06: 3D Design & Printing

7/17/19 – Introduction to 3D Printing and Making a Mini Tea Set!

Today was the first lab in 3D printing week, and we were instructed to create a beginner print that takes around 15 min to complete.

I decided to create a teacup, so using the Fusion lampshade tutorial as my starting point, I sketched the silhouette of a cup which I revolved completely around the center axis. Then, I sketched the handle and revolved that 10º around the center. After that, I filletted the edges and exported it to Cura for slicing with high refinement. I used the “fine” setting (0.1mm layer height), and that brought the print time to ~19 minutes. I printed the cup on the Ultimaker 2+, which was easy to configure and operate, and it printed the cup pretty smoothly! After the teacup cooled, I took it off the print bed and filed down the imperfections and edges.

Then, using a similar technique to the teacup for the body, I made a matching teapot. I used the “sweep” function with help from this YouTube tutorial for the spout. I drew a path for the curvature of the spout on my base sketch, and then drew a circle tangent to the base. I extruded the circle using the sweep function along the path, and it created a nice spout. I then filleted the edges, made a few aesthetic improvements, and then exported to Cura. For this one, I used the “normal” setting to shorten the print time, and it still turned out well, albeit a bit messy. I had to clean up the sides and the spout a bit, but it still looked great in the end. I also made a matching lid and printed that.

I printed a second teacup to match the first, except I accidentally printed it with supports, so I had to solder out the supports in the handle. I soldered the plastic on a low heat setting, and it removed the excess very easily. I also soldered the edges to clean it up a bit more.

Here’s my completed tea set!! I’m very proud.

Teapot file download Teacup file download Teapot lid download