France - Make: 3D Printing: The Essential Guide to 3D Printers

Sebastopol

Additive Personal Fabrication

Anna Kaziunas France

Welcome to Make: 3D Printing . Ive compiled the best projects, tutorials, and stories about 3D printing from MAKEs print and online publications, refreshed them for the latest developments, and added a few new pieces you havent seen elsewhere.

Although additive manufacturing has been the subject of some irrational media exuberance, its only part of the digital fabrication equation. As an instructor at the Fab Academy, a globally distributed rapid prototyping course where we turn codes into things, I taught a wide variety of digital fabrication techniques, often using subtractive methods and machines to achieve desired results.

This in no way diminishes the opportunities for creativity and expression that are made possible by 3D printing. Through 3D scanning and printing I have been able to quickly model and fabricate a variety of completely bespoke (and often last minute) items; from costumes to artwork to functional molds.

Part of the power of personal fabrication is directly tied to having easily accessible personal machines. Machine access combined with creativity and time pressure can lead to interesting mashups and materials choices.

When working on the scanning chapter of Getting Started with MakerBot (see tutorial).

A month later, the Kali necklace was joined by a belt and I incorporated it into a four armed sculpture I titled Self Portrait as Kali (see ). I created the body of the sculpture from several self scans that I combined digitally to create two sets of arms on a single torso. Both sets of arms are broken off at the forearms, as if the original scan was of an ancient statue that has been damaged over time. The final 3D model was sliced into 125 individual routed slices of 1/2 medium density fibreboard (MDF) that I fabricated on a large CNC (computer numerically controlled) router. I then assembled and painted the slices by hand. The belt and necklace, I also painted by hand and strung them over the assembled body. The finished sculpture has been displayed at several exhibitions, including the Bits to Its 3D printed sculpture show and the RISD Museum.

In many ways, 3D printing is currently the most personally accessible of all types of digital manufacturing. Prices have come down enough for many to afford to own their own printers, and desktop machine print quality has dramatically improved. Online printing services are readily available for those who cannot afford printers or whose materials needs go beyond printed plastic.

The world of personal fabrication is rapidly evolvingbecome part of it!

Figure 1. Self Portrait as Kali

If you are interested in creating your own one of a kind or small batch customized creations using 3D printing processes, this book is for you.

If youre absolutely new to 3D printing and dont know a thing about it, youll want to read this book cover to cover.

If youve already got a 3D printer, but are ready to go beyond just printing designs you downloaded from the Internet, youd want to start by creating your own printable objects by learning 3D design with Tinkercad and creating 3D scans. Also check out the finishing section for tips on how to refine the appearance of your 3D prints.

Are you more comfortable with software than with hardware? If you are a designer who wants to prototype in a range of materials other than extruded plastic or a desktop 3D printer is out of your budget, check out the services and materials sections for a rundown of the range of companies that will print your designs in a rapidly growing number of exotic materials.