Tuesday, April 24, 2018

3D Printed Door Sign - [Refined]

Above: Print shown from above
Challenge: For student to produce a personalized gift for a special event - in this case it was to be a plaque that would fixed to a room to show the room that it belonged to. 
Background: This item has been produced before in various projects presented on this blog.   This is the refined version.   The key issue that was differed from this print was the width of the base.  In previous prints of this nature the width of the prints was in the 20mm range.  This had a significant affect on the print time - which came in at twelve hours.   The print shown to the left is essentially the same model as the previous linked print, but the reduction to a 5mm base size for the basic design has reduced the print time to a much more manageable four hours, without compromising the strength of the print.
Level of Difficulty: Low - its a main interface shape with some basic additions to it.   The owls that are featured in the top left and top right hand corners are sourced online and not created by the students. 
Above: Print shown in profile
Time frame: Four hours for the print - as noted, this is a third of other similar prints.  Given the purpose of the print this would be near the minimum required, as with the intention of it being fixed permanently to a door, the most likely way would be by using an electric drill to screw it to the door.
Size: The print was 5mm thick - and was 15cm across.
What we would do differently: Essentially this is a basic print, which would be easily completed by a student with minimal experience in the five minute time-frame (from start to finish).  The only additional feature that should have been included with this print was a measure or way of attaching it to the door.   The intention was to drill directly into the print, as the assumption was that the PLA would be strong enough to withstand the drilling.  The student had previously had experience with the 'hook' creation tasks, and had been part of the group of students who had experienced drilling with various mis-prints to test their strength and was convinced that this design would be robust enough to withstand drilling.
Next step for students: This design and idea could be refined to create a sign for a door easily, for a classroom etc.   By 3D Printing it, it would also be able to be used outside, for a variety of tasks and could be tailored for any number of signs, for instance a label for a class name, for a specific contents of a cupboard etc.


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