Archive for April, 2014

CG model -> 3d printed -> metal cast: v2.0

Based on my previous post, I wanted to get better results from my sand-cast.  Things I learned from last time:

  • Even though I had a split mold, the vertical edges caused the mold to tear-out during removal.  I have a feeling this is due to the ‘ridged’ sides the 3d-printing causes, making the walls ‘grip’ more.  Because of this, I adjusted my 3d model to have slightly tapered sides.
  • The extruded text on my first model suffered the same problem as the above issue.  To resolve, I simply made the text extruded much less.
  • The previous split mold only had one anchor point, in the middle, to join the two sides:  When connected it gave more yaw-play than I wanted.  The new version has two anchor points on either side.
  • I watched a bunch of sand casting videos and read over multiple sites to make sure I got the sand cast itself created properly.

Based on all that, the end result turned out really nice:  Sprue cut off with saws-all, imperfections ground off with an angle-grinder, and polished with a Dremel:

sledgehammer2

Here’s a shot of it freshly pulled from the cast with the sprue still connected:

SAMSUNG

And here’s a shot of the 3d-printed two-part mold.  It took just under 4 hours to print on my Makerbot Replicator.  200 micron layer resolutoin, gray PLA, 220 deg C on a glass build plate covered in blue painters tape:

printedForm

And finally, here’s a movie of the furnace just before it was time to pour:

I shot it with bare hands:  I got really hot, really fast 😉

2014
04/26
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art
projects
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CG model -> 3d printed -> metal cast

castSHG

3D print on the left, aluminum cast on the right.

I’ve had a “dream” for a number of years now to model something in 3d, 3d print it, and cast it in metal.  Based on the upgrade from my “flowerpot furnace” and the acquisition of new sand casting greensand, today was my first successful attempt (once again casting my companies logo).  I’d previously tried my hand at some “lost PLA casting“, but the end results weren’t satisfactory.  And honestly I’d give today’s attempt a C- : Being my first attempt, I had some flaws in my sand cast design, that resulted in defects in the end result.  I also learned that if you want to pull off embossed letters like shown, you need to bevel them, or the sand will stick to them upon removal (which is what happened to the S & G) even if using parting dust.  Regardless, the cleaned up results with some black paint added gives it a rustic \ worn look.  Next attempt I’ll shoot for a solid B 😉

The print itself took about 2hr 15min on my Makerbot Replicator (1), using gray PLA, 200 micron resolution, printed on a glass build plate with blue painters tape.  It’s about 13cm across, or just over 5”.

 

2014
04/20
CATEGORY
CG
projects
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Lost & Foundary “Model A” Furnace: First Melt

I finally decided to upgrade from my “flowerpot furnace” to something slightly larger, slightly faster, and quite a bit hotter:  the “Model A furnace” from Lost & Foundry.  Very pleased with it:  Fired right up, and I had molten aluminum 15 minutes later.  Next up, some real sand-casting.

2014
04/19
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Fun learning Unity

I’ve made small games/apps in the past using Python/PyGame  & Processing.  When developing them, I’m always responsible for designing all the systems:  And while a great learning experience, I only have a fixed amount of time to work on these side projects.  So I thought I’d expand out and try a larger game development framework letting me focus on higher level concepts rather than the lower-level coding needed for basic systems.

The three big ones I’m aware of are Unreal (Epic), Cryengine (Crytek), and Unity.  Nowadays you can download them all for free, which is fantastic.  I’ve used Unreal & Cryengine professionally in the past, so I had interest in seeing how Unity worked.  And one of the big deciding factors was the “scripting language” the engine uses:  Unreal 4 has dropped their “UnrealScript” in favor of pure C++ (which I can read, but not really write), while Cryengine uses Lua (never touched it).  Unity however supports C#, JavaScript, and Boo:  C# is very similar to Java (Processing), which I am familiar with, so that made the decision pretty easy.  And while arguments could be made for the “power” of a given engine, and my guess would be that Unity would be lower on the list, they can all do far more than I’ll ever need, so Unity was the choice.

And so far, I’ve been very pleased:  Their documentation (user manual, component reference, script reference) and example tutorials/projects are fantastic .  Easy to read, well spoken, and a breeze to follow.  Plus, building the games and deploying to the web has been a snap.  To date I’ve completed the two below ‘projects’, and I include a link to the completed game.  While the ‘games’ are super simple, they were also super easy to make (thanks to the great tutorials):

roll-a-ball spaceShooter

Next I plan to go over their “Stealth” project next.  And like the subject reads, it’s been fun:  It’s nice to be in a development environment where it ‘makes sense’ and things ‘just work’.  So far, my only complaint is they don’t have a build in interactive shell (REPL), and they should really add Python to their scripting language selection :)

2014
04/16
CATEGORY
CG
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