Planned Error as a Driving Inspiration: Leveraging Technological Defects as Creative Practice
I wanted to explore the erroneous qualities of 3D printing due to its additive properties, as opposed to CNC technology, which is subtractive.
Having printed objects in the past, I was somewhat familiar with the components that can go wrong when 3D printing, but I had to explore much more in depth before fully understanding the errors that I could use and control myself.
One of the main errors that I have come across fairly often is the problem of under extrusion — essentially, not enough material flows through the nozzle and leaves gaps in the “skin”.
This can happen when the nozzle becomes clogged or filament fails to come out due to a lower extrusion multiplier specified.
By further understanding why this happens, I was able to take advantage of this “error” and utilize it within a controlled environment. I started out by testing out different extrusion multiplier variables and was able to figure out what worked best with the 3D printer and filament type that I had access to.
Most of my first tries turned out poorly — not enough material would mean that there was nothing for the next layer to build upon so ultimately the piece would fail.
The key to understanding the extrusion multiplier was to look at the diameter and the angle of the walls. Since I was building everything in vase mode (meaning hollow with no support underneath) I had to make sure that my piece was extremely structurally sound.
To be continued…
