3D Printing

Designing our own products and 3D printing them

3 December 2021

This week, we were tasked to Design in Fusion360 and 3D print an object that could not be easily made subtractively. The product that I decided to go for was the "Ball in a Box".

By the end of this week I should be able to:

1. Operate and understand the functions of the 3D printer.

2. Make use of Fusion360 to design a suitable product to 3D print.

3. Know how to import my design files from Fusion360 to CURA.

Designing of product, A.K.A "Ball In A Box"

I first started of with a 50mm by 50mm square in Fusion360.

Next, using the extrude tool, I extruded the 50mm by 50mm square by 25 mm from the top and 25 mm from the bottom to ensure that the cube is symmetrical. 

I then made a new sketch and drew a 40mm by 40mm square in the cube.. and I did this for all the sides of the cube.

Moving on, I extruded the 40mm by 40mm square backwards such that it will make a hold through the cube. This will turn the cube into a "cage" for the ball.

I did the above step 3 times to ensure that all sides of the cube are "cut", and the image below shows how it turned out.

The next part was putting the ball into the cage! So using the sphere tool, I drew out a 55mm diameter sphere in the center of the cage.

The above image shows how my "Ball In A Box" final design looks like in Fusion360, and now it is time to import it into the CURA Software!

Exporting of file to CURA software

First, click on "File" in Fusion360 and press export. Click on the drop down menu and save your design as a STL file.

Open CURA Ultimaker and click on the Folder icon on the top left. Select the file that you saved and press OPEN. Your Fusion360 design will then appear on the 3D printer plate as shown below.

I also used the brim function in CURA to give a good and strong temporary base for the product.

The second and third image shows the settings that I used for the 3D Printing process. In the third photo, you can see a light blue base at the bottom of the product, and this light blue portion is actually your Brim!

NOWW it's time to print!!😝

This was how the Product turned out!

This product, the "Ball In Box" cannot be made subtractively as it is not possible to manually build in a rollable ball into a hollow cube. It is very hard to do despite its simplistic design. It will take a lot of measurements and precision to be able to produce this product. 

ORIGINAL FILES FOR 3D PRINTING

CLICK HERE

MY HERO SHOT

USING THE PRODUCT (VIDEO)

REFLECTION

From this week's practical, I was able to learn so much about the 3D printer and its capabilities! I realized how easy it was to create a product that cannot be made subtractively using a 3D printer with just a few clicks. This practical also gave me a chance to improve on my designing skills in Fusion360 and also boost my confidence in using the software. There were definitely some problems I faced during this practical especially during the 3D printing process. I had to ensure that my product will be able to print properly and I also had to keep my printing time below an hour, so my product had to be quite small. During the printing process, I remember redoing it multiple times as there were multiple errors such as the filament bending and not coming out, and when my product had not enough supports, making the printing very messy. On the other hand, I felt that we were able to operate the 3D Printer very well with the help and guidance of our Y3 Seniors.

In general, I feel that I have developed a new skill and I am very proud to have it, I am so excited to be able to use this specific set of skills for my FYP and 3D Print some cool things!😁😁