So, I mentioned a while back that I was thinking of starting multiple projects in order to maximize my time. It’s going pretty good so far, but then again, I am just getting started, really! However, there is something to be said of rapid prototyping: it is amazing. The creative power to be able to quickly go from a mere concept, an idea, to a physical, functioning, real object is breathtaking.

It is akin to the feeling of a parent holding their newborn child every time I hold a freshly printed part that I had just dreamed up a few hours prior. The only difference: if I don’t like something about my part, I throw it away and make another version with that something fixed. There are laws if you try to do that with a baby. But hey, that’s a states’ rights issue, and I’m not touching that…

Seriously, though, when the costs of these printers become more manageable for the everyday consumer, I suggest practically everyone get one. They are so handy! Even around the house, they can help you repair problems you didn’t even know you had. This may result in things that weren’t broken before you got ahold of them that are now broken, but that doesn’t mean it’s not any less fun!

Buy one.

Peer pressure.

Peer pressure.

Beetlejuice.

Peer pressure.

Buy one.

ZOMG. Hax.

Grrrrrrrrrrr. I experienced my first major hiccup with the 3D printer today. I came into the workshop, only to find that my parts had only been built about halfway. The rest of the thermoplastic that was supposed to have extruded through the print head had instead somehow gotten lodged behind the shield, which obviously meant it wasn’t contacting the part. But it doesn’t stop there. What apparently happened was that the sensors on the machine–the ones that are supposed to halt all work if an anomaly occurs–didn’t detect anything, so the printer head just kept trying to extrude.

Luckily, it didn’t jam up the printer tip itself (which could have been very bad), so no permanent damage was done. The reason it didn’t jam up was because the blob of material stuck behind the shield kept blobbing off (yep, that’s a term now) and making massive, flattened sphere-cones below. I don’t know how else to describe it. Each sphere-cone was connected with a fairly long piece of crazily curled thermoplastic (itself). These pieces of plastic looked like a jumbled mess of semi-hardened spaghetti, so that is what it is being called now.

Unfortunately, I can’t just tell the machine to start back where it screwed up, which means that I had to trash all the work on the parts already done. And you’d be surprised how much these rolls of thermoplastic cost. Here’s a picture to the right above of how the printer head looked after I found it. You can sorta make out a white blob behind the shield. This was a bear to separate from the printer (which is obviously a requirement before I can run the machine again). It required much patience. Luckily, I have an ample supply!

I can’t show you picture of the spaghetti itself because the only pictures I thought to take were when it was still inside the machine. With the parts. The secret parts. The parts were in the picture. Sorry about that. I say “sorry” because now that I am not as aggravated at what happened, the spaghetti is kinda cool, and I wish you could see it. It’s just interesting how that would have happened… The picture to the left above is the view when I was finally able to force the plastic behind the shield to melt enough to begin prying the shield off.

I know this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but if this happens on one of my major part builds (thank God this wasn’t one of those), then it can get extremely costly. Not just in money, but in time. Around $200 each time I press the “Print” button and 42-48 hours lost. Good. Stuff.

I freakin’ love this thing. I watched it for literally 2 hours straight. It may seem boring to a sane human being, but I was analyzing everything I could about the process. What has taken me literally weeks in the past, this machine can do in a few hours. No longer will I have to spend countless days ensuring the precision of each part. It’s glorious!

I believe I may try to do a couple more projects on top of Project PHB. With all the time I’m saving, why not? Each main part (and there are a lot) of Project PHB takes between 42 and 48 hours to complete, anyway. So why not do something else during that time?! I hate wasted time.

But I digress…

It was a successful first run, and I couldn’t be more happy with this purchase.

Now.

Onward.

To the future!

Okay. So setup took a bit longer than expected. Let’s just say that I had some shelving issues, and I had to fabricate a turnbuckle system that would tighten up the shelving in a way that it wouldn’t buckle outward when the printer was sat on it (yes, it’s that heavy). And this was even with a steel shelf frame around each of the shelves!

And then there was the networking issue. Practically have to be an IT expert to get that solved…luckily, there was one in room. This guy.

But anyway, it’s set up now, so, time to run a part!

I received my 3D printer pretty well right on time! Clayton said he was going to keep on Stratasys about getting this one out on time, and he definitely came through for me!

The picture does not do the size of this justice. This thing is massive compared to the size of the printer I saw a few weeks ago at 3DVision. It almost feels like a refrigerator was delivered to me. Or one of those deep freezers, but some boxed turkeys are also on top (do people really do that? no.). The bottom box alone feels like it weighs around 200 pounds. The smaller ones aren’t much to laugh at either.

I still haven’t finished setting up the area for the printer yet, so I’ll leave it in the box for now. But I plan on finishing up the area setup in the next couple of hours or so, and then I’ll bust open the box with fervent gentleness! Don’t want to go too rough on something that costs the same as a mid-size SUV!

I have just come back from Cincinnati, Ohio. I have just purchased a 3D printer! It was from a company called 3DVision Technologies. They were really nice there, and not just because I was handing over a check! Haha. Clayton was the salesman, and Deborah was the awesome teacher. You could tell that she just wanted to help for the sake of helping, and I really appreciated that. Clayton was also very helpful in how willing he was to supply any information he was asked.

The printer should be here sometime during the first week of May. I requested May 5th, because if it isn’t delivered by then (immediately after college is finished this semester), then I’ll have to wait for the next cycle of printers to be built. And then it won’t be until June! There’d be no point in even trying to accomplish Project PHB, because I will barely have enough time as it is with slightly over three months (three months if they deliver on time, that is…).

So, nothing to do now but wait! Finals are just around the corner, so there’s no sense in worrying about this stuff right now. Priorities!

To start off my company right, I need proper equipment. What kind of equipment? A 3D printer, of course! Go big or go home, am I right? If only I had any money to purchase one…oh well. I’ll figure that out later. I plan to shop around and research for a little while longer, just like I’ve done that past couple of months.

This picture is of two plastic wrenches that have been printed on 3D printers. The grooves you see are of the different layers of plastic. They are fully functioning. And the coolest part? There’s no seam from installing the roller wheel (worm gear). That means it was all printed at once. Wrap your head around how a 3D printer is able to do that for a second.