3D Printing Project

For this project my first idea was to create a nightlight that would show the constellation of Orion with the light shining through.  I first found a picture on the internet of the constellation, took it into photoshop and made the contrast and black point higher so that the white lines could be seen better in tinkercad (Figure 1).  

(Figure 1)

Next I when to the tinkercad and found the Image generator feature underneath the shape generator folder.  I imported the picture of orion and used rectangles to make lines by using rectangles to cut through the block that the image was on (Figure 2).  This is where the light would shine through.

( Figure 2)

Partially into the process of making orion, I had a whole new idea.  I wanted to make a pulley.  This would be more challenging and would actually be functional.  I decided to try it.   

I started this time with the wheel. I layered 3 cylindrical shapes on top of each other lining them up,  but also making the two outside ones wider.  This would create a groove for the rope used with the pulley to catch onto.  After i was finished with that, I grouped all three objects and locked the editing so that i wouldn't accidentally take them apart.  Next I moved onto the axel, I made another cylinder but this time not flat.  I made sure it was a little taller than the wheels/drums height so that when I printed it would stick out of the sides with room for the wheel to spin.  

Now it was time to created the part of the pulley that hold its it all together.  I made this piece by overlapping a  heart with a circle and fusing them together. You can see the final shape below (the teal piece in figure 3).

(Figure 3)

One thing that is not shown in these figures is the part I used to attach both sides of the blue piece

(Figure 4)

When I finished the design, I attempted to print it.  I ran into difficulties with the balance of the object  so I had to take an alternate route to print it.   I took apart the model in tinkercad and printed out separately.  The other trouble I ran into was the platform not being balanced. but once I figured that out the pieces printed correctly.

(Figure 5)

Figure 5 is a photo of the finished product.  The mint green lines on the blue piece I added on with the 3D pen to make it more sturdy because it was a thin layer of plastic.  

Overall, I'm happy with this as it was my first time 3d printing but in the future I would try to make the measurements a little more precise/to scale.