UAWC3 Lab (Page 25)

Hello everyone, Things are moving along with the 3D printer.  At the beginning of the week, we finished printing the parts for our first model rocket, the engine lock ring and the fins.  The rocket is fully assembled now and ready to fly later this semester.  Come to A-120 to take a look! Dusty perfected the art of applying acetone to smooth and “shiny up” our objects.  Instead of heating acetone to a vapor, it can be soaked into a rolled up paper towel and brushed onto an object.  This saves a lot of acetone and produces similar results.  Good job! Yesterday we printed aRead More →

Hello everyone, The rocket nosecone printed perfectly yesterday.  The piece is thin, symmetrical, and ready to fly.  The cone features an attachment beam for the parachute, printed by strings lines of plastic in mid-air to each side of the cone.  It is amazing to see the printer print plastic in mid-air, like a spider building a web.  We also printed a guitar string winding tool. Today’s print is the rocket’s payload mid-section.  It has a threaded base which prints automatically as part of the mid-section.  Also in the dock is a Wonder Woman’s tiara!  You never know what some of our students, faculty, and staffRead More →

Hello everyone, Today is our first attempt at printing something for the engineering students.  A student requested not just a sample nosecone from Thingiverse.com, but an entire model rocket.  We will print a part of the rocket each day, starting with the nosecone this morning. The nosecone is tricky, as the base has six “teeth” that do not provide much adhesion to the base.  For this job, we are printing the nosecone on a “raft” of temporary plastic to allow it to stick in its early building stages. Come over and take a look! TomRead More →

Hello everyone, Yesterday’s cat shaped candy box turned out beautifully.  The edges are sharp and the lid perfectly matched the box. Today’s print is much more challenging.  It is a heart that is round on all sides.  The printer must print a small base, then immediately print a convex shape, basically printing impossible angles without much support underneath.  It will be a difficult print, so we are hoping for the best.  Come to A-120 and take a look! TomRead More →

Hello everyone, Today we are printing an elephant figurine and a cat shaped gift box.  The elephant is proving a challenge, as it seems to topple over on its legs before the body is printed.  We are learning how to stabilize such a shape on the print bed (making it “stick better”); it is a real challenge. Right now, the printer is making a red, cat shaped gift box, the box and matching lid are printed at the same time.  Come to A-120 to see how it is coming out! TomRead More →

Hello everyone, Today’s 3D printing project is a Droid cell phone holder for the car.  This is tallest and most complex object that we are printing; it contains two bolts, two nuts, the mounting plates, and a tall pillar that serves as a mounting arm for the phone.  This pillar will be the most amazing part of the project, if the printer can handle something that tall and narrow.  We are holding our breath to see how it prints! Come stop by and see the printer in action! Tom P.S. If you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please let me know.Read More →

Hello everyone, Right now we are printing an iPhone 5 case for a student.  Come take a look! We are learning that print head speed affects the accuracy of the initial outline on the first layer.  If the speed is too fast, the “string” does not stick to the platform, pulling away from the corners.  This is our second print of the case; it looks wonderful now. We will try another variation of an iPhone case tomorrow.  Stop by later tomorrow morning to take a look! TomRead More →

Hello everyone, We are printing a heart shaped “puzzle box” right now; come and take a look!  This is our first “complex” object that has hinges and folds up like a Rubic’s Cube.  The interesting thing is that it will print as one piece with no assembly required. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:44579 Stop in A-120 to see the printing in-action! TomRead More →

Hello everyone, We are printing an iPhone dock for Leslie right now.  Come and watch! This is our first attempt at designing something on our own.  Leslie borrowed a dock from John Roncone and wanted a copy of it.  Dusty took dimensions, designed it with Creo, embellished it with his own customizations, and sent it to the printer. If you would like an object printed, please visit www.thingiverse.com, choose Explore > Categories from the top menu, then e-mail the name of the object you want. TomRead More →

Stop by A-120 and see what we are up to.Read More →