Week Five: 3D Scanning and Printing

The major goal for this week is to play with 3D-printing to develop a general awareness of 3D printer and scanner. The first step is to use a stl file to test the quality of our 3D printer. Our 3D printer is makerbot. I've heard both some good things and bad things about this brand, but nothing is more reliable than one's actual test. I download a file is shown in the picture, and have it tested thoroughly. Here are some parameters:
Machine: Makerbot Replicator 2
Material: PLA
Layerheight:0.2mm
Temperature:210degrees
Number of shells:2
Fill:10%
I use the middle quality, which costs me 3 hours to print. It will probably take 6 hours to finish the whole printing process. The weakness of Makerbot is its failure of printing the tip of the tower.

Test

The next part is to design my own 3D-printing design. After discussing with Anders, he suggests me to something complicated, such as a moving object within a limited space. Suddenly I feel a certain pain in my heart, leading to my idea of designing a heart within a jail. Before 3D-print it, I have to adjust the makerbot. The most important part is to adjust the level of the platform. I follow the instructions, and use a paper to test the space between the printer-tip and the platform. After I test the level for multiple places, I got ready to print my object.

Heart in Jail

In the end, I play with the scanner. I scanned a toy, but I myself got scanned by Pheobe. Therefore, my documentation is based on my own scanning, and how I modify my portrait through the software of meshmixer. I really like meshmixer, which can create interesting combination of shapes and characters. I create a secret buddy on my shoulder, which has a hat as I do. I find this idea intriguing but creepy, so I mimic Edvard Munch's 《Cry》.
**Here is the reason why my project cannot be made subtractivly. My design of a "heart in jail" have two separate things, one inside another. I can only create connected and anchored object through substractive-fabrication means. That's why mine can only be made through 3D-printing.