Andrew Holmes Large Assignment 4: GCODE

Print 1: Snowflake Layers

• Process
  • When it came to creating this piece I wanted to recreate one of the very first objects that I made which was the flower/gear shell that had a top and a bottom. Instead of it being a shell I wanted to give the design a more snowflake look so I started out with just the snowflake design when I first made the python code for it. I realized that I needed a buffer between layers so I added the hexagons which gave it a nice stable structure to print on. I knew I wanted to extend the branches outwards so it looked more like a snowflake, but in the end my family said it looked like a Ferris Wheel. As you can see above I experimented with the number of branches within the design and it looked cooler the more branches I added and made it seem more complex. I made the snowlake layers every 10 layers so that there was enough room for the floating lines on the inside and outside not to touch. I tried my hardest to make the little snowflake fingers but the filament always curls and so they are slightly twisted, but they work with the overall design.
• Can’t be made by traditional slicer
  • One of the reasons that my design would struggle or can’t be made with a traditional slicer is because the snowflake is made up of 12 equally size triangles that actually start from the middle of the design and print floating until they reach each corner of the hexagon, in the slicer there is a gap between all the triangles so they would only be supported by their attachment to the corners. The filament did leak between triangles so they are connected but still floating. The same goes for the little forked hands on the outside of the hexagon, these would have been deemed as overhang for the slicer and would have needed supports to keep them upright. Also based on my printing method for making the fingers I overlapped them numerous times and the slicer would have had to print them in a different manner since its layers like to be nice neat pathways.
• Iterative Design
  • As explained above I started with just a snowflake design but this wouldn’t have met the requirements since it would have stacked. So I added the hexagon as a buffer layer between the few snowflake layers to allow the design to become free floating on the internal and external sides of the print. It just looked like a pirate ship wheel so I decided to add more branches and the forked fingers to give it that snowflake design! Overall I like how it came out just wish those ends wouldn’t have curled in such a funky way

Print 2: Umbrella

• Process
  • When it came to creating this print, I wanted it to be themed with the snowflake design that I made. I wanted to make an umbrella that someone would use when it is snowing. I knew that I need to make the handle smaller than the wires and the “material” portion of my umbrella. I started off by making the umbrella very short and stout just in case things got bumped which they did a lot. I decided to make it bigger to give a more umbrella feel. I made the “handle very skinny, but the movement from the printer always bumped it off. So I made the handle thick and tall compared to the previous version. I decided to use my snowflake design to make the wires that are inside of an umbrella and this worked perfectly for me because it also allowed me to have free floating lines and utilize the print in a different manner. As I moved on with the design it looked like a palm tree so I need to add the “fabric” which I made by printing differing sized circles to act as the material on top of the wires. I had one rendition but it wasn’t enough circle so I added one more and it seemed more complete. I tried a spiral tactic but this kept knocking over the print and was frustrating so I stuck with the circles.
• Can’t be made by traditional slicer
  • This design can’t be made by a traditional slicer due to the fact that it has two top layers that are entirely hanging off and free-floating in the z-axis. A slicer would want supports to keep these portions up and to make sure they don’t droop down. But I leveraged the droop to create the wire frame for my umbrella. The same goes for the material it would have made the circles at the same exact height but I wanted them to droop to match the wires and cover them in a more abstract way.
• Iterative Design
  • I knew that I needed to make the handle using a circular stack so I started off with that in mind. After that I wanted to add a based that was cubic, but I wanted to test the printers capabilities to not knock over my design. I regret not doing this as it would have stabilized things more, but it was fine in the end. I felt that reusing my snowflake design was genius so it was being used in a different manner so I utilized it to create the wires for my umbrella and the way it printed was very intriguing. Adding the material felt like it would complete the design and make it look more umbrella-like. I wanted to add way more circles, but I had to manuall craft them and set their y-values which is very hard to do when you have to open and close your Cura file each time you update them. I then wanted to create a spiral pattern, but I made the spiral too tight and then it was bumping each turn and kept knocking over my design. In the end I stuck with the varied sized circles so that I could create some sort of canopy above the umbrella wires.

Print 3: Dotted Hexagon

• Process
  • I can’ say there was too much thought when I designed this piece. I already used my hexagon design so why not reuse it but alter it in a different way. I wanted to see what the design would look like if I bumped my nozzle up and down so many mm for each layer. In order to achieve this I wanted the printer to consistently go up in down in a wave motion, but I wanted it to be more rigid and static. So I decided to break up each side into smaller segments and those segments would be lifted up and down to create a dotted piece of filament giving the hexagon a more complex structure and a more textured design. I initially liked my second version (top right in middle photo) but the visual difference wasn’t noticeable right away so I decided to make the lifts and drops more dramatic and is how I got my final design which gives me Deadpool face vibes. Its very spotted and dotted and might give some people goosebumps.
• Can’t be made by traditional slicer
  • Slicers keep their prints level for each and every layer that they create so each layer is smooth and not moving in an up and down motion. My print completely disregarded that and changes in the z direction 10 consistent times for each side so the nozzle moves up and down 60 different times which a traditional slicer would not be very happy with. I also believe that the traditional slicer wouldn’t want the nozzle to be imbedded in any drying filament to prevent clogging, but mine does and surprisingly it didn’t seem to clog.
• Iterative Design
  • As you can see I started off small trying to see if the dotted printing would work so my first print was very small. Once I saw that it was working I added more layers so it was noticeable that I was making changes to each layer. I really liked how the texture came out with the second rendition as it was very minimal, but could not be seen from a quick glance and instead would have to be carefully inspected. In order to exaggerate the dotted effect I increased the distance up and down in the z-direction that the nozzle had to move while printing. By the time I got to my final design I increased the distance even more and that made the dotted design even more noticeable giving it that signature Deadpool Face look with all the craters and bumps. I would have rather kept my second rendition of the print since it seemed much more cleaner, but I wanted everyone to see the effects of the nozzle movement in the z-direction.

Code: