What is 3D printing?

3D printing is the action or process of making a physical object from a three-dimensional digital model, typically by laying down many thin layers of material in succession. Each of these layers can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontal cross-section of the eventual object. 3D printing enables you to produce complex shapes using less material than traditional manufacturing methods.

How does it work?

It all starts with a 3D model. You create one yourself or download it from a 3D respiratory. When creating it yourself you can choose to use a 3D scanner app or 3D modelling software.

3D Scanning

3D scanning is the process of analysing  real-world object or environment to collect data on its shape and possibly its appearance. The collected data can then be used to construct digital 3D models.

This post will explain how I use “Cube Print” to export and 3D print my CAD models.

Step 1: Firstly you want to create a CAD model using any design software such as Fusion 360 or Solid-works. With this project I used Fusion 360 but that is only my preference. The image below is a CAD model I designed for a stretching device. It is the handle and I designed it small enough to fit onto my 3D printer which is 400mm by 800mm. This will vary depending on what printer you use.

Step 2: Select the parts you want to print. In this case I want to print the whole model.

Step 3: Next export the file and save as a “obg” file anywhere on your computer.

Step 4: Next open up the software called “Cube print” Now this only works if you have a Cube 3D printer. For any printer if you want to use a software which is compatible with all printers you can download a software called “Meshmixer” which allows you to export and upload your file to a 3D printer.

Cube Print

Step 5: Wait for your CAD model to download.

Step 6: Using the Cube print software upload the CAD model.

Step 7: Select the model you just uploaded and click print and it will show you a preview of how the model will be positioned and printed. If it is in an awkward position you can rotate and man-over the model to a position which would be more practical to print.

Step 8: Connect the software to your 3D printer, as shown below.

Tips

• On this software when it is connected to your printer you can check what colour cartridges you have selected for which part.

Unfortunately my 3D printer is not working at the moment however it will be fixed in the near future and I will post and share the whole process of 3D printing.

3D Scanning

I attempted 3D scanning as shown in the images below. I downloaded an app which was recommended called “TRNIO” which cost only £7 and allows you to 3D scan objects using your phone. Firstly I had to learn how to use the app. I struggled with keeping a steady hand when attempting to use the app so my first attempt as shown below do not go as planned. For this Scan that is below I used the setting “Arkit” but it wasn’t working.

For my second attempt I used a still object which was a vape. With this object I used the “Object” setting which would scan the object when I move the camera around the object. Now this scan worked far better then the previous attempt. Although the image is still very blurry as shown below which is not good when you want to use this image to model in CAD. Obviously I still need a lot of practise using this software.

Although the 3D scan did not come out well I wanted to show how you can upload this scan onto mesh-mixer. All you have to do is upload the scan from your phone and send it to your email or any other platform which you can access on your computer. Next download the scan and import it into mesh-mixer as shown below. This means you can actually 3D print an object that you can 3D scan.

Attempt 3: 3D scanning

With my third attempt I used my flatmate to scan his head. I thought doing it myself to another person would be good practise and produce more accurate results.

As shown in the images below you can see that they have come out much better then my previous attempts however there are still a lot of mistakes such as the hole at the top of the head and some of the shoulder is separated.

Fixing my 3D scanned model

Next I attempted to clean the top of his head by filling the hole. To do this I clicked on select and brushed around the edge of the whole. Then I went to edit and filled the whole on the top of the head. However it did not work as well as it hoped as shown in the images below.

In this black and white image shown below you can see that there is still a lot to fix with this can. This can e fixed through various techniques using mesh-mixer.

Next using the previous technique shown above I filled the hole in his chin which worked much better then the hole on his head.

Next I wanted to discard the lower part of the head (shoulders) because it did not scan well.

Next I cut off the edges of his shoulders using the plane cut tool which I used in the previous step as shown above.

Next I wanted to make the model solid so it could be 3D printed. As shown in the images below the model is now solid.