print
2- cleaning the bed for the next print is required
cooling bed after finishing.mp4
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 advice from the instructor to one of my peers really helped to make sure the perforation not to be very thin in order to avoid problems in 3d printing so I took the approach to make thick intersecting rails (rods) to create the perforated mesh for my design and avoid the problem of thin mesh.
The other thing that really helped me is the way of thinking to start in any 3d model practiced with my instructor in mid weak sessions, by breaking down the geometry and get used with the way fusion 360 3d modeling and design approaches and i really get inspired by the way my peers analyze the overall drawing into specified simple geometry and the approach to its modeling.
Also the assembly with different types of joints i had a problem with applying it only from the tutorial video but i got it in the mid-weak session from my instructor.
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 project?
I found it hard and took much time to make the mesh of the holder so i tried these things:first i re-watched the tutorial video of the mesh of the vase on the maker diploma website and then started my research on google so i found other way to do the same think which is the Emboss Feature. and i found it really cool with other things like text also. i think that could really help me instead of Intersection in the extrude feature.And here is a tutorial i watched to learn Emboss more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAjhTFxi2_
What can Emboss Feature help us with
I followed another tutorial that i found easy in making circular perforation in a mesh : https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Kj6h6ARtITE
In the early deign stage i thought of kinda an organic form so i searched for how could this happen and i learned the difference between solid modeling and surface modeling that allows the designer to create unique forms as it gives more control than that of solid modeling. and here is the video i watched: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmgwKewMcw8 that was really interesting and i recommend my peers to watch.
WOW!
What is the coolest thing that you've learned this week? What is something that you will never forget from this week?
The thing that really impressed me this week is what can fusion do in the field of my interest which is architecture.
i already knew that fusion is a parametric software but i didn't know to what limit can parametric modeling reach in it.
I searched to found what can architects do with fusion 360 and i found many applications with it but this specially made me impressed : https://www.pinterest.com/pin/201043570849820619/
And i found other organic parametric models that was modeled on fusion 360.
