Friday, June 30, 2017

Fidget Spinners!

Everyone seems to be on the fidget spinner trend nowadays, and with a 3D printer, you can too. There are various models online that include the spinner frame and also the caps that fit into the central bearing. All you have to provide are the inexpensive skateboard bearings that can easily be found online (I got 10 for $5). After the easy assembly process, you can start scamming your friends by selling these nervous energy revolving objects for $5 each and make some moola. The bearings fit surprisingly well into the frame, and on the MOD-t, one frame took about 2 hours on high quality settings. I also added a bit of WD-40 to the central bearing for maximum spin. If you want to go a step further, you can purchase a relatively costly ceramic bearing on Amazon for smoother spinning. I also printed a watertight twisted vase on the MOD-t as well. This print took longer than the spinner, at about 4.5 hours, but it was nearly perfect. The cool thing about this print was that the whole slicing and printing process was initiated through the New Matter website on my phone. I occasionally checked in on the print when I wasn't in the house. The website shows how far your print is and extruder temperature. It's incredibly useful especially for longer prints when you can't physically be watching the print. I've been printing so many objects with the MOD-t because of how easy the whole process is. The print surface can be completely removed from the print carriage, so taking finished prints off the machine is incredibly easy. The bed doesn't have an non-stick coating, so I would recommend applying painter's tape to the bed, making sure the strips create an even surface. I purchased a roll of blue painter's tape made for 3D printers that is about 6 inches wide, so it creates an even surface on the bed. So far, I feel that the MOD-t is an excellent printer solely based on the user experience. It may not be the fastest, most accurate, or have the biggest print volume, but printing is easy as sending an email.    

                 

                              




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