Last week in class we made our very own 3D prints. I have never done anything like this before, so I was very excited. Dr. Plothe started Mondays class by showing us pictures of his lizard wearing a hat. He then passed the miniature hat around to the class and told us there was something unique about. He designed it from scratch and then printed it out. He showed us the different shapes he used to construct this hat and explained the texture to us. He then told us we would be making our very own unique 3D Prints. We used the design tool website called Tinkercad.com to create our designs. The only guidelines we had was the size the print was supposed to be. We were allowed to be as creative as possible. Using Tinkercad was difficult to learn at first, however, the longer you used it the easier it became.
On Wednesday, we got to go to the 3D Print lab to print the designs we made on Tinkercad. Dr. Plothe explained the different types of printers and how they work. We learned the plastic used to make these prints was chosen because it has the ability to heat and cool very quickly. The plastic is heated up and used to make the 3D model. The class then got to see different intricate designs made with the 3D Printers and learn about the materials used to make them. After we learned a little bit more about the 3D printers we were finally allowed to upload our designs to be printed. I was told my design would take approximately two hours once it started printing, and I am very excited to be able to pick it up, from the lab, in a few days.