3D Printing Unlimited – Is the 3D printer our next home appliance?

IS THE 3D PRINTER OUR NEXT HOME APPLIANCE?

by WILLIAM KEMPTON

This is the diploma project of William Kempton, graduate at the Oslo School of Architecture & Design in Norway

Thanks to Steinar Killi, Mosse Sjaastad, Rachel Troye, Grete Kempton, Lisa Lavatelli, Lars Marcus Vedeler, Marius Watz, Johan Schreiner, Geoffrey Kempton & the design students in class 26 at AHO, for participating in this project

TABLE OF CONTENTS

4

INTRODUCTION – MISSION:

7

Methods

8

PART 1 – 3D Printing: Fundamentals

10

From Idea to Product 3D printing in the media 3D printing: The Next Industrial Revolution?

12 14 16

Categories: Tentative Grouping in 3D Printing

Enhanced

Custom

Computational

18 19 20 21

Manufacturing: The Brewery Simile Models

22

PART 2 – 3D Printing: Possibilities

24

Tools

26 27 28 29 30 32

Printer 1: FDM - Fused Deposition Modeling Printer 2: SLA - Stereolithography Printer 3: SLS - Selective Laser Sintering Materials for FDM Sharing Platforms

Material Qualities

Translucency & Light

Material Strength

Embedding Elements

Texture

Playing With Failure

35 36 42 46 48 50

Reflections

54

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

PART 3 – 3D Printing: Practical Projects

56

Repair Work Wrapping Your Stuff Improving Your Products Reflections: Sharing Chaos

58 60 62 64

PART 4 – 3D Printing: Sharing Projects

66

A Little Story About Sharing Sharing Platforms Case – Light for Life:3D Case – Zip Herb Stand Design Considerations for FDM printers Pricing Stunt – NHH Symposium

68 69 70 76 85 88 90

Stunt – Take Cover

Post Processing

Table of Student Projects

Student 1 – Samra

Student 2 – Sigve

Student 3 – Stine

Summary of Student Projects

96 106 108 112 113 114 115

PART 5 – 3D printing: Reflections and Conclusion

116

Rapid Failure The Current State of Desktop 3D Printers Is The 3D Printer Our Next Home Appliance?

Conclusion References

118 119 120 123 124

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My main tool, called Ursula. A Ultimaker 3D printer

Introduction

MISSION The title of this project contains both a statement and a question. The first is chosen to indicate the vast and still open ended possibilities inherent in this relatively new technology. The second is there to point out the direction for this specific project.

Together I hope the two complement each other in suggesting one of the many directions I imagine 3D printing will go.

3D printing is getting more and more attention from both media and the common person. The seemingly unlimited qualities of this technology intrigues us endlessly, and we wonder, what really are the limits?

There are stories of everything being manufactured, from machine guns to replacements ears to spare parts of your car. Niche markets for crafted, bespoke designs (Campbell et al. 2003). Anything seems possible.

My initial approach and also attraction to explore this budding technology were exactly these seemingly endless possibilities (Killi 2013). Hence the working title of this project: “Fuelling the next industrial revolution�.

practicality, creativity. Is this technology available to a wider public without the specialist skills, that is, a public who is not using this technology in their profession? Also, does this technology have any practical value for a public who is not necessarily interested in 3D printing for commercial use? What are the creative scope for a public who at this current stage of 3D printing needs to work with a rather advanced technology?

In order to find out some of these questions I decided to take a practical approach. I wanted to explore the inherent qualities of the technology itself and through this, to see how versatile a 3D printer is from the viewpoint of domestic needs and domestic knowledge. My goal has been to find out what really are the possibilities, and what really are the limits when it comes to placing a 3D printer in you’re own domestic environment.

I wanted to see if a 3D printing machine actually belongs in the modern home.

After an introductory period where I studied the complete spectre of 3D usage, I decided to narrow down my focus to see what happens if you eliminate the specialist market (that is, professional model making for industry, medical production etc.) and instead concentrate on the general public. My questions circle around words like availability,

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Democratization

Sharing

Methods

Only in the last decade, music making, photography and video making have been revolutionized and also democratized by the introduction of tools now easily available to the mass marked.

Where music creation and its associated tools earlier were kept trade secrets, never to be shared, there is now a paradigm shift, where not only new tools are made more available, but where sharing has become part of a new culture.

This in turn has given the amateur possibilities to create that he or she did not have earlier.

As with music making, photography and film, the entry of 3D printing as an amateur pursuit has seen a significant increase in popularity and interest in recent years, largely as a result of sharing. This again has lead to an increase in quality, speed and versatility in 3D printing tools, which then has created increased interest to the common individual.

By publishing, commenting, and sharing with others, you inspire as well as become inspired. What you give, you ultimately get back.

We have in fact created a sharing culture which transcends earlier possibilities. If the was no sharing on the internet, development would be slower, and we would not be where we are today.

My process will largely be conducted by gaining knowledge through design and production. I will take on the role of Dreamer, Designer, Producer, Scientist, Educator and Facilitator, and then communicate this with others.

As the Dreamer I wish to look at the possibilities associated with 3D printing. As the Designer I will design for feasibility and desirability. As the Facilitator I will expose members of the public to 3D printing. As the Educator I will give insight into the possibilities of 3D printing. As the Scientist I will strive to acquire new knowledge.

As the Producer I will create physical, usable objects.

Dreamer

Producer

Designer

Scientist

Facilitator

Educator

8

My vision is to:

CREATE SHARE INSPIRE

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PART 1

3D Printing: Fundamentals

3D printing used to be called Rapid Prototyping (RP). Some call it Additive Manufacturing (AM). As the technology evolves, academics change the definition, and now call it Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM). For the sake of simplicity I will here refer to it as 3D printing, 3D as in printing in three dimensions.

A normal inkjet paper printer will print in a X- and Y-axis.

The 3D printer also prints in the X- and Y-axis, but with the added Z-axis. This means building in height, width and depth. A 3D printer is therefore a machine that gradually prints the object, layer by layer.

Z-axis

X-axis

Y-axis

FROM IDEA TO PRODUCT All 3D printers have one thing in common: they all rely on three-dimensional shapes as a basis for whatever is to be 3D printed. For example, an owner of a desktop 3D printer has the idea of making a bedside lamp for his friend’s birthday. He acquires a design, opens it in an application on his computer called a ‘slicer’, and recompiles the exact design to enable his printer to reproduce it.

G1 X130.4 Y104.252 E5.8599 G1 X119.381 Y94.963 E6.1408 G1 X111.778 Y90.36 E6.314 G1 X103.532 Y86.667 E6.4901 G1 X95.215 Y84.087 E6.6598 G1 X86.787 Y82.538 E6.8268 G1 X74.551 Y81.802 E7.0657 G1 X74.551 Y105.74 E7.5322

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CAD

G-CODE

3D PRINTED OBJECT

Digital blueprints Availability Product longlivety Printer Location

Materiality Price

“Digital materials�

Designer vs. consumer Craft

MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUE Product design tools

3D Printer

When most of us are asked to imagine what a 3D printer can do, we think of it is a machine that makes three dimensional objects.

This is true. 3D printing is really just a manufacturing technique.

3D printing technology is in a constant state of development.

Machines and materials are cheaper and better. It is possible to create larger and more complex products. The tools to create the digital blueprints have also become more intuitive and accessible.

So what is the advantage of 3D printing to traditional manufacturing techniques?

It is difficult to see 3D printing technology as a replacement for blow moulding.

The metal and plastic objects we surround us with every day are usually mass produced by traditional manufacturing techniques; our mobile telephones, the bottles we drink from, the shoes we wear. A plastic soda bottle, which is blow moulded, is made in less than 10 seconds, and costs very little to make. The exact same bottle design made in a 3D printer could possibly take hours, and cost more than a new pair of jeans.

But where an object was once made a thousand times over, we are now able to make a thousand varieties to one object.

Centralized production can turn into de-centralized and local production. The possibilities for 3D printing are many. In this part of the book I will try to explain some of them.

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3D PRINTING IN THE MEDIA

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Dezeen launches Print Shift magazine with Blurb

3D Doodler: a Pen can Draw in Air

Dita Von Teese Wears World’s First 3D-Printed Dress

6-meter tall KamerMaker to 3D print Amsterdam house by year’s end

The Craziest 3D Printed Part EVER

Cheap 3D printers fuel home-printed sex toy “phenomenon�

Scientists 3D-print bionic ear that hears beyond human range

3D print your own personal drawings on a 3D printer! - Doodle3D

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3D PRINTING: THE NEXT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION ?

The concept of AM has been around for 3 decades, but has only caught public attention in this decade. Projects like Wiki Weapon have created debates around the need for new policies on gun control, as well as the public availability of any potentially harmful devices online. A goal for the people behind Defence Distributed, however, lies also in making firearms from simple RepRap (FDM Open-source printer) machines, thereby creating new possibilities for the use of certain AM tools.

The RepRap community brands itself as ”humanity’s first generalpurpose self-replicating manufacturing machine.”. The first 3D printer created by the project, in 2007, was named ”Darwin”. In early 2008, possibly the first end-user item was made by a RepRap: a clamp to hold an iPod securely to the dashboard of a Ford Fiesta. Since then several designs have been released under the free software licence, as well as an endless amount of digital blueprints available online.

A clamp to hold an iPod securely to the dashboard of a Ford Fiesta

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3D printed rifle magazine by Defence Distributed

A LOT OF HYPE

The hype cycle graphically represents the maturity, adoption and social application of specific technologies.

Technologies that climb the graph are reaching their peak of inflated expectations. 3D printing is currently at the top of this graph.

Newspapers and media have contributed to the hype around 3D printing, publishing articles about new innovation on a regular basis.

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Enhanced design

Custom design

Computational design

CATEGORIES: TENTATIVE GROUPING IN 3D PRINTING Why should we design for 3D printing? What are the benefits of doing so, and what are the possibilities?

The following grouping seeks to organize the different aspects of 3D printed products.

The grouping is tentative, meaning it is not static, but an evolving

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categorization. As seen in the figure above, the three domains of design intersect; Enhanced, Custom and Computational Design.(Killi, 2013, p.29) Enhanced refers to the optimization of a design. By integrating features, the design will have less parts, less assembly and possibly less use of material.

Custom design is the area in which every product is tailored for end user preference.

Computational design refers to the design group where input data is a driving force in the design.

ENHANCED

•

Beyond traditional manufacturing processes

•

Integration of features (fewer parts, fewer materials, less assembly etc.)

•

Complex structures

The enhanced design strives for complexity. The Trabecula Bench, seen in the picture, would not have been feasible to be made in any other way. Had it been made of wood, it would have to be hand crafted to a large extent. The Nike shoe combines cleat and sole, and optimizes the structure for strength, making it lightweight.

Also, being 3D printed, it will be possible to create individual shoes for individual preference, making it highly customizable.

Trabecula Bench

by FreedomOfCreation

THE NIKE VAPOR LASER TALON

“SLS technology has revolutionized the way we design cleat plates – even beyond football – and gives Nike the ability to create solutions that were not possible within the constraints of traditional manufacturing processes” -Shane Kohatsu, Director of Nike Footwear Innovation

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CUSTOM

•

“One off”, unique product

•

Adapted a specific client’s needs / preferences Silicon mould of inner ear > 3D scanner > CAD > 3D print

Hearing aid

Like fingerprints, all inner ears are unique. By 3D printing hearing aids, especially created for every end user, the hearing aid becomes more comfortable and has a better fit.

The Customizer app by Makerbot allows users to customize their own telephone covers online. The design has several predefined preferences, which brings in the computational aspect.

Lumia 820 customizer app

by Nokia & Makerbot

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COMPUTATIONAL

•

Algorithm based design

•

Input > output

•

Parametric values

•

Versatility

Miscellaneous object created by Marius Watz. These objects are at the very extreme of the definition of Computational Design. Unlike CAD programs like Rhino, where 3D model generation is heavily reliant on a GUI, or Graphical User Interface, Marius Watz’s models are generated by mathematical formulae, using the GUI as a confirmation.

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MANUFACTURING: THE BREWERY SIMILE MODELS In order to see the potential of 3D printing, three models have been outlined

by Steinar Killi, as comparative manufacturing processes. These are Direct Individualized Production, Micro Directed Production, and Direct Licence Production. The models represent proposals for future AM processes. (Killi, 2013).

By production amount, the DIL, or “The Sodastream Model” is at the bottom. It takes is name from the Sodastream machine that allows households to carbonize their own sugar water, turning it into soda.

It has some parallels with today’s 3D printing marked, where users can acquire their own material, and create physical objects from 3D CAD files.

Direct Individualized Production:

THE “SODASTREAM MODEL”

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•

Low cost “desktop 3D printers”

•

Make / Download /acquire products

Micro Breweries, situated in every major city, focus on handicraft and uniqueness. They are niche products, made in smaller quantities compared to major breweries like Carlsberg and Heineken, that justifies the increase in price. The MIL, or the “Micro-Brewery Model”, brings associations to this. The merger of craft and industrial production techniques.

At the top of the scale in terms of production volume, we find the DLP, or the “Heineken Model.

Heineken is a Dutch brand, but produces its beer globally. The “brand” is outsourced to other breweries, who then brews the Heineken beer. The taste and design of the bottle is the same, thereby maintaining the quality of the brand Heineken.

Micro Directed Production:

THE “MICRO-BREWERY MODEL” •

Merger on craft and industrial production techniques.

•

Niche products

Direct License Production:

THE “HEINEKEN MODEL” •

Large quantity production, maybe locally

•

The quality of the brand is maintained

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PART 2

3D Printing: Possibilities

On first discovery, the world of 3D printing seems endless. New discoveries continue to be made by the day and the thought of producing almost anything can be overwhelming.

To find my way in this endlessness, I decided to take a practical approach. Through thoroughly exploring the printer and its materials, I hoped to find some natural limitations.

As I discovered, it is through examining the borders you also discover the land. Trying to find what worked and what didn’t, was where I found the possibilities.

TOOLS Working with the 3D printer requires a certain set of tools.

Apart from the printer itself, the most import tool is the computer, as the 3D printer needs 3D files in order to have something to print from.

Most users will get by with downloading models on websites such as thingiverse.com or grabcad.com. As their proficiency increases, they will start printing out their own models, constructed in CAD programs such as Google

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Sketchup, Autodesk 123D, Rhino, Blender or Solidworks.

Measuring up and sketching the ideas on paper is always useful. It makes the CAD job easier.

There are 3 main categories of printers, which are explained in the follow pages. The first, called the FDM, is the most available one, and is the one used throughout this project.

3D printer

Caliper

Sharing tools

Computer

CAD applications

Sketching pad

Materials

Tools: 3D Printer 1

FDM - FUSED DEPOSITION MODELING PRINTER Extruder feeder

Product

Nozzle

Plastic filament Fabrication bed

Developed in the late 80’s, this technology has been around for quite a while. It works by melting plastic filament through a nozzle. The nozzle moves around, deposits the melted plastic, and builds up the product, layer by layer.

Materials The materials of choice are ABS, Nylon, PLA, and PC, among others. These are easily sourced, low price materials, that make the technology easily available. It has been adopted by the reprap community and countless desktop 3D printers currently on the marked.

As materials are available in different colours, produced parts will not necessarily require post processing.

Considerations There are considerations to take into account when designing for FDM. It is capable of creating overhangs up to a certain angle.

The product is made layer by layer. The thickness of these layers are usually between 0.10.5mm. There is a compromise between speed and quality. The thicker the layer, the quicker the product is made, but the layers will be more visible.

The FDM printer is the most common desktop printer. It is simple to use, and has low maintenance costs.

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Tools: 3D Printer 2

SLA - STEREOLITHOGRAPHY Fabrication bed

Liquid resin

Laser

Scanner

SLA has been labelled the �gold standard� for 3D print resolution and surface finish. The process involves directing a high precision laser across a tray of liquid resin, which in turn causes a thin layer to solidify. The resin is a photopolymer, meaning it changes its properties when exposed to light. As the layers solidify, the fabrication bed is raised. The top part of the printed product will contain a rafted support which keeps the product fixed to the fabrication bed.

The SLA machines like the Form1 have seen large public interest

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Considerations The rafted support will not affect the surface, as opposed to the FDM printers mentioned earlier.

When the product is printed, it will need some post processing.

SLA printing requires a photopolymeric resin, which can be costly, from 80$ to 210$ per litre.

Layer resolution can be as low as 0.05mm, or 5 microns. A desktop SLA printer, such as the Form1 from Formlabs, is capable of printing in 25 microns layer height.

Tools: 3D Printer 3

SLS - SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING Laser

Roller

Scanner

Product Material Fabrication bed

Like fused deposition modeling, SLS was developed in the 80’s. Initially used for creating prototypes, the technology has adapted into a manufacturing technique for low volume end-use products.

Products are made layer by layer in a powdered fabrication bed. Particles of material are heated up with a laser. After a selected area of material is exposed to the laser, a new layer of material is evenly spread over the entire bed. The laser heats up the particles to near melting point, sintering the material together. At the end of the process, the product will be embedded in

the fabrication bed with material particles surrounding it.

Considerations There are a lot less design considerations to take into account when combining SLS

with other 3D manufacturing techniques. Since the surrounding material particles support the structure as it is made, any kind of overhang is possible to create.

This advantage also has to be considered. A free-hanging shape can be printed inside a cavity. If the cavity is closed, material will be trapped in the cavity.

Hollow objects will therefore require holes for material to exit.

Products made with SLS will usually require post processing. Polyamide, commonly known as Nylon, is the most used material with SLS printers. I has a matte white finish.

The SLS machines vary in size from small desktop size to large industrial size.

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Tools: Materials

MATERIALS FOR FDM

3mm 1.75mm Common varieties of FDM filament

Common materials used by desktop 3D printers are PLA, ABS and Nylon. Polyactic Acid, or PLA, is made from corn starch or sugar cane, and is transparent as a raw material. When sold as filament for 3D printers, however, it is available in a large variety of colours. Natural ABS is off-white, and is available in certain colours.

Nylon is available as translucent and opaque.

Printing temperatures ABS: 230-260˚C PLA: 180-230˚C Nylon: 245˚C (Taulman 618)

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Tools: Sharing Tools

SHARING PLATFORMS A tool most users of desktop 3D printers will take use of, are the various sharing platforms available online.

Websites such as thingiverse.com, grabcad.com and instructables. com, act as platforms for users to share everything from instructions on how to make your own sushi, to 3D renderings and drawings on how V6 motors work.

The various sharing platforms online have different focus areas. A product of 3D printer manufacturer Makerbot, Thingiverse remains the main platform for sharing of print friendly digital blueprints.

Grabcad is a useful platform for retrieving technical CAD blueprints; from mobile telephones to light switches.

Instructables.com is a playground for DIYers (Do-it-yourselfers) to create and share tutorials on everything from making picket fences to authentic Italian pizza.

thingiverse.com, a heaven for 3D printed gadgets

grabcad.com, a heaven for mechanical engineering

instructables.com, a heaven for DIYers

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Physical Sharing Online sharing platforms have the benefit of allowing you to connect to large audience of people.

However, physical sharing is something not to be neglected. We are in fact making physical object, and they deserve to be shared with our friends, our family, or even with total strangers.

A failed attempt to create a self watering system of pots, turned into a hat.

Everytime you see this sign, it means that the item is available for download. thingiverse.com/thing:xxxxxx

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MATERIAL QUALITIES We have our tools in place. The 3D printer, our sketchpad, the caliper in the back pocket, and our CAD programs in place. To make sense of this new exciting machine, we have to start somewhere. In the following pages I will show some of the possibilities that open up when making for 3D printing.

Translucency and Light

Embedding Elements

Material Strength

Texture

Playing with Failure

35

Organic inner shape

TRANSLUCENCY AND LIGHT

PLA is available as transparent and opaque. In combination these two have the ability to create interesting results. Especially when adding light to the mix.

As the FDM 3D printer makes the product in layers, the transparent materials get diffused, making it more translucent than transparent.

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ABS natural

2 walls 50% fill in material very little translucency

2 walls 30% fill in material Slight translucency

2 walls 0% fill in material Double walled Good translucency

1 wall 50% fill in material Single walled Good translucency

30% fill in material Slight translucency

0% fill in material Double walled Slight translucency

1 wall 50% fill in material Single walled Good translucency

PLA dark blue

50% fill in material very little translucency

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Geometric inner shape

3 shapes are 3D printed from files generated in rhino.

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Applying holes the lampshade allows the light to flow through, creating interesting formations on the projected surface.

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41

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MATERIAL STRENGTH Cylindrical shapes were created to do informal strength testing. The idea being to give an impression of material strength, without having to dig into technical jargon.

A large amount of 10cm tall, 4cm diameter cylinders created, in order to be smashed, squashed,and broken by Quinn, the strong man.

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Quinn was able to squash all the test cylinders that were without fill, with his bare hands. As soon as the cylinders received fill, they were impossible for him to squash. At that point we started dropping weights on them. It turned out that they could smash the cylinders.

An 80kg concrete ball from will do a considerable amount of damage when dropped on pretty much any 3D printed object.

The strength of your printed thing is decided by several factors.

These include: •

Material PLA, ABS, PC, Nylon, wood, etc.

•

Internal structure Line, hexagonal, circular, cubic or no pattern

•

Material fill More fill, more strength

•

Direction of print Force perpendicular to the contour lines is good

•

Shape A chrome, or double chrome surface will resist more pressure than a flat surface

•

Composite materials

BEFORE

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Integration of secondary strengthening parts like carbon rods, aluminium profiles etc.

•

Your printer setup Ultimately your 3D printer and how it is tuned will play a large role in the strength of your product. How hot are is your hot end? What is the extrusion amount? The hotter your extruder, the better the layer adhesion will be.

AFTER

Internal structures

Line pattern

Hexagonal pattern

Circular pattern

cubic pattern

This is Quinn.

He can lift an 80kg concrete ball

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EMBEDDING ELEMENTS The FDM printer builds up objects layer by layer. The process is visible and usually accessible. By simply pausing the build process, the user is able to access the build without interfering with the extruder.

In order to add external elements to the printer, a cavity has to be present. This can either be achieved by cutting out the negative shape of the element, or by simply inserting parts

1

2

3 1. The print is initiated 2. A void is constructed and paused 3. Prepared 2nd part is inserted 4. Print is resumed 5. 2nd part is covered

4 46

5

Fusing with textile 3D printed cylinder Neoprene

Paper

Attempts were made to actively include textile to the 3D printing process. A small hole was cut into a neoprene cloth while a cylinder was being printed out.

The printer was then set to pause as the cylinder reached the top, which allowed the piece of cloth to be inserted onto the cylinder.

Several attempts were made to resume the print on top of the neoprene. The PLA plastic did not stick to the fabric, so a layer of paper was put over the fabric, providing a better basis for further printing.

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TEXTURE

Adding texture to the surface of the object is done by creating a black and white bitmap image, which is the placed on the desired surface. This is a feature some CAD programs, like Rhino and Blender refer to as displacement mapping.

When the bitmap image is placed on the desired surface, the amount of extrusion / cut is determined, with black and white being at opposite ends of the spectrum. If black is set to 1 and white to -1, the black will extrude, and the white will cut, will all the grey tones creating nuances in between.

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PLAYING WITH FAILURE A lot of effort is put into making our 3D printers replicate our input as precise as possible.

The following is an attempt to produce objects where the printer is forced, by laws of physics, to deviate from its original input.

Planned path

Resulted path

thingiverse.com/thing:66286

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thingiverse.com/thing:66676

PLAYING WITH FAILURE The shape is generated by cutting it horizontally in layers of 0.2mm’s. (Which is the same as the layer height I print with).

It is then duplicated rotated along its centre axis, before moving it 0.2mm upwards. This creates a solid, with 0.2mm “wings” coming out of the shape.

It is surprisingly flexible, as you can see in the pictures.

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The object, printed with PLA material, appears more flexible, due to the perforation in the surface.

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REFLECTIONS Take inspiration from others, and don’t try to hide it

Joris van Tubergen’s ”weekly cups”, available at thingiverse.com

Its the same old story: we discover something new, only to realize that others are doing the same as you. This is a natural process. The only difference is, now we can even download them!

These cups, designed by Joris, were downloaded and printed out, and a similar technique was taken in use. Honour others for their designs!

Be prepared to fail a lot of times Expecting to always getting instant results from the 3D printer is like expecting the sun to always shine; it doesn’t. There are a lot of variables that come into account when attempting to print out objects, especially new ones. Are the tolerances in place?

Has the plastic been kept in a secure, airtight bag? Is it time to tighten the belts? Are we printing too quickly? Are we printing too slowly? The list goes on.

3D printed jacket buttons with LEDs provided me with several challenges.

The cavity containing the LEDs had to be big enough to fit the LEDs themselves, while at the same time not making the total volume of the button too big.

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Getting real tensile strength data Measuring the strength of the 3D printed objects didn’t necessarily give me that much hard data, since the measuring of tensile strength requires precise measurement, done in a controlled way, repeated several times, and done on the same printer as the final product. 3D printed products are non isotropic, meaning it is not uniform in all directions. The test did however, make me realize the importance of being aware of it.

Tensile strength specimen, by user obijuan, at thingiverse.com

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PART 3

3D Printing: Practical Projects

Through working with the printer and the materials, ideas for practical application seemed to pop up unexpectedly. My everyday living presented itself with the needs, which I was then able to solve practically.

thingiverse.com/thing:67570

“I was out walking.

Suddenly my bag broke�

REPAIR WORK Something our stuff breaks. We can try to fix it, or we can throw it. With the 3D printer we are left with something more than just using tape, steel wire.

1. Measure up the original part to get a bearing on the dimensions of the original part.

2. As the cavity is about to close, the print is paused, and the hook is inserted. A small tolerance between the insert and the cavity makes for an easy insertion.

3. No need for glue! As this fix contains two parts, four 3mm cylinders are cut though the two parts. When assembling, simply cut short pieces of 3D printer filament to lock them together.

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thingiverse.com/thing:85327

WRAPPING YOUR STUFF ”You have so many things!”, I often hear when people come to visit me. We surround ourselves with things.

Some we manage to store away, others are constantly in use and lie around on tables and such. Other things we own may be of great importance, and we want to protect them. This example belongs to the latter.

”I need to protect my old hard drives”

Making something out of the box Making a simple box is something that is easily done with most CAD programs, making a lid demands a correct amount of tolerance in order to be successful.

Once made, they are simple to reproduce, as the 3D printer doesn’t need to create a roof, something that might require a support structure if the roof is has

a large footprint.

Making a plain box with a plain surface puts a lot of demand on the output quality on your printer.

Unevenness becomes more apparent, and will play a large role in the success of the product.

pattern to the surface we put focus on the created pattern, more that the pattern the printer gives us.

By adding a simple hand drawn

The casing secures a 3.5� HDD

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thingiverse.com/thing:67465

” I kept loosing grip of the mouse”

IMPROVING YOUR PRODUCTS When the products we own simply aren’t good enough, We are left with some options: Do we find a better alternative, or do we stick to our guns? With the 3D printer we are given a third option: make it even better!

Developing through sharing Uploading and sharing products online allows for a more fluid development.

Iteration becomes a natural process Much the same way software gets updates, new improved designs are uploaded. The barrier between software and hardware becomes less apparent.

- E.g. version 1 works OK, - version 1.1 has improved fastening - version 2 has increased ergonomic fit - version 3 gets even better etc.

When sharing products with others through the Creative Commons Licence, others are free to create derivatives of your initial design, as long as they must give you credit for it.

After uploading the design for the Space Navigator hand-rest, other users on the sharing platforms started making it. The Space Navigator from Logitech is available in different sizes. The hand-rest design I created was therefore adapted by other users for their specific needs.

Other users make derivatives

Derivative design by bentommye

Original design

by Kempton

made by bigpaws

made by MarcoAntonini

Made by bigpaws

Made by bigpaws

”Remix from the ’space navigator for notebooks’ 2,67 inch by Kempton. This is for ’normal’ space navigator 2,99 inch. ”

”I used Sugru for the inset piece, textured with the insides of a failed print which had a hexagon fill.

Lemonade from lemons, I suppose. ”

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Reflections

SHARING CHAOS There is a considerable amount of practical approaches to the use of desktop 3D printers. They include fixing objects that are broken, creating new products, imitating existing products, and everything in between. Some that have been shared online have become wildly popular, such as the ‘13:30 headphones’ by jmabry. The project, as jmabry explains, ”could be as easy to turn into working product as they are to print. Meaning that once off the print bed, such an object could be assembled without any tools, and be made functional by readily attainable components.”

Thingiverse has been a great inspiration for the project covered in this book. Hours can be spent going through the enormous amount of projects on the website, many of whom serve as brilliant examples on practical approaches to 3D Printing.

There are, however, concerns about both browsing and sharing products on sharing platforms such as thingiverse.

The sheer quantity of products that constantly stream in are daunting. Proud first-timers upload their first failed attempt at printing a 1x1cm cube, alongside awe inspiring lampshades by

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13:30 headphones by jmabry on thingiverse.com user BenitoSanduchi. There is of course a certain amount of editing on these websites. Projects that are well thought trough or documented well, sometimes get featured on the front page of the website. This also means that other products fall through the filter as it were, and disappear, until someone find it through search, or it is re-linked on external websites or social media.

The social sharing platforms are a great opportunity for users to share their creations with the world, but can also be their demise.

40mm Cube Test Object by bre 60 likes, 5258 downloads and 4208 views. It is to assume that bre, being co-founder of Makerbot Industries, has something to do with the amount of downloads.

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PART 4

3D Printing: Sharing Projects

Some projects are purely personal, like mending a shoulder bag. Other projects have a more general life, and deserve to be shared with others.

The world of 3D printing has expanded through the many sharing platforms existing on the net today. On these platforms you are not only able to share knowledge and experience, it is also hugely inspiring to be recognized for what you do through features such as “like”s and “view”s.

It adds to the fun and to the feeling of belonging to a larger community.

A little story about sharing...

The ”Bertho” extruder drive upgrade You probably know what the Ultimaker is by now. Ultimaking Ltd, the company that makes the Ultimaker, was founded by three Dutch entrepreneurs Martijn Elserman, Erik de Bruijn and Siert Wijnia.

The original design made by ”Bertho”. Published on Thingiverse and his own blog.

A crucial part of any FDM printer is the extruder drive, the mechanism that pushes plastic filament into the extruder nozzle.

The initial design of the extruder would often fail if the plastic filament showed diameter change over 0.2mm. By adding a spring loaded ball bearing to the extruder drive, the user “Bertho” overcame this issue, and posted the design on his blog, as well as on thingiverse.com in February 2012. By October the same year, the design had been adopted by the Ultimaker, becoming the new official extruder drive.

Ultimaker announces the new extruder upgrade by the community member ”Bertho”

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SHARING PLATFORMS There is no doubt that the world of 3D printing has benefited from the various sharing platforms that exist on the internet. Without them, creating items would be limited to our own creation.

Almost every new innovation made on desktop 3D printers, mostly by individuals, is proudly shared on the net.

Sites like thingiverse.com allow you to upload an .stl file, containing the design of your product. This is the raw data your printer needs in order to produce items. It is common to upload images, show the product in real life, or a rendering, together with a description of what it is. The user can share information concerning the production methods used, such as temperature, use of material, amount of fill inside the structure, and what programs are used to slice it.

Users that download and print the items that are shared, are able to make derivatives, that is light alterations of the product, and share them, referring to the original design, as the picture shows.

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1. A cavity is made in the shape.

At the desired height, the printer is paused, and a led is placed into the shape.

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2. The printer continues to construct the shape.

Case LIGHT FOR LIFE: 3D LED buttons Challenge: Using the idea of embedding elements to make a useful everyday item.

“I would like to be visible in traffic without using a yellow west.

Background In 2009 I created a jacket, entitled “Light for Life�, that was published on the sharing website instructables.com.

The jacket had an integrated Arduino prototyping board, which made it possible to program a set of LED lights to start blinking when buttons were turned.

The original buttons were modified from original buttons.

Every button had to be drilled by hand, and the LEDs were glued into the slot.

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instructables.com/id/ Light-for-Life-3D/

How to make it 1. I have an Ultimaker 3D printer, using Cura for slicing the files. If you already feel lost, that means you probably don’t have a 3D printer. Don’t worry. Maybe you will be inspired to get one. It’s awesome!

So, the reason for using Cura for this product, it the possibility of pausing it mid print. Many 3D printers have this feature, the simple “pause” button, that stops and resumes the print.

The advantage with using Cura is that you can actually pause it at a predefined moment, 4.5mm for my part, and actually have the extruder hot-end (the part that melts the plastic filament) move away from your object! This way you are free to fiddle with the object, like putting LEDs into it.

For material I chose ABS, because it has better translucent abilities than PLA. Of course natural PLA would work, but I want it to be opaque, so the LEDs are invisible when turned of. Nylon would probably also do the trick.

2. For LEDs you need the 3mm ones. Bend the arms forwards, as shown on the picture, and cut them to exactly 13.50mm. (A caliper is useful at this moment, but I bet you already have one). I use white ones, since they will be on my jacket. If you choose red

ones, people might think you are walking the other way. Not good.

3. Its time to print out some buttons. On my setting it took approximately 30 minutes per button. You could of course print many at the same time, but this may reduce the quality of your objects, depending on what printer you have. (I have an Ultimaker, which has plastic filament being pushed through a tube and into the extruder. As each “island” is printed out, the hot-end will travel through open space, and ooze slightly.)

4. For the battery / switch-casing, you can download and print out the attached .stl file.

2

3

4

The batteries are CR2032 (3V).

The switch is random. It measures 25x7.25x7mm.

I have attached Solidworks files as a zip so you can adapt it to your random switch or battery laying around. I would like to have a more standardized switch, but anyway.

5. I strongly recommend using a very thin wire for transporting electricity from the battery and to all the individual LEDs that we are about to connect to. Take a look at the featured sketch. It shows how I have set up the electrical system

5

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on my soon-to-be-lighting-jacket.

I use a special tool to remove the protective sleeve on the wires, where I later want them to connect to the LEDs. It is quicker, less prone to failure (its easy to cut the wire with a scalpel, in which case you will have to either solder them together, or redo it).

6. Its time to sew the buttons themselves!

For this part I would suggest some conductive thread. You can find it here. The reason for this is that you will now sew the buttons onto the jacket, or whatever piece of lighting clothing you are about to make.

WARNING: make sure to check each light before you sew it together. It would be a shame to sew the + connector of the LED to the - (ground) cable.

Each button has 4 holes. This enables you to sew it together with two separate threads. One for the ground (-), and one for the +.

Make sure the threads don’t touch

each other. This will result in a short, and there will be no light.

For increased connection, try to place the thread on each side of the small LED pins inside the buttons that you just printed out.

After about 4 rounds with each thread, your buttons should be fastened well. The end of the thread should now be sewn into the electric wires that you prepared in the previous step. I went once THROUGH the wire with the needle, and finished it off by going around it a couple of times, before tying a know with the beginning of the same thread.

This may seem a bit complicated, but I am sure you will get a hang over it, I did!

You just sewed together a bunch of buttons. Congratulations!

7. Now its time to make them shine. Before attaching the casing to the main wires, check with a 3V battery that all the LEDS are working. If they flicker, you should fix that first.

6

7

Find out where to place the battery/switch-casing. I placed it on the lower right side on the lining of my jacket. Cut the wires to the right length. Take a look at the attached image for a schematic overview of how to attach the cables. This step will require soldering two cables, a + and a -, to the switch. Before soldering, insert the cables through the casing, as the switch is then inserted into the casing.

For connecting to the batteries, I simply cut the end of the wire, and pressed the battery into the battery slot, with each cable pressed against the + and the side.

When you are done, simply use some ordinary thread to sew the casing onto your piece of clothing, and you are done!

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manufacturing

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download

peer to peer 3D-service

Case

ZIP HERB STAND Challenge: Combining dynamic 3D printing techniques with static manufacturing techniques.

Facilitating local manufacturing of parts within a larger scheme of production.

Background Services like shapeways.com, i.materialise.com and Freedom of Creation allow users to order a 3D print by uploading their designs online. Customers specify materials like titanium, nylon, ceramic etc. and receive their products by post or courier.

These services often allow for reselling of products, so that users can resell their ideas.

Other services like makexyz.com and 3dhubs.com have “the aim to connect those looking for 3D prints in their neighbourhood with vacant 3D printers effectively growing the 3D printing community with face-to-face meet-ups and inspiring new friendships.�

shapeways.com allows users to resell their designs

These services form the background of this case. They will be responsible for the production of parts of this case.

3dhubs.com is a way for private owners of 3D printers sell printing services with others

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Production In the introductory phase of this thesis, entitled “Three models for AM production”, 3 models were presented. The “Sodastream model”, the “Microbrewery model”, and the “Heineken model”. Services like Shapeways and i.materialise.com take use of industrial level 3D printers, that are able to manufacture in high quantity. We can place it somewhere between the Microbrewery and the Heineken model. Services like makexyz. com and 3dhubs.com on the other hand, are different. Similar to the concept of renting out a vacant room in your house, small enterprises and private owners of desktop 3D printers can sell their services when the printer is idle.

The product assembly in this case study, ZIP, consists of a plywood stand that is meant to hold at least 4 independent vases, that can contain flowers or herbs. The plywood stand is static, in that it does not offer any customization in itself.

The pots are designed to be 3D printed. They will allow for a slight customization by the customers

online. Parameters could be: • • •

Colour Texture Material

Upon choosing a desired design, customers will be given three choices. They can have it made at a 3D-service, they can have it made by other users with 3D-printers, or they can download it themselves.

Design

Find

Configurate

Buy

Production technique

3D-service peer to peer

download

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ZIP Herb stand

ZIP Herb stand

The vase

• Beech plywood stand • 4 x vases

make it yourself edit make it locally edit

1.

Configuring the product

buy it from us edit MANUFACTURING

stand

vase

2.

ZIP Herp stand

edit

Buy it like this

Editing the design

Design

edit ZIP Herb stand

edit

• Birch plywood stand • 4 x vases

edit Colour

The vase

make it yourself

edit ABS

PLA

NYLON

make it locally

OK Buy it like this

3.

buy it from us MANUFACTURING

Choosing production method

stand

4.

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vase

Buy it like this

Website

ZIP Herp stand find a local maker

2. By hovering over each item, a edit button will appear.

edit

3. Clicking the edit button will redirect you to the ”editor”, where vase colour, material and texture can be decided.

edit edit

edit

make it locally

OK Buy it like this

5.

1. A total overview of the product is visible when entering the site. The user clicks the ”buy” button.

Finding a local manufacturer

5. The user is introduced to a map. He clicks the button ”find a local maker”, which takes use of geo positioning.

ZIP Herp stand Oslo, Norway

Simen Printer: Ultimaker Price: $$$ User feedback:

YOU edit Simen

x

edit Geir

x

edit

4. Choice of manufacturing method is always visible. The user selects the ”make it locally” option.

6. A map appears, showing local producers. A table in the right column gives an indication of price and user feedback for each local producer.

Geir Printer: 3D touch Price: $ User feedback:

edit

make it locally

OK Buy it like this

6.

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Static vs. Dynamic The product is two-part. There is a wooden laminated stand, and there are 3D printed plastic vases. They contrast each other in production method, one being static, the other dynamic. When designing for 3D printing there

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is a new set of challenges to consider. Should the user be allowed to alter the design, and if so, what are the variables?

The static herb stand is set to complement the change in colour and texture that may occur when

users are able to alter their design.

thingiverse.com/thing:84740

A

PART

B

PART

The vases, in this case made in PLA, are consequently made in different colours, with different texture finish.

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111,4

Ă˜ 122

6,80

1

0,80

16

2

SECTION A-A

A

A

Designing for 3D manufacturing Optimizing a design for different 3D printers, especially 3D printers for home manufacturing, requires some knowledge on the limitations of the printer. As I mentioned earlier, cantilevers might cause problems. When designing the herb vases, some

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important goals were set: It should be watertight. It should be printed in a short amount of time.

The use of materials should be minimal, etc.

When designing for a variety of 3D printers, limitations for each

technique can be accounted for making separate designs.

90째 cantilevers perpendicular to print direction will not succeed.

Print direction

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR FDM PRINTERS

Cantilevers will need approximately 45째 degrees elevation.

90째 cantilevers can be solved by rotating the model.

Pipes can be printed, but will have a small footprint.

Pipes can be printed parrallel to the print direction.

When bridging two indipendent structures, filament will have to travel through space. The success of the bridge depends on the height of the bridge and the distance to travel.

Wall thickness should not be smaller than 0.5mm.

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50 째

7

Wood laminating

1. CAD files are prepared, based on the desired design. This forms the basis of the tooling.

50 째

260

173 R2

7

R4

7

261 2. All the veneer pieces are individually laser cut.

3. Glue is applied to each veneer, before it is stacked together.

The glue will dry in 1 hour, and will therefore need to be applied rapidly.

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4. The 2-part mould is made from sections of plywood bolted together. The veneer sheets are placed in the mould

5. The veneer stack is then pressed to the desired shape.

6. When the glue is dry, the product is taken out of the mould

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PRICING Products that are made using traditional manufacturing techniques such as plastic injection moulding or blow moulding, are mainly priced based on a factor between amount of material per product, and overall tooling costs. Intricate moulds are more expensive to make, but as the amount of products are increased, the price of each product goes down. The cost of products that are 3D printed, however, will remain the same.

One product will have the same price per unit as a series of a thousand products.

If the goal is to make a large quantity of products that are exactly the same, injection moulding, or even vacuum forming would be the right choice, depending on design. (Killi 2013).

There would be an investment, such as tooling costs, that would gradually down pay itself within a certain amount of products made.

With 3D printing, however, there is no initial investment, as there is no tooling cost. Every 3D printed product will cost the same, no matter how many copies are made.

Calculating the cost of 3D printed products can be done by uploading a .stl (STereoLithography) file to 3D printer services, such as shapeways.com, i.materialise.com

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or 3Dhubs.com. Other services such as 3dprintingpricecheck. com are not 3D print services themselves, but help to find prices from a variety of manufacturing services.

In general, products that are 3D printed are priced, based on a factor between volume (cm3), surface area (cm2) and the bounding box (x, y and z length) of the model.

The price calculator at i.materialise.com tells us that the zip herb vase made with SLS in polyamide material, will cost us 174 €. The vase has a large bounding box, and high surface area, compared to the volume of the product, which is low.

The same product will cost 194 € if it were made of ceramic.

The service will also provide a discount of 273 € if ten products were ordered, with larger discounts being given as the amount orders increases.

At Shapeways the same vase will cost us 97 $ if made with SLS in polyamide material, and 254 $ in ceramic material.

Uploading a solid filled cube with approximately the same bounding box as the vase(120x120x120mm vs. 158x124x111 mm), the price at i.materialise.com is 143.50 €. The weight of the cube is considerably

heavier than the vase which is shelled and has a 1-2mm wall thickness.

The price for a vase at 3Dhubs. com depends on the person you choose to print from. A vase printed by a person from Amsterdam in the Netherlands will cost 38.59 €.

We can only assume that the parts made by companies such as i.materialise.com and the such, with high end machines, can deliver a higher quality product than amateurs with desktop 3D printers.

Ceramic vase from i.materialise.com. Cost 194.64 €

SLS polyamide vase from shapeways.com. Cost 97 $

SLS polyamide vase from i.materialise.com. Cost 174.10 €

Ceramic vase from shapeways.com. Cost 254.43 $

Ceramic cube from i.materialise.com. Cost 118.97 €

SLS polyamide cube from i.materialise.com. Cost 143.50 €

Checkout from 3Dhubs.com. Cost 38.59 €

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Keynote Speakers

Live stunt

Give aways

Audience

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Keynote speech

Stunt

NHH SYMPOSIUM Challenge: Presenting, in collaboration with Professor Steinar Killi, 3D printing business models, while giving insight to MBA students and graduates at the NHH symposium 2013.

Handouts To emphasize the diversity of 3D printing, handouts were prepared in advance. They were to focus on the enhanced and customized aspects of printing.

TELEPHONE PROTECTION + CARDHOLDER + BRAND

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Live stunt & Keynote As well as a the keynote entitled �The next industrial revolution or a hype�, held by Professor Steinar Killi, two desktop 3D-printers were brought to the NHH symposium. While one printer was printing out a predefined model from Freedom of Creation, the main live stunt was centred around the printing of iPhone covers. A member of the audience got his name printed out on the back of the cover.

The role of the stunt being to emphasize on the customizability of the manufacturing process.

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thingiverse.com/thing:84734

eh

Design constraints For the live stunt, a cover for an iPhone 4 was designed. The focus of the design being speed, as the cover was meant to be printed in front of a live audience. The live stunt was to last for 1 hour, and the goal was to produce two covers. The design was carefully minimized to be created in 30 minutes. By changing filament before starting the printer, leaving a small amount of other colour in the nozzle, it is possible to create a duo tone effect.

oll w o lr

!d

d!

orl ow

l

hel

h

ow r l !d

e oll

!

rld o ow

l

hel

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Designers

3D printed Telephone covers

Clients 96

Stunt

TAKE COVER Challenge: Facilitate a 4 week workshop with 2nd year design students at AHO, designing products for real people.

In collaboration with Professor Steinar Killi and Kathinka Bryn Bene from Geriljaworks Design Studio.

The plot 22 students in the 2nd year at the Institute of Design at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design are to design and create customized telephone covers for 44 separate customers.

The customers are invited to a Facebook group, were they are given a short brief and description of the project. A small survey is posted on the Facebook group, where they are to answer simple questions.

Planning a workshop that incorporates 22 designers and 44 clients requires you to plan a system that allows a large quantity of information to flow between the participants.

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Based on the survey, each student is to provide services for 2 separate customers.

•

1 Facebook group

•

3 surveys

The final output will be a customized telephone cover designed for each customers needs and wants, that has the visual trademark of each designer.

•

17 designers

•

34 customers

•

34 products

•

3D printing machines (SLS and FDM)

et AHO mobildeksel-stunt

A logo was created to give the stunt an identity. The title ”Take cover”, being a pun on the fact that people were to get telephone covers.

Customization and Value Co-Production In the manufacture of consumer products, the product is produced, sold and finally consumed. One path of development, such as in the car industry, is where the product is ordered and customized prior to manufacture.

Still, the majority of produced objects are created and shipped to a retailer who estimates how many items it should be possible to sell.

The idea of consumer mass customization (Pine & Davis, 1999) saw its rise in the 1990’s, following the development of flexible computer-aided

manufacturing systems.

Co-production is described as a way of enhancing the product by allowing increased communication between the company and individual.

The goal for the ‘Take Cover’ project was to produce customized telephone covers for a limited amount of customers with 3D printing techniques, focusing on the Customized, Enhanced and Computational aspects (Killi, 2013) of the design.

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client

1 2 3

1

designer 11. MARCH

brief

TIMELINE

concepts

review

1st concept iteration

Workshop timeline The following timeline chart was given to the designers as well as the customers. It contained important milestones, focusing on where the customer and designer interact.

26. APRIL

in depth feedback

2nd concept iteration

in depth feedback

delivery

1. Facebook communication A group of 44 people were invited to a Facebook group, which served as the main communications platform. Here they received links to surveys, and were regularly updated with the overall progress of the project.

2. Retrieving initial input A short survey was posted on the Facebook group, containing questions about: • What telephone they have.

• Their address, age and name.

• Some questions that give an idea about their esthetical preferences.

• Specifics about what they would like a personal telephone cover to look like.

The input was organized, and formed the basis of the brief, shown in the picture “The brief” that each student received two of, one for each client.

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3. The brief

Haakon den godes vei 35. 0373 OSLO

Samra Avdagic

Lena Jensen 36 - 45 år

Hvilken mobiltelefon har du?

Hva bruker du mobiltelefonen din til?

Du er på vei ut til butikken, men mobiltelefonen din ble igjen hjemme. Kryss av hva som er mest passende for deg: Hvilken modell var den forrige telefonen din?

Hvor lenge hadde du den?

Har du et mobildeksel til telefonen din nå?

Hvor ville du vært: skauen eller kaféen?

Du har kjøpt Billy bokhylle på IKEA. Hva stemmer mest?

BMW eller Citroén?

Du vil få ditt helt eget mobildeksel, spesialdesignet for deg. Har du noen ønsker til produktet?

Ingen ønsker er for dumme!

iPhone 4 Ringe / sende SMS. Surfe på nettet. Sjekke mail. Se filmer. serier eller videoklippp.

Koordinere hverdagen (handlelister. kalender osv). Treningsformål. Spille spill. Sosiale medier (instagram. facebook. 4square osv.). Ta bilder. Ta video “Jeg får være rask. men mobilen blir igjen hjemme”

Samsung. 2 år

Ja Kaféen “Nå skal det bygges! ”

BMW Den skal være god å holde i hånda. siden den er flittig brukt og bor der masse. gjerne i flere sterke farger. ikke lyse farger ( blir så skitten så fort) og bunnfargen bør være sort.

et AHO mobildeksel-stunt

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4. Review After an initial period of concept development, the students were to present to the supervisors, consisting of professor Steinar Killi, Kathinka Bryn Bene from Geriljaworks and me. The review was a way for the students to

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get feedback on the overall concepts they had developed.

Every student was to make two covers for two separate clients, the concept aiming to fit them both. It became apparent that this could be a challenge, as the

initial input ranged from specific logos to symbolisation of sexual orientation.

5. Iterations As explained in the timeline, the workshop incorporated two product iteration stages, before the final product was to be sent to the client.

Between each iteration a form was set up, in order for the student to get feedback.

This was not always possible, as some clients failed to reply in time.

The feedback form asked question concerning product fit, as well as positive and negative feedback concerning the concept

An image uploaded on the Facebook site, as a way of symbolising progress in the workshop. The picture shows a telephone cover in the SLS printer

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POST PROCESSING OF 3D PRINTED PRODUCTS each build, and is available in a large variety of colours.

SLS uses powdered plastic as building material, and will require a thorough rinse in order to change material. Therefore, at the RP-lab at AHO, white polyamide remains the primary choice of material.

The industrial tumbler, containing ceramic pellets, grinds with a vibrating, centrifugal force.

Background Products that are made with 3D printing will not necessarily be instantly ready for use. While technologies such as FDM convey a certain end product feel; plastic material, glossy finish, right colour etc., there will often be a certain amount of post processing. 3D printing that makes use of support structures, such as dual extrusion FDM, will need its support removed.

Unlike most 3D printing tools, which build in open air, SLS products do not require any support. The powdered plastic is selectively melted layer by layer, and naturally forms its own structure, as the object will embed itself in the building material.

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This can be of great aid for the designer. Hollowed, cantilevered, and complex, free-hanging structures are now possible to produce. However, the “advantage of SLS of increased complexity is obsolete due to inferior surface quality.” (Schmid, Simon, & Levy, 2009, p.1).

The laser that heats up the plastic powder merely sinters it, meaning it heats it up close to its melting point. As a result, the product will be porous. The products that come out of the printer will therefore require some post processing. If not, they will easily absorb materials like fat and dust.

FDM allows you to change filament material easily between

Time, Colour and Scratch resistance In preparation for the ‘Take Cover’ course, different ways of post processing were tried out: Sanding, Tumbling, Acetone diluted cyanoacrylate absorption, Spray painting and Colour Dyeing.

The trials were carried out with the aim of finding the most appropriate post processing method for approximately 40 telephone covers. Parameters defined as important were: Time consumption, Colour evenness and Scratch resistance.

As a large amount of products needed to be processed, the time used to process each model should be as low as possible.

Colour evenness refers to the ability to create uniformly saturated coloured surfaces.

Scratch resistance refers to the durability of the product coating or surface.

Sanding down the uneven surfaces (Bannink, 2012), followed by spray filling and finally spray painting, has for a long time been

the preferred method of making mock-ups among students at AHO. Initially, in preparation for the ‘Take Cover’ stunt, a special plastic bonding spray paint was used, after the uneven surfaces had been prepared. Different spray paint finishing was tried out; flat, satin and gloss. Of these, flat spray paint proved most ideal, as remaining unevenness created by the 3D printing process would not be highlighted further.

Sanding and spray painting was remains the easiest solution if few products are to be made.

Flexible,” 2012), followed by tumbling, proved the most efficient method of post processing in this case. The industrial tumbler (see Fig 2), filled with small ceramic pellets, allow a large amount of products to be surface polished at the same time, and proved useful as over 40 products were estimated to be produced. Products containing fragile parts, however, still needed to be sanded by hand.

Dyeing process 1. Wash the model with washing liquid 2. Mix dyeing pigment with water and vinegar 3. Put SLS product in a sauce pan 4. Heat gradually up to 90° C 5. Dye for 20 minutes with constant stirring 6. Put sauce pan in cold water.

Gradually lower the temperature

Dyeing with Nylon textile dye (“Dyeing White, Strong & After 90 minutes of tumbling at low speed, the surface appears more glossy and resistant

7. Wash SLS product in lukewarm water.

Product after dyeing.

The porous finish is still apparent.

Plastic bonding spray paint combined with filler remains the preferred way to create prototypes, as it covers unevenness in the surface

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TABLE OF STUDENT PROJECTS The resulted student projects have been summarized in 4 categories. These include Degree of Customization, Amount of Post Processing, 3D Printer Adaptability & Concept Plot.

Degree of Customization, meaning the extent to which it is a custom product. The now famous hearings aids (Hopkinson, Hague,

Name / Identifier

Samra A

Maria B

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Product Image

& Dickens, 2006), would score quite high here, but without the personalized part it would score quite low. Rating was based on information given from each product presentation, combined with perceived ability to customize. (Killi, 2013)

the product. Intricate details may require manual labour.

Amount of Post Processing gives an impression on the complexity of

Concept Plot gives a quick idea on the individual projects.

Degree of Customization

5 - very High

1 - minimal

Amount of Post Processing

3D Printer Adaptability meaning how the product performs with different printing technology. SLS and FDM printing as basis for evaluation.

3D Printer Adaptability

Concept Plot

Bumper case, with a good grip and customizable negative space

1 - Minimal

Fits both SLS and FDM printing

4 - High.

Contains fragile parts.

Fits both SLS and FDM printing. May require support structure and /or increase in material on fragile parts

Tactile, wavy rear surface, protective casing

Protective casing.

Personal adoption of decor.

Martin C

4 - high

1 - Minimal

SLS, will require support structure for FDM printing

Marthe D

4- high

1 - Minimal

Fits both SLS and FDM printing

Complementing the design of the telephone.

Statement, rather than providing protection

Name / Identifier

Ola E

Runar F

Malin G

Stine H

Ingrid I

Peik J

Product Image

Degree of Customization

Amount of Post Processing

3D Printer Adaptability

Concept Plot

Fits both SLS and FDM printing. May require support structure

Highly protective casing.

Customizable negative space

2 - Low

SLS only

Card holder.

Allows for placement of logo on rear surface

3 - some

1 - Minimal

SLS, will require support structure for FDM printing

Protective casing.

Allowing for customizable cuts, as well as logo placement

3 - some

4 - High.

(Requires spraypainting)

4 - high

2 - low

3- Depends on user customization.

1- Low

1 - Minimal

SLS, will require support structure for FDM printing

4 - High (if embroidered)

Fits both SLS and FDM printing

2 - Low

Fits both SLS and FDM printing. May require support structure and /or increase in material on fragile parts

Tactile graphical pattern. Allows for customizable debossed images / symbols on plane surfaces Perforated �talking bubble� on rear surface, allowing user to embroider with needle & thread

N/A

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Name / Identifier

Sigve K

Kamilla L

Ida M

Marius N

Caroline O

Line P

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Product Image

Degree of Customization

4 - High

4- High

3- Some

2- Low

2 - Low

2 - Low

Amount of Post Processing

3D Printer Adaptability

Concept Plot

5 - Very High

SLS only

Formation of ’fungi’ that act as building blocks for functionality or decor on rear surface.

1 - Minimal

Fits both SLS and FDM printing

Customized coded Polygonal letters extruded through rear surface

2- Low

SLS only. will require slight redesign for FDM printing

Customizable matrix grid accompanied by ear plug fastener on rear surface

4 - High

SLS, will require support structure for FDM printing

Game hunting inspired antlers fused to rear surface

1 - Minimal

SLS, will require support structure for FDM printing

Marine inspired shapes repeated throughout the cover

SLS only

Movable parts connected to bearings on rear surface. Imitates fish scales

4 - High

Name / Identifier

Product Image

Degree of Customization

Jonas Q

Amount of Post Processing

3D Printer Adaptability

5 - Very High

1 - Minimal

Concept Plot

Wristband comprised of helical shapes connected to the telephone cover

SLS only

3D Graph of student projects 3D Printer Adaptability

SLS and FDM compatible as is

J

SLS and FDM w/support compatible

N JH

B

MO

4

F M

B Q

G

P

N

L C D E

5

5 Amount of Post Processing

C E

3

4

I

2

3

A

1

SLS primarliy, needs redesign for FDM compatibility

SLS only

G

1 2

L D

O

A I

H

Degree of Customization

K

Mapping of 17 telephone cover concepts made with 3D Printing technology. All products are plotted in a 3D graph along the following axis; 3D Printing Adaptability, Amount of Post Processing and Degree of Customization. The products are identified by letters, as shown in the table to the left.

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Student 1

SAMRA Concept Labelled Drop, the bumper covers allow for a customizable negative space, with a static textured grip.

The design is presented on a Apple iPhone 4.

Degree of customization The design appears to combine static patterns with a user customized details. The designers maintains a certain amount of control. The rear surface appears to be fully customizable, within a set of rules.

Amount of Post Processing As the product volume is kept to a minimum, while at the same time robust, the amount of post processing will be minimal.

3D Printing Adaptability The products were presented in both SLS polyamide material as well as FDM PLA material. The product fits both SLS and FDM printing.

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Student 2

SIGVE

GROW

Concept Labelled Grow, the covers allow users to decide between different formations of ’fungi’, that act as building blocks for functionality or decor on the rear surface.

The design is presented on two different telephones, a Samsung Galaxy II, and an Apple iPhone 5.

Degree of customization The concept offers three different stages, or amounts of ‘fungi’ to appear on the cover. Logos can act as active spaces for the ‘fungi’ to grow.

Sigve Knutson

///

GK4IDE

////

Additive m

Amount of Post Processing As the product may contain multiple detailed and fragile elements, ruling out automated processes, it will have a high amount of post processing.

3D Printing Adaptability The product may contain multiple thin walled elements that exclude FDM printing, making SLS the preferred method of production.

1

2

3

Logo

Små

Store

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Student 3

STINE Concept Labelled Cavus, the covers allow users to place debossed graphics in a defined space, accompanied by a tactile graphical pattern.

The design is presented on two different telephones, a Samsung Galaxy II, and an Apple iPhone 4.

Degree of customization The design appears to combine static patterns with a user customized details. The designers maintains a certain amount of control.

Amount of Post Processing The product, available with a variety of colours within the same product, will demand a large amount of post processing, as spray painting will be necessary.

3D Printing Adaptability As the rear surface is embossed, FDM printing of the product will require support structure. SLS is a more appropriate choice of production.

Fargepalett

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DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS The students, working in the CAD program Catia, were given professional help to solve technical challenges to realize their concepts.

As the Take Cover project progressed, focus was stressed on creating a overall concept that could result in several concept variations, rather than satisfying specific customer needs.

Between each iteration the products were refined or altered.

The time between products were sent to the SLS 3D Printing machines could be several days, as a large amount of products needed to be sintered and then cooled down. Some products were suitable for FDM printing, which meant a more dynamic iterative process in these cases.

The 3d graph on the previous page shows the mapping of 17 telephone cover concepts, evaluated in a 3D graph, with the evaluating criteria plotting along each axis. The criteria Amount of Post Processing, and Degree of Customization are evaluated in a scale ranging from 1 – Minimal, 2 – Low, 3 – Some, 4 – High, and 5 – Very High. The 3D Printing Adaptability scale ranges from SLS only to fully SLS and FDM compatible.

Adaptability as the Amount of Post Processing increased, possibly as result of complex geometric shapes. These shapes do not adapt well neither to multiple 3D printing techniques, nor the ability to individually customize the product.

There is a cluster of products; L,C,D and E, that allow for large amounts of customization, while being highly 3D printing adaptable. These products have in common that they allow only rear surface customization, while the principal design remains simple and minimal.

As predicted the amount of post processing became one of the main obstacles in this stunt, depicting well one of the major challenges with this manufacturing method.

Interestingly though, if any trend could be read from this case it is that increased level of customization does not necessary leads to increased need of post processing, actually quite the opposite! Whether this is due to more simplified shape, and less details is hard to say, but this could indicate that to achieve a high level of customizability the designer would limit the amount of details. This however would need more research.

The graph tells us that the product concepts had a general decrease in Degree of Customization and 3D Printing

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PART 5

3D printing: Reflections and Conclusion

RAPID FAILURE Designing with 3D printing changes the way you do prototypes. With no, or limited access to a 3D printer, the design process will often resort to making iterations by hand, or sketching them out. With the introduction of desktop 3D printers, the prototyping phase will naturally resort to using them at an earlier stage.

In preparation for the talk at the NHH symposium, iPhone 5 cover handouts were made. Made especially made for the occasion, the covers were to include the NHH logo.

The design process rapidly evolved, simple sketches were done with pen and paper, before it was brought to the computer to be created in a 3D CAD program.

The first physical prototype was created when it was feature complete, and the dimensions were thought to be reasonably correct.

The product received two iterations before it was deemed usable. 7 copies were then created.

Due to a series of misunderstandings, time to deadline being a major aspect, the wrong company logo was placed. NHO (The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise) was mistakenly replaced with NHH (The Norwegian School of Economics), the intended logo.

It was a rapid creation, but soon turned into a rapid failure. It failed as a handout that day, and the

not

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product was not redone. However, it would have been a rapid fix to do it.

RAPID CREATION RAPID FAILURE RAPID FIX

THE CURRENT STATE OF DESKTOP 3D PRINTERS

A word often associated with desktop 3D printing is DIY. Do It Yourself. Many 3D printer projects, such as the Ultimaker, various Reprap projects, Rostock Deltabot etc., are unassembled when bought. Printers such as Ultimaker are now available preassembled. Experienced users of these machines will still tell you to get the unassembled one. The reason being that something will eventually go wrong. And when it does, it’s good to have first hand knowledge about the machine.

No matter how careful you are, things will go wrong. An owner of a Ultimaker 3D printer once said, ”My machine is almost flawless.

I have been running it for almost 2 weeks now, and almost nothing went wrong”.

With any mechanism containing movable parts, there is bound to be mechanical failure at some point. Cars are sent to the mechanic for maintenance. Inkjet printers are often thrown and replaced. Bicycles have to be oiled now and then.

With 3D printers, there is also the element of heat involved. 3D printers melt and fuse material to each other, and parts can easily get clogged or warn out. Depending on where you live, replacement parts for 3D

Printer hot-end nozzle

Accumulated dirt

After continuous use, certain parts of the printer may show sign of wear.

The picture shows a lump of dark material that blocked the nozzle of a Ultimaker 3D printer.

Common problems with Desktop FDM 3D printers include: printers may be hard to get hold of. The companies that sell the machines also provide spare parts, but physical help may be hard to get hold of. However, the communities that surround the various 3D printers are extensive.

People share their issues and problems, and how they fixed it.

• • • • • •

Belt wear Accumulation of dirt and carbonized material in hotend Electronic shorts Loose nuts and bolts Stepper motor fatigue EMF interference

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IS THE 3D PRINTER OUR NEXT HOME APPLIANCE?

Throughout this project I have followed my intention of mixing theory with a solid base in practical application. To answer the question of whether a 3D printer actually belongs in the home of today, I have used myself as well as a wider public to take on the roles of representatives of modern people with modern homes.

It is obvious that using myself as the prime carrier of this role, is not unproblematic. As indicated in the introduction to the subject, the technology intrigued me from the very beginning. Also I am a design student who can be counted as more than averagely interested in this specific subject. Yet to widen the circle of 3D users, I have sought out various communities with more or less experience and specialised interests in 3D printing. By actively taking part on web based sharing platforms,

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I have kept contact with the real enthusiasts. On the other end of the scale I have, together with Professor Steinar Killi of AHO, brought the technology to a group of economy students at NHH. I have presented a workshop for design students with little prior knowledge to 3D printing, as I have introduced the technology to a man in his 50’s with no prior knowledge. This latter was given the task of dreaming up anything he wanted for personal use that he could not already buy in a shop.

His limitations were not connected to his own knowledge of using a 3D printer (which is non existent), my primary goal was rather to see if it is possible to envisage a product made in a technology you have no prior knowledge of.

His drawing of a GPS and Solar panel holder for his sailing boat is included.

Throughout this project I have

kept in mind that I am not just the one who asks the questions, I am also the one answering them.

In the many practical challenges explained and documented on these pages, I am often the one to carry them out. I therefore find it appropriate and relevant to explain my own background in order to shed some light on a potential user of 3D technology.

My very first memories involve making things, from paper sculptures to tin soldiers to radio controlled cars and airplanes and eventually building my own computer. Part of growing up has been to try to utilize my creative

energies the best way possible. I could have continued using tools like brushes, scissors, saws, soldering equipment or carving knives.

I chose the 3D printer.

Exploring the world of 3D printing has been both challenging and rewarding in addition to involving a number of choices. First of all there is the printer itself; for which model is most suitable for my purposes? There is always the compromise between price, size and quality. When I had found the best 3D printer for my use, I realized I actually had to make

it myself. I spent hours reading about others who had done similar things, and I looked up all available information on the web.

Once the 3D printer was constructed, I needed to find out how it worked. A whole new terminology appeared, there were words I had not even heard before. Then there were the specialized materials, and their working qualities; performance and limitations. The community surrounding the 3D printers was also something to get into. This community is a constant resource, continually giving advice on how to improve the machine, which

A man in his 50’s was asked to sketch out a product he would like make with a 3D printer: a stand for his GPS , accompanied by a small solar charger, on the cockpit wall of his sailing boat.

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sometimes will involve printing them, for then to add to the machine.

Once the machine was working satisfactory, I could start making things. I found blueprints for a child’s toy hammer, and made it for my nephew’s third birthday. I experimented with mending a bag that had lost its strap lock. Being a student of design, I also started using it for prototyping ideas: quick iterations of products, to get a physical output. I used the printer to create casts for silicone moulding, allowing me to reach a higher level of detail than I would had I used traditional modelling techniques.

So why own a 3D printer and place it in your own home?

I am not alone in my need for harnessing and honing my creative needs and energies.

Inside many of us there are little creators who get huge satisfaction from seeing an idea conceived in the mind, magically appear as a tangible object as we watch. You have this vague seed in your head, and suddenly it is in front of you, transformed into something very physical.

In addition there is the journey to get there. For inside that printed product, there is the totality of the process: the initial vision, the sketching, the collecting of

My little nephew, Alfred with the hammer ’THWACK’,

by ErikJDurwoodII

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information, the making of the virtual model, the tweaking, the fixing, the frustration, and eventually - the satisfaction of seeing it all come together in a printed object.

For owning a 3D printer involves a love of solving problems. The result is not always the best part, the creative process itself is often the most rewarding. You have an idea, as in ”How might I....”. As an engineer you start considering things like material thickness, and where to position crucial parts of the design. As a designer you question how the object functions practically as well as aesthetically. As a responsible citizen you start wondering how the product might improve life, for others as well as for yourself. As a friend you might wonder if you could make something personal for someone you know.

The 3D printer is highly versatile tool. Here used to make both prototypes of plastic injected parts, as well as the tool for silicone moulding. ’Rebottle’, by William Kempton, Rita Frade and Valentina Cascio

CONCLUSION You can compile all sorts of rational and highly valid reasons for why acquiring a 3D printer for home use is either a good thing or not such a good thing.

By searching out the qualities of this technology as well as introducing it to selected groups of people, I have concluded that the main reason for acquiring a printer is not as many would believe, for the end product only.

The process to get there is as important. Taking interest in the process is not just part of the fun, but also highly necessary. In order to keep the tools (not least the printer) in working order, you

need enthusiasm and background knowledge. More often than not, it is by working with the printer and the materials themselves, that the idea for projects start appearing. To find or design suitable products, you also need this enthusiasm and background knowledge.

mind, gradually grow into itself right there in front of your eyes.

It is the qualities of magic, of satisfaction, of pure fun, that give 3D its real purpose in the home. In my opinion these are the qualities that will also pave the way to the future.

With this in mind, 3D printing offers a highly rewarding experience. It gives you an end product as well as including a process that lets you take on all the roles of the creator, from start to finish. With a 3D printer, you are able to observe an object, which began as a dream in your

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REFERENCES Killi, Steinar. (2013). Designing for Additive Manufacturing: Perspectives from Product Design M. Schmid, C. Simon, & G.N. Levy. (2009). Finishing of SLS-Parts for Rapid Manufacturing. Institute for Rapid Product Development, Lerchenfeldstr. 5,CH-9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland Campbell, Ian R, Richard J Hague, Bahar Sener & Paul W Wormald. (2003). The Potential for the Bespoke Industrial Designer. The Design Journal, 6 (3): 24-34. http://solidsmack.com/resources/community-centered-3d-printing-services-expand-with-3d-hubs/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_laser_sintering http://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/dyeing_sls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fused_deposition_modeling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_laser_sintering http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereolithography http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page http://vinland.com/UM_Extruder_Bearing.html http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/08/23/wiki-weapon-project-aims-to-create-a-gun-anyonecan-3d-print-at-home/

In the media http://www.dezeen.com/2013/04/16/dezeen-launches-print-shift-magazine-with-blurb/ http://www.repubblica.it/persone/2013/03/08/foto/dita_von_teese_indossa_il_primo_abito_stampato_in_3d54122630/1/?ref=HRESS-13#1 http://www.designswan.com/archives/3d-doodler-a-pen-can-draw-in-air.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1F0aQ_2lKo&noredirect=1 http://blog.stratasys.com/2012/05/30/craziest-3d-printed-part-ever/ http://www.dezeen.com/2013/01/25/cheap-3d-printers-fuel-sex-toy-boo/

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http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/companje/doodle3d http://www.dezeen.com/2013/05/03/scientists-3d-print-bionic-ear-hears-beyond-human-range/ http://www.gizmag.com/kamermaker-3d-printed-house/26752/pictures Things THWACK - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:34404 Rebottle - http://whatabout.no/en/home/item/26-the-ultimate-tool 13:30 Printable Headphones - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:31392

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

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