Week 8+9: Letters!
A student came in to use the 3D printer! They were printing off pre-made D’n’D characters, but hey, they seem really keen, so I’m hoping they’ll try designing things too.
The objects they were printing were very detailed. They used a different application to prep the file to be printed, Cura. In this program, you can set such things as how fast you want to print, and have more control on the printing process than you have with the software made by the company that made our printer. I had difficulty using it, though, so I’m sticking with our original software.
I decided to start on designing letterpress letters. My boss suggested that they would be a cool thing to try to print, so I got to it. I decided to switch platforms from AutoCAD to Blender. I tried using Blender a little while ago and found it difficult. When I tried it again, I found it even easier to use than AutoCAD.
I’ve spent much of this week measuring letterpress letters and printing some 3D models of what I measured. It’s been hard to get the sizing correct. My boss said that I’d probably need a digital caliber to get the blocks the exact right size, because exact sizing is important in letterpress block-making.
I’d made a few different blocks, but none quite had the right sizing.
The printer has been jamming. I think it’s because I got the wrong tape for the printing surface. They said blue painter’s tape, I got green. It’s alright, we have some more tape coming in soon. For now, I’ve scored the surface of the tape a bit so the plastic can stick. This works for pretty large, simple things, but anything complicated will have to wait. I tried printing a spherical shape I found on Thingverse (a site with open source 3D printable files) to test out my bucky balls idea. The printer was not having it, so, after a few tries, I’ve decided to give the printer a break.
The new student has changed the paradigm of things a bit. I was glad that he had told me about Cura, but it felt a bit like he was talking down to me. He also left a note on the printer, having noticed it was jamming, saying “nozzle jam, will fix in upcoming days. Do not use for now”. This made me feel like my ‘authority’ was being undermined. I have no intention of being any sort of authority figure, and I certainly don’t know everything there is to know about 3D printing. However, I’ve learned a lot in this position. This guy had never even designed something by hand, only printed files offline, so I didn’t quite know where he got the idea that he was the only hope we had to fixing the printer. Also, his note implied that he had the jurisdiction to decide whether the printer could be used or not. He’d used it 2 times. It just baffled me that he didn’t leave a note saying “Printer’s been jamming :(“ or, better yet, tell my boss who could tell me. The thought to diagnose the printer, and command what others should do was so beyond something I would do. All that being said of course, I know that he didn’t mean anything, and he certainly wasn’t trying to put me down. I really can’t help but feel that this is a systematic gender situation. I know that the student wouldn’t talk in quite the similar way to my boss, a man, who arguably knows much less about the 3D printer. Part of my position has been learning to do these things, I’m stationed in the lab 10 hours a week.
It also has made me a bit uncomfortable that he’s been printing things that he hasn’t designed for the sole purpose that he wants them and it’s free as of yet (we haven’t figured out a pricing model yet). The nature of what he’s printing seems to be commercial as opposed to artistic. However, I notice that it’s beyond my right to tell him against it…..
I would say something, but my boss knows that it’s happening and doesn’t mind. So, if it’s fine with him, it’s fine with me.
Studying a degree within the realm of humanities, it’s been a while since I’ve had an interaction like that. Again, I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by any of it, but in a way that’s almost worse. This is how he functioned without thinking, these subtle sexist behaviours are engrained. It also doesn’t help that, on a given day, whether it be in the lab or class, I’m almost always surrounded by more women (a delightful and lucky coincidence :P).
I feel the need to justify my feelings, as I’ve seen so many comments etc of men thinking women are reading too far into things. I interact with many people all the time. Again, I would say I primarily interact with women, but still, many various people. So I trust myself when something in my head tells me that an interaction is not similar to all the other interactions I’ve had. If I feel an action is weird and unprecedented, I trust it.
Anyway, my friend has theorized that this Super Blood Wolf Moon has everyone off, and frankly, I love blaming things on inconsequential events. I know that this sounds ironic, but I mean it in sincerity. There’s an amount of closure you can get from this, saying “This event is over so we’re moving past it.”
Anyway, I’m excited to use the caliber and print some more letterpress blocks.
