Archive for September, 2014

New 3d print / sandcast: SHG belt buckle

Belt buckles seem like the perfect intersection of 3d printing and sand casting:  They’re relatively small, so they print quickly, and don’t take a lot of material to cast.  Plus, they’re mainly “one sided” objects, meaning you don’t need to split them for a two part cast, and generally need no special supports when printing.

As my first attempt, I used the logo of the company I work for, Sledgehammer Games.  Modeled in Maya, it printed in  a couple hours on my Makerbot Replicator (in PLA), and cast (in aluminum) with no problem.

It looks a bit warped in the below pic, but trust me, it’s symmetrical 😉

shg_buckle_facy

New 3D print : SHG recognition coin holders

At Sledgehammer Games, we have a great way of recognizing those around us by giving out special coins.  The recognition could be for anything:  Hard work, a new tool, helping out, etc.

Many people have collected a number of coins over the years, and I wanted a way to show them off, other than stacks on their desks.  I came up with the below design as a response to that:  The sledgehammer and text were modeled in Autodesk Maya, and the whole thing was Booleaned together along with the hexagonal base in Tinkercad.  Each holder took 5.5 hours on my Makerbot Replicator (1) to print (2 shells, 10% infill, variety of colors in PLA), and then I put them through a two-step paint process to make them look a bit more… weathered.

They were a hit at work, and personally it was crazy to see my printer going 24/7 for over a week without a hitch.

New 3D print: Hanger Divider

The Mrs. & I were at a “container store” looking for home goods. Saw a 4-pack of hanger dividers for $12. That seemed like a crazy price to pay, so I decided to make my own.
Modeled in Autodesk Fusion 360. The hook has an ID of 40mm, which fits smaller metal, and larger wooden rods. Based on my print settings, it weighs 26g (and takes about an hour to print on my Makerbot Replicator 1), so based on the price I paid for filament, it works out to about a buck each.

Head over to Thingiverse to download the files for print and get more info.