Days 7, 8 & 9

Not a lot to report from these days and no objects (successfully) printed. I did attempt a few small models but encountered some showstopping errors whereby the models were printing as a series of noodley blobs. I suspect the printer's driver became corrupted as it was only when printing from my machine that the noodley-ness was occurring. Corrie printed out some automata models that she found on Thingiverse that assemble and work when a handle is cranked. I shall post some photos of them when I remember to take my camera with me to the gallery.

Day 6 - I love the smell of ABS in the morning

We had a short informal talk with some Sunshine Coast Council staff members first thing in the morning. I printed the bunny-headed woman to demonstrate the capabilities of the printer. In the afternoon I attempted to print a procedurally generated geometrical shape, the results were interesting but nothing at all like the model I had sent to the printer. The STL file had some non-closed surfaces which I suspect caused the print to go... well... noodley! I shall upload a picture of that one tomorrow when I remember to photograph it. I suspect Corrie will be able to use it for something as it is still an interesting mix of hard edges and organic... noodles!

In the late afternoon I printed what may have been my first or second Sculptris model which bears a passing resemblance to a stone fish crossed with an alien shellfish. I spent some time in the afternoon creating two bridges which I hope to print tomorrow or on Saturday and worked on a skull with cogs where there should be a brain which will be a larger print for a quiet day.

To be honest I really don't like the smell of the ABS plastic, I can still smell it now and that is of some concern. I have yet to do any cleanup on the bunny-headed woman so it is still a bit rough at the moment.

Day 5 - A quiet day

Corrie printed a tricycle which sadly broke apart when she was freeing it from the scaffolding. After the tricycle Corrie printed a selection of small objects and when the printer had finished something very odd happened; the printer began to extrude plastic all over the newly printed objects and the print head began moving around as if possessed! The platform raised itself and the nozzle collided with one of the objects it had just finished printing. The print nozzle cut through the object like a hot knife through butter.

I have not had this occur on any of my prints but it had happened to Corrie once before. I suspect the OSx print driver may have a bug as Corrie printing from her Macbook is the only variable I can think of that could be causing this issue. On a quiet day I may try a few tests to see if we can replicate the issue. After the print head collision the heating block and nozzle were coated in ABS which quickly turned black and required cleaning before resuming printing.

The following two pictures are Corrie's work, the spring is tiny and quite flexible. The other piece is a construct she cleverly created from excess raft and scaffold material which she has populated with miniature figures.

Day 4 - Transcending the medium

I spent most of today preparing models and exporting them to .STL format for printing. I printed out a figure (which has featured prominently in my digital works this year) of a woman meditating. The process used 26 grams of ABS plastic and took two hours to print. The support material was quite extensive and unfortunately it adhered to the figure's face. Half an hour of careful tweezering and filing later and she was freed of her restraints.

There are a few brown patches which I suspect is symptomatic of a clogged nozzle or incorrect nozzle height; I shall experiment tomorrow to see if I can eliminate these blemishes. Overall I'm fairly happy with the detail in this piece, each of the fingers and toes is distinct as are the facial features. Somewhat synchronistically I realised when taking the photos of the figure that I had also today hung the picture seen in the fourth photo which features the same model.

Day 3 - Successes, failures and a stabbed thumb

Day three proved popular with the public, I was kept busy explaining the process to numerous members of the public as well as a large group of gallery volunteers from Brisbane. I did manage to print two objects in the morning and when Corrie arrived later in the day we printed four cogs she had designed overnight with an object I whipped up in a couple of minutes to fill space on the printing platform. My attempt to dye the alien-egg object from day 2 was basically a failure; the egg did fill with dye overnight so it wasn't as watertight as I had initially thought and the dye seems to have only coloured the object inside and in certain areas. The result is quite uneven so I will have to explore other options for colouring the objects. I experimented with density settings for the support material and have found that the 'lowest density' settings still provide enough support for overhanging elements but are easy to remove from the finished product. Incidentally I slipped with a knife while removing some raft and support material from an object and stabbed myself in the thumb. I might stick to sandpaper from now on!

Day 2 - Bunnycows, alien eggs and twisted pyramids

Day two was spent getting stuck into it. I have started formulating a plan for what I hope to achieve throughout the month. 

• Week one will be experimenting to find out what works, testing different settings and printing pre-existing models. 
• Week two will be an ambitious attempt to create a larger scale figure comprised of smaller printed parts. 
• Week three will be exploring ways to integrate the models into other artistic practices and incorporating other materials. 
• Week four will be working towards one high quality outcome which I hope to have coated via vacuum metalising.

Today I was kept busy with members of the public but managed to print a ZBrush sculpted art-deco alien-egg object, a Stanford bunny with a bulls head and a pyramid made of stacked, twisted rectangles. I have brought the alien-egg home and am currently soaking it in a bath of green food dye to give the object some colouring. An interesting point to note is the buoyancy of the ABS plastic. The alien egg has a three strand thick surface and seems watertight and very buoyant. Radio controlled watercraft enthusiasts who are also 3d designers will find nirvana with this material; it is light, flexible and strong. so far the object doesn't seem as receptive to the dye as I had thought it would be; it seems to stain the material rather than be absorbed by it. 

Day 1 - Setting up and settling in

Day one involved setting up our equipment before having an informal talk with the gallery volunteers about Dig.i.tate. It is a testament to the user friendly nature of the UP! 3d printer that I was able to have a model printing in less than an hour after arriving at the gallery. During the day I was able to print a number of objects, answer questions for members of the public and the gallery staff and work with Corrie before taking part in a discussion with members of the public and attend the official opening for the exhibition.