Designing for 3D printing

By Ann Marie Shillito

This is a story about 2 things:•digitally designing and 3D printing a box for a very special ring•That the technology we use makes a difference in the way we work:

I am Ann Marie Shillito. I am a designer maker / jeweller, Author of ‘Digital Crafts: Industrial Technologies for Applied Artists

and Designer Makers’,Founder/CEO of Anarkik3D Ltd, Honorary Research Fellow (Edinburgh College of Art) and Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the

encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce)

My daughter is Kari and in 2011 I designed her

engagement & wedding rings. I did this digitally using the

haptic 3D modelling software that my company, Anarkik3D, has developed specifically for designer makers like me who

want to access the exciting potential that is 3D printing.

+In this presentation I illustrate the

thread, that ‘the technology we use makes a difference in the way we

work’ and this story is about digitally designing and 3D printing a box for

her ring.

First, a bit of context…

The software is central. Because with our haptic software I can work & 3D model more quickly and easily in a more organic way than I can ever do with a CAD (Computer Aided Design) package. The two technologies, digital modelling and 3D printing , used together, made a big difference

to the way I could design the titanium ring (and then the box).

‘intertwine’ and flow around the diamond of her engagement ring,

hand wrought in gold.

To make this ring by hand would be a long and arduous job. Also with osteoarthritis in both my

thumb joints a painful one too. (in fact, for hand making I would design the

ring differently!)

3D printing is remarkable. By designing for her wedding ring to be 3D printed, and be printed in titanium by i.materialise, two bands can

3D modelling using Anarkik 3D Design/Cloud9 software

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I only use Anarkik 3D Design 3D modelling software. The reasons:

•most CAD (computer aided design) packages have too steep a learning curve•interface & functionality are too complex for what designer makers need with too many drop-down menus •the mode of working is engineer/product designer biased & doesn’t fit designer maker way of thinking•we need to be able to play and experiment fluidly: as makers we cannot devote the amount of time that is needed to reach this stage with CAD.

The box for the ring. I have a small consumer/personal/desktop 3D printer and this story is about designing a box

which could be 3D printed in extruded PLA.

This image of the Rhino interface is from an early version .

Technology should be designed to fit the way we work. We should not

have to adapt to imposed defaults and unfamiliar methods of

interaction.

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Anarkik 3D Design software uses a 3D haptic device. This is the difference between CAD and our haptic software. The device gives me, the user, a real sense of ‘touching’ and ‘feeling’ a virtual object: force feedback, haptics! I can also move the cursor in 3 dimensions and interact more intuitively both within the digital space and with virtual objects. This makes navigating a 3D space and manipulating 3D objects a synch!

This also makes for a straight forward interface, with visible menus. There are additional hot keys to learn and use as needed.I can get immersed in the creative process without my cognitive flow being disrupted by complexity and myriad drop-down menus!

This makes a differencein the way I work and design.

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• move & rotate objects & world in 3D

• manipulate, deform: feel and see interactions

• scale, construct, subtract: serendipity as default

• export file formats: direct to 3D printing

• to some CAD (e.g. Rhino)

This is the non complex Anarkik 3D Design/Cloud9 interface:Incorporating a haptic device (virtual touch) makes it easy to use.

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This then a story about digitally designing and 3D printing a box for that very special ring, starting with creating a base.

1. I select a cube from the menu, scale it to size and then scale down in the ‘y’ axis to create the base platform. Scaling is easy with 3D movement of the haptic device: push in/out for larger/smaller, x,y,z keys for dynamic non uniform scaling.

2. I select a sphere & using the slice plane and the cursor to position it, slice the sphere to create a dome. Instructions in a task bar give information to complete tasks.

Precision and exact dimensions are not an issue as I am not designing for industrial production,.

More important is being able to work fluidly without the distraction of entering exact figures via the keyboard as you do with CAD.

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Digitally designing a ring box: continuing with creating a base.

3. Next is to move the dome onto the base and I used Snap on both parts to align them accurately.

Here the grid is invisible but there is a box in the top menu to tick to make it visible: the grid’s axis can be changed with the ‘page down’ key and its

position moved with the arrow keys.

Working ‘by eye’ to get the proportions right is one way designer makers tend to work in the non-digital place of sketching & benchwork.

I will use all the advantages computer assisted designing offers, such as undo/redo (great for experimenting and exploring) and for a high level of

precision there is always CAD.

4. Boolean union was then used to make the 2 parts into a single unit.

And you know what, by having a 3D haptic force feedback device I really can feel the objects I am creating. I can both see and feel where I am. I can get more immersed into designing, experimenting, exploring and making

creative decisions. There is less disruption and less uncertainty about knowing my cursor’s position in the digital space!

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To make the slot for the ring, I select a cylinder from the menu, create it, scale it to size, then narrow it down to ring shank width by holding down the ‘y’ on the keyboard & push the grasp on the haptic device to thin the cylinder down. The read-out gives the dimensions. I use Snap to align and position the forms.

Boolean subtraction ‘cuts’ the slot for the ring.

I select both cylinder & base, press down the ‘1’ key and toggle until the

cylinder is shown in wire frame mode, then I click on Boolean subtraction.

With this action completed, I move or delete the intersection bit & there I have the ring slot. I did

redo this to position the slot at an angle.

Digitally designing a ring box: the slot for the ring.

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I used a 3D alphabet & designed the side panel and the top of the box to be 3D printed separately, flat down on the printer bed (no overhangs) rather than

upright, so that supports for any overhangs were not needed .

This required designing a frame with chamfered corners and with location points (spheres) so that parts would slot together neatly for gluing. Spheres at the top

corners were Boolean subtracted out of the side panels to create hollows for locating the four corner spheres on the top part.

By copy/pasting the original base and scaling it in just 2 axes, parts the exact length were created so the frame would fit the base and the top would be the

right size.

Digitally designing a ring box: the sides.

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3D printing a ring box: the sides.

The four side panels of the box were each printed separately flat down on the printer bed. The 3D printer I use is the kit type and I was new to setting

it up and using it. The host is Repetier and I have a choice of two slicing programmes, Skienforge or 3DSlicr. The extrusion material is PLA.

Okay, I am not a geek and I really struggle with setting up, understanding G-code and how to tweak the various parameters to get good results.

Saying that, I am really taken with the ‘sketch’ quality of the panels. I glued

four together to see what the box could be like. I have yet to 3D print the

top and the base.

For comparison I decided to redesign the box to be 3D printing through a 3D

printing service company using the sintered powder or binder method.

Different systems for 3D printing , materials and access

ProcessDigital model ‘bacon-sliced.Digital slices sent to printerLayers physically built into 3D object.

Method, range of materials. (3a) Extrusions: polymers, edibles, composites(3b) Sintered: polymers, metals.Other materials/systems (e.g. binders): resin, sheet material, paper, starch ….

Access:Own home printers, fablabs,service companies (i.materialise, Sculpteo, Shapeways, Ponoko, 3DPrintingUK, etc..

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Digitally re-designing the ring box for 3D printing using sintering method.

For the extrusion method the four side panels were printed separately, flat down on the printer bed to avoid having to add supports for overhangs.

For printing by sintering or bonding powder, the compacted non bonded powder supports overhangs so the box top and the sides could be

designed for printing as one piece.

By using the original base, the frame was made to fit it

by using Boolean subtraction to remove its copy from the centre of a flattened ‘cube’, scaled to the right size and

proportions. I interwove the letters with the ‘line’ to hold

parts like the centre of the ‘O’ in place.

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Digitally re-designing a ring box for 3D printing using sintering method : cont..

The text panels were easily tweaked to fit the new frame and

scaled to overlap at the corners to do away with corner posts. The

corner spheres were kept to consolidate and visually and

physically strengthen the top.

As the box is for a special ring (and to sell as a possible Valentine’s Day present) I used a matrix of different size hearts to make box top. The heart was created a few years ago and is part of my library of things.

The heart was created from a sphere pushed and pulled (deform function), mirrored and made one surface/object using Boolean union. This could then be scaled larger, smaller, thinner, thicker, taller, wider, narrow, etc using the haptic device with x,y,z keys to control non-uniform scaling to create a variety of hearts to fit into any position.

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I added 2 overlapping hearts to the base and deformed the dome to give it a more organic form which would support the ring by wedging it a bit more firmly into the slot.

Once completed this was uploaded to my account on i.materialise to select the material, get a price and the shipping estimation.

Digitally re-designing a ring box for 3D printing using sintering method: cont..

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Initial feedback advised that the ‘lines’ and the lettering on the top were below recommended specification for thickness and these parts might not print successfully. I removed these and replaced them with small hearts to fill the gaps & join up the small parts like the centres of the ‘O’.

Amending the design for successful 3D printing.

Once again this was uploaded to my account on i.materialise to get a price and estimated delivery date. It is always exciting to receive and open the package! The box is still to be hand finished and it is good to have the physical model to consider the options: maybe dye the base a different colour and the hearts pickedout, painted or gold leafed, the top left white with one heart picked out in gold leaftoo. Watch this space.

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Summary, notes and a quote ..

The technology we use has a major effect on the way we work. If the technology is problematic, the way we work with it might then be difficult, degrading our intentions and the outcome possibly distorted and debased.

This can apply to all tools we use (including technology) and to the processes and materials we select for particular tasks and for specific outcomes. Only with knowledge of what tools, processes and materials can do can we sensibly make

decisions about what and which is appropriate for the task. To know this we need to have sufficient know-how and knowledge about affordances and limitations and a hands on approach is a well tested method for not just

learning ‘how to’ but also for exploring, pushing boundaries and finding out new things.

Peter Dormer encapsulated gaining this knowledge (explicit and tacit) and it’s value very succinctly in this quote:

‘It is not craft as ‘handicraft’ that defines contemporary craftsmanship: it is craft as knowledge that empowers a maker to take charge of technology.’

(Peter Dormer 1997).

Summary, notes and a quote ..cont.

In slide 4 I outlined issues I have with CAD as a designer maker, much of which was borne out in our Tacitus Research Project at Edinburgh College of

Art/Edinburgh University from 2000 to 2004.

Out of this research project we set up Anarkik3D Ltd, and developed Anarkik 3D Design as our own brand haptic 3D modelling software, the aim being to

provide a digital way of 3D modelling that is more closely aligned with the way designer makers already work in the ‘real world’ with actual materials and

hand tools. Haptic means ‘touch’ and in our case ‘3D touch’. It is this approach that has produced a more appropriate way of working for designer makers and

designs are more free form.

3D printing is perfect for realising complexity and as the range of 3D printable materials expands, so designing will be further turned on its head as the more traditional manufacturing processes are either passed over entirely or combine

with new technology (i.e.3D printing and ‘lost wax.’ casting) and new possibilities are realised.

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One other requirement is affordability and value, that is, justified in terms of real economic gains from using 3D modelling technology to access 3D printing.

How we engage with digital technologies is changing continually and generally for the better. It is nigh impossible to predict what factors might emerge with significance for designing, making and producing that will justify investment of

time, money and effort to learn new stuff and ways of interacting digitally.Usability is improving. Overall access is easier and the outlay to take a first step

into 3D digital modelling is affordable. Anarkik 3D Design software delivers on all this too.

Meanwhile some of the work by other designer makers using Anarkik 3D Design can be seen on our website and Pinterest boards. And our videos show

the technology in use. Here are the links:

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Anarkik3D main website Anarkik3D on Pinterest

Anarkik3D videos Anarkik3D Blog

Twitter: @anarkik3d @anarkymarie Contact: email us