A couple things I've been up to.

I've been working on a few big ideas lately, projects I could make into long term projects and today I'm happy to unveil a couple of them.

For one, I've been playing with the idea of relief prints/sculptures that can be made and perfectly replicated into editions. For a long time I had a problem with traditional printmaking processes as it always seemed to me there was better ways to make 2d prints. This is one of the ways I've reconciled that.

 In progress...

Well calibrated if I do say so myself.

Finished piece...

This one is a relief of the face of Mary in Michelangelo's Pieta. As I'm typing this I'm also printing a frame for this to be mounted into. All in all I'm planning on doing a few of these and see how they fare.

I've ordered some resin and other surface treatments so as to finish out the exterior along with a few other things to polish it to a super high quality.

Anyways, something else.

I'm really excited about this one as it ties in really well to some of the other stuff I've been working on...

The image above is direct translation of a plain text (.txt) sentence to an image using all the data from the bits composing the sentence, which is to say this image is a direct representation of the words themselves. Which is cool, but even cooler is what they then became...

This is a print of that data, whereby I took the gray values of the image above and converted them into height data for a print

The print is a direct representation of the text, composed of and derived from the stuff that made the words what they were, but devoid of the same meaning. The sentence used to create the print was Genesis 1:1("In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.")

I'm writing a program to take entire texts and output 3D files to print, allowing me to take entire books and print them in a physical manifestation of their meaning.

Think about a wall sized piece that is a direct representation of a holy text, across the room from another occupied wall containing a disparate holy text, completely different but for all the world looking the same at a glance.

That's an idea I can get behind.

More soon,

Mac 

Updates and Upgrades.

So.

I've been traveling, working, designing, procrastinating, ect...

Made a few cool things since the last update.

Like this guy...

It's a lightbox that folds up for easy storage.

Only uses a few common parts other than the printed bits.

The best part? It works wonderfully.

Files can be found here.

I also decided to change my extruder setup, a process easier said than done.

Before:

During:

After:

Results:

Couldn't do that before.

Cool part, it's using parts that I printed on it.

With this new setup my hope is that I'll be able to successfully print flexible materials. Which would be awesome.

Anyways. That's what I've been up to. That and coding a bit, but I'll show that when it's done.

In the mean time, a teaser:

Lol

Just a quick update. I just today finished up a project I've been fiddling with for a while.

Installing LEDs.

Testing.

This is my first fully 3-d printed piece.

It works.

And its for sale. info@macpierce.com if you're interested.

Actualizing.

So, I've been busy designing projects and making things.

A couple of the things as of late...

Webcam Mount

Car dash phone mount.

Raspberry Pi b+/Pi 2 + 2.8" PiTFT case & Feet

Fire Extinguisher Holders

Shower beer shelf.

So yeah, I've also been fiddling around with the printer, honing it in and testing new filaments.

It printed really well. 0.1mm layers with a 0.25mm nozzle and supports. ~6ish hours.

Anyways, art projects.

This one will soon be incorporated into a piece I'm printing as I type this. Blinking lights, ect.

I've also another project that I'm hollowing out books for, that I'll post more of when it's closer to completion.

In a final note, I've started to post my designs online so that others with a printer can make them as well.

My Thingiverse page.

Cheers!

More things being done.

It's a nice day today.

I've had an extra-fine nozzle for my printer for a while and decided to install and test it. The results were fantastic.

I printed this guy in multiple pieces, took about 8 hours to finish with a 0.25mm nozzle and 0.1mm layer height.

I also made some furniture for Burger the snake's terrarium/condo...

It was a pretty big print, coming in at about 6in cubed. Low poly by design.

Other news...

That's a Marvin from 3dhubs.com, of which I am now listed as an available printer for projects. If you'd like something printed, hit me up there or drop me a line on facebook/ect...

My 3D Hubs Page

On a fun note, I just received some interesting filament in the mail, basically a printable rubber. I'm going to see what cool stuff I can make with it.

Until then, I'll keep on tinkering.

The printer is printing.

And its printing well.

After more than 2 months working on it and more than a few frustrated nights it is printing at an even higher caliber than I expected.

It's doing fine detail really well...

As well as structural parts (this even is a part for the printer)...

And with different materials no less...

Overall, I'm quite happy with its operation so far. Learning the requirements for designing parts as well as the proper setup for slicing the prints.

Ps: its very fun to watch...

Building a 3D Printer.

I love the open source community.

For the past month I've been working on and off on a 3D printer. Using designs based off of the RepRap Prusa i3 that were tweaked and improved by TwelvePro, with no prior CNC experience I've been able to construct a very polished looking machine.

I've self sourced every part of the printer, starting with raw materials whenever possible save the electronics.

Anyways, a few pictures...

Laser cutting the frame (this was attempt #2, measure twice cut once....)

Using a Makerbot Replicator at my university to print a few parts. 

Most of the printed parts as well as the cut parts.

The stepper motors. 76oz Nema 17's

The y-axis with print bed carriage.

The x-axis with extruder carriage.

The extruder, fitting together nicely.

Frame assembled, ready for electronics installation.

Beginning to install the electronics in a new workspace.

The E3Dv6 hotend, freshly installed.

An easy MDF spool and ATX PSU caddy.

Mostly wired, added a light.

All I'm missing now is the control board, and is only missing because the first one I was sent was faulty. From there on it's all calibration and troubleshooting. And then, plastic everything.