User:Heisenberg Jones
Contents
Blog 1: Thingiverse Scavenger Hunt
My first task was to explore the open-source 3D model site Thingiverse and share various types of designs with the class. Thingiverse
An item that is amazing/beautiful
This stunning dragon must have taken ages to design. The level of detail put into the scales and face, not to mention the overhang of the wings and head, is incredible. I suppose the person who designed it was a graphic / mixed media artist to begin with, but it's neat to think that instead of being done by hand (where the subtractive medthod comes in handy for quick edits and detailing), this design was engineered to print out as one whole piece. Source
An item that is funny or strange
One of my favorite movies is Sweeney Todd and I found (by cleverly using the search bar) this Sweeney Todd razor. If you haven't seen the movie or musical, you probably would put this in the useless category, especially because it's probably not sharp enough to cut anything. But I think it's a fun print, even if it would be weird to randomly whip out. If you don't know what the movie about, Sweeney Todd is a barber and his accomplice is a pie maker (see if you can make the connection). Source
An item that is useless
This ping pong ball seems really pointless. If you wanted customization, you could probably use sharpie or acrylic paint on a regular ping pong ball and draw whatever you wanted. Also, I think it would be extremely difficult to print out a sphere perfectly, and having an imperfect ball would really effect a ping pong game. Source
An item that is useful
This is a cool print of a fold-able booklet. They didn't go into much detail of the technique they used but it is definitely unique, probably because I haven't seem that many wood prints. I think it would be cool to customize the front of the booklet, too. For example, you could have your name "engraved" on the front. The creators also mentioned how combining steps and using simple designs allows for cheaper production which is what I think a big part of 3D printing is. Source
The best printable Raspberry Pi case I could find
This was the best case that I could find. It had a lot of made versions and a lot of likes. It also allows for customization of the case, because the cut-out holes (that are in the shape of a raspberry in the original version) can be changed (there are some examples in the collection of "I Made One" pictures). The instructions also include a detailed blog post which seems useful for trouble-shooting and gives a lot of credibility to the creators. Source
Out of all the prints I found, none of them really surprised me. I'm not entirely sure how the wood booklet one prints and I'm a bit surprised/confused that someone would print a ping pong ball. I also am still not sure how printing with supports looks like so I would be interested to see that, but not surprised by the outcome, since classmates have already explained how supports work.
