October 10, 2013

Something a Little Different: 3D Printing

A few months back my boss purchased himself a 3D printer. He's brought in some samples of things he's printed: a coffee mug, a pill bottle, and most interestingly...some geographic layered tiles based on 3D models from our CAD department. Those were pretty neat.

This week he brought in something quite a bit different. Can you guess what it is from this printing-in-progress shot?


I wouldn't be surprised if you had a hard time guessing. The shape is there, but it's hidden underneath several support structures that had to be removed after the printing was complete. After removing all of those,and spending a little time with my airbrush and paints, we ended up with this.



You might be able to tell that it's not full scale by comparing it to the size of my hand. The texture of the print is a little rough, and I certainly could have cleaned it up some more with a little sanding and filing. However since we're planning on implanting it inside a pumpkin and properly lighting up his eyes, all that work would have gone unnoticed.

I'll post up some photos once we get him wired up (possibly with some sound too), and dress him in his gourdy best. Come back in a few weeks for that update!

Post Script: Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any photos of our final product, which is a shame. The lights in the eyes and the pumpkin all sculpted around the skull turned out really well. I'll keep asking around, but it looks like we may have failed to capture photographic evidence.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

That looks awesome! Had you not pointed out the minor flaws, I wouldn't have noticed. I think it's a shame that you're going to cover this up by putting it inside a pumpkin. I say leave it exposed! -Steve @ Objex Unlimited

Obsidian3D said...

Thanks for the comments! We auction the pumpkins off for charity at the end of the day so it'll only occupy a gourd for a week or so. I imagine the buyer will keep it after they dispose of the pumpkin.

I'm considering having another printed off slightly larger to keep for myself. I have to look at the 3d model and see how good the rest of it is. Maybe I'll build a full size one over the winter!

CGIFurniture said...

I really enjoyed reading this post. It actually inspired me to share with you another useful article on the subject https://cgifurniture.com/3d-product-prototyping-in-manufacturing/