Initial Attempts at 3D Printing
My parents are coming to visit Boulder this weekend, and they’ve made it known that they would like to see how I’ve been spending all my time and resources. Understandably. The CMCI Studio has nearly limitless resources, of which I am ashamed to say I’ve not taken great advantage of in this first month of classes. So I’m on the phone with my dad, and he says “3D print me something, I want to see how it works.”
In the back of my mind, I’m thinking two things in succession. #1: “Fuck, I have no idea how to 3D print anything and I have a week to do it.” Followed by #2: “Let me use this to figure out how to print something cool and I have a week to do it. This is the push I needed.”
Today is Monday, and I’ve successfully figured out how to 3D print stuff already. It’s remarkably easy, especially if you already have the models to print. Thingiverse is an incredible resource for user-created digital design files, essentially ready for printing. It’s as easy as downloading the file, opening it in Cura (Ultimaker’s 3D printing software), matching the settings with the type of filament you have, exporting onto the file onto a USB, and hitting print. It’s a very satisfying experience as well.
I have long hair and happen to share a bathroom with a woman, and with our powers combined, we’ve been going through a lot of Drano. The first thing that I printed was a hair trap for a shower drain. Figured it was simple enough, wouldn’t take too long to print, and it’s practical. The printer said it would take 45 minutes. RJ helped me set up the files, the settings, and the printer, and the print head was off!
The print was a success. And it looked pretty good. I was happy with the result. There is an option on Cura called “Adhesion” and checking this option tells the printer to print a small initial layer of filament that allows the object to stick to the glass so it doesn’t move around during the print. The only issue that I was having was just trying to get this piece of adhesive off the glass without damaging it, but I was able to do using a couple of tools in the studio.
I was excited to go back to my house to try and place it in the drain. Unfortunately, the inside circle that is supposed to fit inside the drain was not even half a millimeter too big. I might try to sand it down. That or go into some 3D software and try to make the circumference of the inner circle smaller.
The process was so simple I wanted to come back for more. So that’s what I did. I am currently printing this neat little pen holder for my room. This was a bit more of a project, as the printer informed me that it is going to take 16 hours. I knew these prints would take a while, but I was not anticipating this length. You can also change the “resolution” of your prints to make them print faster if the quality is not important to you. The drain stopper I printed at the second-lowest resolution, and this pen holder I’m printing at second-highest resolution setting. Excited to see how it will turn out tomorrow morning. And looking forward to pumping out any future 3D printing projects. Just another tool to add to the arsenal.
