3/27/15
11:40-1pm

Today I exported the file of the smaller lego piece to the SD card to print. This took me a while to fix because I have the new maker bot software so I had to change the software to accept the older printer. Finally I got the file on the card and printed. The first attempt had to be ended because I hadnt put enough acetone & plastic liquid on the platform and it wasn’t sticking. The next try was able to print the hollow part, but the other part still wouldn’t stick and just came out like a giant squiggle
unnamed

 

3/25/15
5-6pm

Today I used the newly scaled cathedral to finish maiking new lego attachment test pieces. I did both the large and small types
newl

smaln

Also I checked on the first hollow test and it seems to have printed nicely
foto

 

3/20/2015
12-1:30pm

Today I worked on the pelican more, and I need to find a command that will fill the hole in the face. I’ve sealed off just about every other open edge, but the mouth is still a challenge.
pelface

Also, the original model of the computer mouse crashed so I redid it and am still trying to use tsplines and other commands to make it into one complete solid
mo

mlo

4:50-6:20pm

I moved all of my rhino 3d files from the year into the project folder. I also tried the check & repair mesh commands on the computer mouse but when i tried “fillmeshholes” the most it would fill was to this point
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so I couldn’t get the boolean difference to go through
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but I’m going to try to trim the whole piece higher up then extrude it so it has a flattened bottom

 

I went to the DSC to use the printer today. The supervisor was trying to get small test prints to run through but they weren’t being printed. Going to check back again later to see if it started working at all.

I then started working on seeing how the 123d catch pieces were able to convert into Rhino files. You can use the 123d catch website to bring the files as an .stl into Rhino.
hu2

h1

moouse

I was able to select points and use tsplines to edit and remove background pieces to create a more defined highliter and mouse, but due to the large file size the process was very slow and had a tendency to occasionally crash.

 

3/17/15
7-8:30pm

Tonight the 3D printer was out of order again so I decided to experiment with the 123d catch app. This app takes a while to load, and isn’t always very accurate when creating a mesh. This salt shaker is an example of some of the meshes that didn’t quite make a complete object

unnamed

However the program is useful for creating 3d files and downloading them as different formats to print or edit. The highliter and computer mouse I captured came out fairly clear, and i was able to see how they would transfer to a print file on the maker bot software.

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Highlighter 3d

 

3/5/2015
6-7:30pm

Tonight the 3D printer was back working again but something was being printed by another student. Instead of working in the DSC i worked on sealing the pelican. It is getting close to finished but some problem areas still exist at the edges of the wings and the corner of the mouth, and I need to find a new combination of commands to fix this.
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tr

Im going to go back later tonight to see if the project that was being printed is done so I can put my piece in to print

 

3/4/15
6:30-9pm

Tonight I worked on a few different things. First I worked a bit on the pelican, trying a mixture of extract and blend srf commands to mend the open edges. This has been a tedious process, as some commands like joinedge work better for certain naked edges than other combinations. There are also some edges that don’t seem to respond to any command so I need to be more creative with solutions to fix those.
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pe

Next I went to the DSC to work on the 3d printer. When I got there, one of the supervisors was working on test pieces because the printer kept stopping and beeping in the middle of a job. We used my lego piece as a test
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unnamed (1)

Like the cube she had been testing with, the printer worked for a minute or two then froze and made a beeping sound before getting to the end of the piece as if it had overheated but was showing no error message, all three times we tested it. We cleaned and refilled the filament, and then restarted, but there was no improvement. She said this has been happening for a while and that there has been talk of getting a new printer.

After that I worked on the Kscan software for the first time. I used it to scan myself sitting at the computer. I am going to practice more with this because the scan came out a bit bumpy. The smooth tool helped a bit. However I still came out with two noses.
ksc2

ksc1

 

3/3/15
7-9pm

Tonight I downloaded the Makerbot desktop program onto my laptop so I can still use the printers when they are available. I went to the DSC to print pieces however the printer was in use. I reformatted the interlocking pieces to work though so as soon as the printer is free (going to check again tonight) I will print them and then print the full cathedral blocks. Also, I made a lot of progress on the pelican tonight. I used a few different commands to fix the majority of naked edges.

I used sweep2 and blend surface to rebuild some of the surfaces which worked best on some of the facial structures
peledge
peledge2

Also, I used the join edges command which was really helpful on picking up some of the smaller edges throughout the wings
peledge1
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pelnak

There are only a few more edges to fix and the pelican should be watertight for the most part. Have to still figure out a way to fix part of the face that remains as naked edges
fix pel

 

2/27/15
7:30-9pm

The cathedral project is on pause until the Makerbot station (specifically the program itself) in the DSC is up and running again, so tonight I started work on the pelican in the project folder, making it watertight and trying to fix the naked edges.

pelnak

pelicanne

 

2/26/2015
8-9pm

I talked to Melissa who works at the DSC about how to fix the file. It seems like there was a small part that was still two-dimensional so it was having issues being sent over. Also, I separated the two pieces into separate files to print because the issue also could have been that they were slightly off the same level. When I returned to the DSC to print the files however the Maker Desktop program was no longer on the computer, and the student working there said they were having issues with the software, but he didn’t know how to fix it, and the students who monitor the printers hadn’t come in.

 

2/25/2015
7-9pm

Tonight I worked on printing the interlocking test piece for the cathedral. The first time I printed it, it was not successful and thus I worked on it again tonight.
maker inner 1

objinner

I tried simplifying the hollow piece because that seemed to be causing most of the problem. I printed twice and both times the smaller solid cylinder printed fine, but the hollow piece still won’t print for some reason. The plastic keeps piling up and not making the shape its supposed to. I am going to try to print it separately and ask Ethan or Hunter if they know what’s going on.

 

2/20/2015
7-9pm
2/21/2015
9:30-11am

Friday night the DSC closed early and the mybucknell cas system was down, so I will be sending what I worked on to print tonight. I finished making all the pieces attached to the actual cathedral blocks. And in the morning finsished all of the test pieces of the lego inserts and prepared them to be printed.

alldone

pieces4

pieces

pieces2

pieces3

 

2/19/2015
7-8:30pm

Today I worked on finishing up the majority of lego pieces. Then I made a separate Rhino file with just three base pieces and made sure they were watertight. Then I saved them to be printed.
Capture

The 3D printers were being used by another student today, but tomorrow I will run these test prints and if they fit well together I will print the rest of the cathedral as well.

 

2/14/2015
12:30-1:30pm

Today I worked on creating more “Lego” attachments on the cathedral pieces. As the pieces get smaller the interlocking parts also are changing size.

small lego new

lego close

 

2/11/2015
7-8:30pm
Today I worked in the library and went on thinkiverse to find something new to print. I found a tower-like structure very similar to the cathedral tower sculpture I’ve been working on. Like the cathedral, this tower was split into segments to be printed. I decided to print this template to get practice scaling pieces of the same object and positioning them on the makerbot software so that they will eventually fit together.

image

image_1

image_2

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image_6

 

2/8/15
2-3:30pm
Today I worked in the Digital Sculpture Lab in Coleman and started working on the Cathedral on Rhino. I am splitting the tower into pieces that will be easier to print on the Makerbots, and working towards making an interlocking piece for each part to connect.
church front

church pieces

 

2/5/2015
7-8:30 pm

Tonight I went to the DSC to print for the first time. I found a small model of a squirrel on thinkiverse with clean edges and no details that would be too difficult to print.
Capture

I downloaded the template onto the computer in the DSC, transferred it to an SD card, then sent it to the printer. Later that night I returned to check on its progress
unnamed

2/6/2015
11:30am

I came back in the morning to see if it had finished. The DSC is closed today so the door is locked, but I could see my print on the table through the window all finished!

 

2/4/2015
3-4:30pm
Today I went to the Digital Scholarship Center in the Library to ask about hours and usage of the 3D printers. I met the assistant director who told me I should talk to Deb Balducci. I met Deb and we discussed my fellowship and the projects I hope to be doing. She mentioned that some of the Makerbots have been having technical issues, and that they are letting fewer people stop by to use them at their leisure because they’ve been so finicky. She suggested that I get in touch with Hunter Vassar, a student who works in the DSC, who could tell me more about when I would be able to use the printers. I contacted Hunter and am waiting to either meet with him or get more information.

 

1/30/2015
12:30-1:30
Explored google 3D warehouse for potential projects to print
Capture

 

1/28/15
3-4:30pm
Finished watching vimeo video, explored thinkaverse for something to print
4

 

1/27/2015
3-4pm
-Watched vimeo video on preparing files for 3D printing, very informative