Process Blog: 3D Printed Object
The following process blog documents the ideation, design, printing, and evaluation for a 3D printed object.
Ideation
We were given very loose guidelines on what object we wanted to 3D print. The object had to use 3 out of the 4 following techniques: extrusion, revolution, boolean, or fillet edge/surface. Other than that guideline, we were allowed to make anything that “would be useful in our everyday lives.”
When skimming the list of ideas, one instantly caught my eye: a coin organizer. This may be an odd choice, but I still use mostly cash to make any non-internet purchases. I also get a lot of satisfaction with paying with exact change if I can. This means that at any one time I’m carrying coins in my wallet. Creating a coin organizer was an obvious choice for me.
My current wallet has a two-pocket accordion-style pullout for coins. I took a few measurements and made a quick sketch of a sliding insert that could fit within my wallet. After this I jumped right into designing in Rhino. I had learned last week (with the laser-cut object) that I had a hard time designing 3D objects in 2D, and it was quicker for me to try things out, rather than spend a lot of time trying to figure out every single bit of logistics.
Design and Printing
My initial design in Rhino was of a thin trapezoidal shape. I knew that I had to keep the width of the object thin, because of the restraints of the accordion-style pocket. My original design measured only 3 mm in thickness.
I used Boolean to “cut out” two scoop shaped pockets into the trapezoidal shape to create room for the coins. This meant that I would eventually print two copies of the design: one to hold pennies and nickels and the other to hold dimes and quarters. After many attempts of using “fillet,” I finally figured out how to “fillet edge” the corners to make them more rounded.
Printing was a relatively easy task. It only took about an hour and half to print. I decided to only print one of the organizers in order to test my design without wasting filament.
Self Evaluation
I evaluated my original design by testing it in my wallet. One of the biggest flaws with my design was that it was not thick enough to hold coins. While the coin organizer did alright with one or two coins, when filled with any more coins, they would just fall out.
Second Iteration
In my second iteration of the design, I decided that instead of having two coin organizers (one for each accordion pocket), I’d only make one. The organizer would hold have three compartments to hold pennies, nickels, and dimes, while the second pocket in my wallet would be for quarters. By getting rid of the second organizer, it allowed me to make it thicker (up to 5 mm). I also made the second iteration slightly bigger in order for it to fit more snugly in my wallet.
Printing the second time was slightly more complicated. Instead of printing it in class, and then waiting for it in CoMotion to print (so I could monitor the progress), I started my print Friday night. I could only stay for about 15 minutes before I had other obligations. This meant when I went to pick the print up on Sunday evening, I had no clue whether it successfully printed or not. Luckily, other than a few stray lines of filament, the print was alright.
Future Work and Reflection
There are still many improvements that could be made to the second iteration. First, the coin organizer was still not thick enough. I think that I’d have to make it a 2–3 mm thicker to be able to properly hold the amount of coins in my wallet. (Most of the in-class feedback that I got also addressed the thickness issues).
Additionally, when I printed the second iteration, it was just a little bit closer to the edges of the print plate than I was comfortable chancing, knowing that I was going to have to leave. To combat this, I shrunk my design by about half of a centimeter. This meant that it did not fit into my wallet has snugly as I wanted it to.
Additionally, logistically, I would not have picked up my second print on Sunday night in the snow. It was a little unnecessary to go to Fluke at 6:00PM to retrieve the print, when I could have easily just picked it up in class (especially considering that class was then canceled the next day because of the weather).
