Talking about 3d printing like pretending that I know what I’m talking about…

jCi
jCi
Nov 5 · 6 min read

Quick.

When I was a kid, always had the fascination with toys with engines and small gears. You know, remote control cars.

Called “remote controlled car” but it was really “shortly wired potentiometer”

As as you can expect, this thing broke. Cannot be repaired as I wanted. Unfortunately, it has not been preserved through time. That makes me a little sad being an adult. But still, what bothered me at that time was the manufacturing process of plastic stuff.

So, if you are curious how toys are made, here’s a quick rundown.


Molding

In the toy factory, a prototype is modeled. Sometimes clay. Usually with discarded materials or other toys. Check the…uhm, series “The toys that made us”. In the Masters Of The Universe episode, they frankenstein’d the shit out of other toys to make ends meet. Like Battle Cat.

Depicted here, Battle Cat.

It was a discarded tiger from other line and new pieces were added to allow He-man ride it. When it was bundled with a He-man figurine, you got a box with this:

Those were the times…

Omitting He-man, all the pieces here were manufactured using a mold. A metallic mold with two or more pieces put together. There, hot plastic is injected and after cooling down, all metal parts are separated and the plastic piece falls into a conveyor belt or any reservoir. A shit ton of engineering, so to speak.

These molds can be made with different processes.

  • Use a solid block of metal and drill the shit out of it until getting the piece wanted. Usually, this process uses a CNC (computer numerical control) machine and is used mostly for pieces that have a lot of right angles. Let’s say a plastic box or a ruler.
  • Made the mold! For figurines and toys. Remember that they used clay? Well, first create a cast of the figure using a polymer clay. Something that can withstand MOLTEN FUCKING IRON. If you’re wondering, it’s 1500C. Then drill the holes for material injection, add some supports, bolts and Bob’s your uncle.

Technically speaking now, we need metallurgy, plastic material knowledge, clay modelling hacks and of course having all the necessary infrastructure.

That could make any 12 year old frustrated trying to make his own toys (me). And wood was not an option.


2019 now.

Understood that there are, at least, two processes, to build stuff.

  • Subtractive process : a big chunk of something is filed, drilled or whatever, as fuck.
  • Additive process : like plastic injection, but you need a mold.

Well, not anymore!


3D printing is basically dropping hot small lines of plastic on a surface that follow a path on all axes (X, Y and Z) with these simple rules:

  • Horizontal Path, on the X and Y axes. Namely, “path”
  • Vertical Path, on the Z axis. Namely, “layer”.

Shape is being defined on the horizontal path and the vertical path creates the height of the final product.

In layman terms, 3d printing is just making an infinite sandwich made with a fuck load of layers using only a teeny tiny string made of hot cheese that draws a shape (or follows a path). For some reason, it has some interesting results.

10 year old me would have learnt CAD now to start printing stuff.

Long story short.

ybermonday. 3d printer on sale. Being downtown. Good idea! Quick! To the store! Hi! Get me that. I am pretty sure. Shut up and take my money, now! Don’t put wrapper on it. That’s OK, I have a bag. 10 kg box. Ouch, heavy. Got home. Open box. Find out that I need to assemble it first. Yikes. Got hungry. Buy spring rolls. Got me some beers also. Need tools. Have them. Start assembly. Got thirsty in the middle. Do. NOT. Get. Frustrated. Please. INSTRUCTION MANUAL IS FOR PUSSIES. Micro SD card? Hell yeah! WHY CAN’T I DO THIS SIMPLE THING WITH MY HAND SHAKING AS FUCK?!?! What is this? Oh, calibration first. Uhm. Need filaments, I guess.

Did it in around 3 or 4 hours. Who cares.

It is the Ender 3 model from Creality. It’s a cheap 3d printer, but it fucking rocks.

So, if you plan to buy one, make sure you have some basic tools. Like screwdriver, some gaffer tape and a magnetized surface. And a big, tidy, empty desk. Of course, had only the tools but not a desk that can be called “organized”. Comes with the territory.


I assembled it. Calibrated it. And started printing.

And BOY OH BOY. What a fantastic tool.

Had some serious questions on “where to start?”. Here are my tips.

  • Your first print will FUCKING SUCK. Don’t get frustrated.
  • Your second, third and fourth print will FUCKING SUCK EVEN MORE. That’s because you are using the filament from the printer’s factory. Drop that shit and buy some decent filament. Also, don’t get frustrated.
  • At this point, you’ll see all the small details that the prints have. Strains running around the hot bed, a blob of shit on the hot bed and maybe a non functional thing. Time to start planning ahead.

First thing first : print as much as you can with the small white filament that came with the printer. You’re gonna need it.

Remember that I mentioned that this is a sandwich? The extruder head…oh, boy. Have to explain that?!

TL;DR. You monsters.

My tips!

Kinda OK with the supports. Could have been worst…?!
  • Get to know the nozzle width FIRST! It’s the pointy, hot thing where the hot filament goes down. Ender 3 comes with a pair of 0.02mm nozzles. Learnt it via trial and error.
  • NEVER install the software that came with it! Use Ultimaker Cura instead.
  • If you want, connect it to a computer. That thing will have to be operative as long as the printer is running. So, if you’re are in a hurry, buy a CRAP. TON. OF. MICRO. SDs. You’ll thank me later.
  • This thing comes with a spatula (called scraper, but spatula is funnier). As you know, sandwiches are fragile. Have you tried to kick a Subway Sandwich? It will eventually become pieces of bread and shit spread all over the place. This spatula does that. If you want to make sure printed pieces don’t get destroyed, file the spatula to have a razor blade.
  • Calibrate the monster regularly. At least once a week. Use a level and some paper. Extruder head should touch the hot bed lightly. And here’s why you need paper. And knowing the nozzle width. Just to make sure that the filament that comes out from the extruder does not hang.
  • Learn first how to use the printer software (I SAID CURA!). Learn the fillings, the layer height, the printer speed and like a ton of shit. Don’t start with the piece design. Open your browser and go to thingiverse FIRST! Interesting stuff there. Learn how to print stuff from others FIRST.
  • Give away your good prints. That’s risky, but gratifying. Why? It gives value on the product. Buy some weird ass colored filament and use to print shitloads of useless crap. Gears, puzzles, tests and so on. But having them as gifts will actually make you a better person. Also, you can get invited for some tea.
  • And with practice comes perfection.

Now go print some shit. I did.

Duck season? Goose season?

I have just a request when a print is finished.

jCi

Written by

jCi

Working class hero in business hours. Living legend on my spare time. I believe I’m wrong and the whole universe is right. That’s why I enjoy being right.

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