aaronalai

Hey Antikleysys, thanks for the interest ! The little bits of jagged plastic in the center of the frame cutouts are support material; without them the interior cut for the lenses would not look as good. If printed cool enough they should perfectly fall out of the glasses and leave nice lens cutouts, if printed a little on the hot side the support material may stick more to the frames and you can pull the bits of plastic out with a small amount of force and a pair of pliers by grabbing onto the protruding jagged bits.

Ahh, it's Friday morning over here and I'm looking forward to a weekend of sweet printing! Lately I've just been crashing at home after work and need a little R&R. If it makes you feel any better Chrisp, it's muggy and hot over here in VA; it's like walking through a hot sponge :???:.

Hey guys, no one posted anything here for a whole day! Just saying hey :mrgreen: and I hope everyone is doing well. The Monthly Print Challenge (MPC) thread looks like it's getting a lot of people interested so I'm definitely excited about that! I can't wait to see the printing strategies people conjure up.

It won't officially start until the first of next month which is Monday, but I'll set it up on early Sunday U.S. time and post a link in this topic to July's Monthly Print Challenge thread with all the votes and links and stuff. But feel fee to start whenever, the more practice you have now the better the prints will be :mrgreen:!! *Also, I just did the Cura slicing of the file to make sure it wasn't a dud or something, and that it would properly slice. I don't intend on printing until Sunday, but it's just because of prior obligations.

A potential example of why this competition could be useful! I was able to generate support through the entire model:

Personally I will cast my vote as a function of the quality of the original print and the supplemental documentation that describes how the print was performed. Like anon4321 mentioned, the intent of the challenge is to highlight different printing schemes to help others get some perspective on what a quality print should look like and how to optimize their own settings to get good prints. That being said, I certainly won't disqualify anyone for painting their print or anything like that; but don't expect a really good paint job to weigh more heavily than a well documented post.

I have a hard time printing concentric overhangs like the one on your piece. Definitely try altering the temp of the build plate; if that doesn't work try printing with a thicker layer resolution. Thicker layers for me seem to do better on overhangs like the one in your photo. If that still doesn't work you may need to cut the model in half and glue together afterwards.

Yeah, the current "rules" are simply to organize the challenges; I also agree it will be very interesting to see what people end up doing to generate a really snazzy looking print. Very excited already to see the number of people interested!! Thanks guys!

Whaah twitter?! When did this happen?

In the case of the bracelet being chosen (which seems likely) the "A" design will be the model printed by default, unless there are specified revotes; I check this thread a lot on my phone via email. Doh, I totally forgot there were different models. Also, 3dcase your background check came in good enough :mrgreen:.

Extra Blarp! Sorry I posted the wrong month, I don't know what happened. Last night I had a little freak out because I thought the conference was really in August and my non-refundable plane tickets were booked for September I almost had a little heart attack. Sorry for the confusion everyone. On a similar note, my paper was officially accepted; albeit with a couple of reservations :mrgreen:.

Wow some really great prints! Sometimes I'm overwhelmed by the number of great submissions; keep them coming especially the utility prints. @pm_dude you have inspired me to finally design a new battery cover for my gaming mouse, it broke recently and I've been shuffling the design lower and lower on my list of things to do. Also, @ Didier Klein, you look like you've done nothing but print stuff out for the last week! Awesome collection! I spent all of last week trying to print with PVA with very little success, blarp! I changed every conceivable variable in my printing workflow and couldn't get consistent results. Yesterday I got some HIPS in the mail and it flows perfectly and in my limited use of it I have noticed it sticks to PLA very well, I have not tried an ABS HIPS combo yet. Hopefully I'll be posting some of my test pieces with the material soon, I'll also post the ooze shield from my last print with that post, it looks pretty cool and works fantastically. I'm definitely interested to see how Simplify3D stack up against Cura's dual nozzle print protocols, so far I don't see how it could do good prints without the ooze shield. Hey @Jackblack glad to see you took such interest in the glasses. The first pair I submitted to Youmagine and Thingiverse were more drafts than anything else, because I didn't have my printer at the time of making the initial CAD drawings. Hence the lack of any real cutout for the lenses. I understand the V-bevel may be an important design feature but is definitely unnecessary with the design I conjured up, the interior bevel is rounded, I have no issue taking the lenses out and keeping them inside the frames when seated (even after many hours of manual labor the lenses, and frames, didn't budge); also, I'm assuming the company that cut the lenses to fit inside the frames had no issue cutting them to size. I called them up and asked if they had any problems with the frames, but they never got back to me and just sent my frames back with new perfectly seated prescription lenses in them. Thanks for the info with respect to how the lenses are originally seated into the frames, I posted in my instructions that PLA may be a good alternative if having problems with curving ABS, but it looks like ABS is the way to go. I'll have to recheck my CAD drawings but I think I have a 0.7 to 0.5 mm overlap between the lenses and frames. I would definitely love to try and print out your ZBrush version of the frames, the pictures you posted look really snazzy . I'll PM you the dimensions and give printing the frames a shot.

vote: bracelet I think the dragon would be fun, but I think the bracelet would be a good first try. At least you and I will print something out Titus .

Hey Daid, I just wanted to chime in and say that the toolpath view is pretty great as it stands. Once I figured out single layers were viewed with ctrl+up and down it became very functional. I pretty much use it to make sure support is where I want it or if support is needed somewhere that my settings have overlooked.

Hey guys, alright maybe I'm going crazy but I can't even find the post where I mentioned Berlin? :shock: I could have sworn I posted the dates I was going to be there. I also may have said August? I really don't know what happened with the dates. Officially, I'm getting in on Tuesday the 9th and leaving Sunday the 14th of September. I'm sending the people interested in meeting up a PM with my contact details and such; it's going to be great to see you guys in person!!! These last couple of days I've been ill, but I spent almost all of last week days trying to print out of PVA from multiple manufactures, with obvious different chemistries and/or manufacturing processes (clear and opaque), and with every setting configuration I can think of or find online! Blarp, it's impossible! Today though, today I got my my spool of HIPS and it printed flawlessly! Currently I have a test soaking in d-limonene, I guess I'm going to have to get accustomed to the smell of oranges; not good for my stomach right now :???:. I'll definitely be as flexible as possible on meetup dates . How about you guys PM me a day that would be good and we'll figure something out from there? So far I have a vote for Saturday if I didn't post the wrong dates earlier. This will be so cool! We can drink beers and do German other non-beer drinking German stuff . Those who cannot join will be celebrated in spirit. Also, cool video IRobertI; I always love the daytime zombie games; L4D2 has some of my favorite levels. One more also, I finished the glasses tutorial, it's over yonder: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/3932-designing-a-new-set-of-glasses-frames/?p=57088

Lol, yeah PLA or ABS? :mrgreen: Thanks, the splines were a pain :shock: . To get the curves right the spline points had to be continuous; to help I made templates out of construction lines then approximately traced them to get the spline perfect.

I have only broken the frames of my glasses, never the lenses. My original glasses, which I've had for many years, are comprised mainly of glue and shrink tubing. I've broken the frames of these glasses so many times that I've lost count. I wanted to print out a pair of frames so I could just replace them when I damaged them, which would inevitability happen. Everything worked as planned and now I have the absolute best pair of glasses I've ever worn, everything about them is custom fitted for my head. What follows is a guide to help you design your own pair of glasses frames for your current lenses, and custom frames with custom lens cutouts you can then get fitted with prescription lenses. So to begin, let me give you some general information about the frames. The frames are printed in ABS plastic for flexibility and durability; printed flat and then heated with a hot air gun from a reflow solder station to give the frames a global curvature; and the hinges are not completely evolved. For now I’m using 22 gauge insulated wire as the “pin” for the arms of the frames without issue, so I haven’t really invested much time in that part of the design. Black ABS from Ultimaker 80 micron resolution 60mm/s 130/100C Single Vision/ Trivex & Glass Lenses The finished product, my custom design: The finished product, frames for original lens shape (with glass lenses, not the original lenses): Original frames: Comparison: Alright, so where to start? I’m not entirely sure where the best place is for you, but here is what I did, and hopefully this will help clear some things up and/or let you skip a bunch of steps that didn't work for me. This document assumes that you currently have plastic frames for single vision lenses. If not, don’t fret; you can download the documents linked below and print out the frames or alter the CAD files. The first thing I did was to study my frames and try to dimensionalize them the best I could to see if I could accurately print out the features that allow the lenses to seat into the frames. To do this I just used an old cheap pair of digital calipers and started measuring everything I could on the frames and lenses. I took note of the lens thickness and the internal cavity they fit into. Your lenses should pop out of the frames unless they are glued in for some reason which I have personally never seen; I definitely don’t take any responsibility for you cracking your lenses or something to that effect. Just be careful and start at one side of the lens, then the other if having issue; the lenses should give at some point with firm but gentle pressure applied from the fingertips. The lens shape was the most difficult thing to measure correctly. I designed the frames with a bunch of spline points and adjusted them accordingly after printing the CAD drawing out on a piece of paper at a 1:1 ratio and bending the paper around the lenses. The fewer points there are on the spline the better the chances of getting a curve with little variation in smoothness as a function of misaligned spline points. This way I could get a good approximation of how the frames would seat the curved lenses without having to 3D print them. It still took a few prints to get everything perfect but this should save a lot of time. Looking at this cross-section of the frames should help describe the important features of the lens cavity. If you can get this part down, the outside of the frames can be changed at will and the lenses will still fit. Things to notice are that the frames have two different sized holes for the lenses, a smaller and larger hole. The hole for the lenses on the face side of the frames is smaller to keep the lenses seated; there are also two fillets to contour the rounded exterior of the lenses. I printed out only the right half- frame without the nose piece to save time during the printing process. Every print was heated and curved to fit the contour of the lenses; this is good practice for the next step. I held the very edges of my print with my fingertips and moved the frames side to side above the hot air nozzle of the reflow station, and gently applied a bending force to curve the half-frame to the same couture of the corresponding lens. Fortunately, your first frames probably won’t fit your head well, so this part is also good practice. Bending the frames is the same as bending the individual eye piece as above. Instead of trying to do both lens cutouts at the same time, do one at a time but still while holding the frames at the very edges. I hate to have to mention something like this, but please do not heat the frames with the lenses inside them; let the frames cool then test fit lenses and repeat. This is a picture of how much I had bent my custom frames before sending them in for lenses: The arms of the glasses are pretty straight forward. The main tip I have on those is to use a wire as a template to get the rough dimensions and then adjust accordingly as needed after each print. The glasses are stabilized by gently wrapping around the back of the ears and resting on the sides of the nose; so take that in mind while manipulating the wire around your head to get the rough dimensions. Admittedly, the arm joints are a bit weak; surprisingly though, I've only had to replace them a couple of times as a function of severe trauma to the frames, like being stepped on. The shape of the arm joints also lend themselves to easy tilt adjustment of the arms with respect to the frames. Heating the arm joint up and quickly inserting it into the frames allows the arms to be bent up and down to adjust for the height differential between the ears and eyes. If you have designed a good pair of frames that fit your head and the lenses well, then making custom glasses is very simple. Just change the shape of the interior of the frames as needed. For example my custom glasses are much larger than my old set and have a larger nose piece that also makes more contact with the nose. I always felt my old glasses were too small, and these custom glasses are the exact size I want my glasses to be. After designing the shape of the glasses I found that there are several websites that will put prescription lenses in frames, most with every type of lens type you can conjure up. I sent the frames to a company called Replacement Lens Express; I have no affiliation with them and am not even sure they noticed anything particular about the frames when I sent them in for lenses. I called and left a message asking if there were any issues with the frames and they never called back, but they did send them back with perfect lenses fitted into them. Some general tips: -The pair I sent them had a thicker bezel; I figured this would be easier for them to handle, but I don’t know if this was the case. -I don’t think anyone will fit lenses to frames with sharp edges or other peculiar shapes, so keep this in mind while designing your custom frames. -Just about any lens fitting website will need something called a pupillary distance; I just googled “how to measure pupillary distance” and followed what looked like a good set of instructions. -If ordering glass lenses make the lens cutouts a little thicker. -Support structures could be added to an already curved frame, but I wanted a really nice looking surface finish on both sides of the frames. -If having difficulty with bending the frame with hot air, use PLA frames and boiling water. These frames may not be as durable with thin bezels though. -The files provided have support baked in, if printed correctly they should almost fall out and leave perfect cutouts for lenses with absolutely no post processing. Link to files: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/glasses-frames If you found this useful and made your own frames, post a link I would love to check them out!!

@Didier Klein, sorry to disappoint; the second nozzle is on the UMO (Ultimaker Original). I totally wish I had dual nozzles on the UM2, and am very much looking forward to snatching it up when it comes out!!! Thanks for posting the print settings, I wouldn't have thought to do 0.6 wall thickness, it turned out fantastic looking. @Dim3nsioneer, yeah I used all the Dual extrusion settings that were available; and they work really well! The Ooze shield is really cool, I saved most of the shield and I'll post a picture of it later today. *Forgot to mention I printed these a little colder than normal to mitigate oozing, the red was 200 and the white was 205. Oozing wasn't a big deal, the ooze shield caught almost everything; I probably could have printed a little cooler and stopped even more oozing. Nope, I didn't do anything special to the g-code, just what Cura spit out at me. @Woofy, yeah definitely used the UM2 just as a photo booth, I didn't mean to confuse people. The UMO is too dark to take any good photos, you are right the UM2 is the perfect photo booth. I'll definitely try to include a video of the next print; I really enjoyed watching the dual print action and am sure others would also like to watch.

Woah tons of great prints! I haven't been in the forum as much as I would want lately I've been messing with a dual extrusion kit acquired from a friend who wasn't using it, and been trying other slicing engines (sorry David, although your slicing engine is soon on it's way to being the best one out there !) @LeoDDC, thanks a bunch for sharing your support strategy with us, It turned out fantastic! Very nice design :grin:. The rest was free printed, WOW! @pm_dude, I always love seeing the utility prints!! Nice application, and in my opinion the setup looks great, anything with 3D printed parts automatically gains many cool points. Also, I would be interested to hear about your 3D Hubs experience. A workmate and I have designed/printed a couple of things for people and I've been able to buy a bunch more filament as a consequence. Trying to see if I can keep my hobby self-sustaining. @Didier Klein, really nice design! It's so smooth do you have any printing tips? It looks great and I'm sure your mother loves it! It's a beautiful functional design, very cool! @Bauermaker, really great looking prints, all the characters turned out smooth and professional looking. Good luck with selling them, I would be very surprised if you didn't sell a single one! @PeggyB, WOAH!! those shoes turned out great looking! I'm really impressed, they are very professionally designed. I could totally see people buying and wearing these shoes when dressing up nice. Congratulations on so many successful and wonderful looking prints. I don't have much to post right now, some of my prints were for people who don't want me to post images of their stuff. I was trying the acetone vapor technique over the weekend as well and it turned out better than I could have expected; blarp but I can't show that print either. Anyway, here is my very first attempt at printing with dual nozzles. I ordered some water soluable support material and am very excited to start testing it out. I'm also looking into HIPS as a support material @isphording90 has talked about it and got me interested in using it.

Hey guys thanks for the feedback, even if there are only a few participants the first month I'll still invest the time to set things up. I think more people will eventually participate as time goes on. Hey Titus, thanks for the suggestion. I intend on creating a running list of prints we can vote on every month, the list will grow over time and I'll simply cross out prints that have already been completed. As users suggest more prints, I'll add them to the list so we can vote on them at any time. Hey Joerg, thanks for the motivation. Yeah, if anyone has any more suggestions for "rules" post them in this thread and I'll comment on them I will be starting a new thread on the 30th of this month (I'll post the link in this thread), with the rules, print list, and stats updated on the first post. So far the list consists of two prints: A Better Dragon, by illuminarti: http://www.thingiver...om/thing:218026 Bracelet - Voronoi Style, by roman_hegglin: http://www.thingiver...om/thing:192211 Some clarifications to the rules stated earlier, anyone can propose a print, anyone can vote on a winning submission, but only those that intend to participate in the next months print can vote on the next month's print. This doesn't lock you into participating, but if you think you might participate then it's alright to vote for the next month's printing challenge. O'yeah, anyone can participate in submitting a print at any time during the month, so even if you missed voting for the print you are not excluded from participating. I'll be monitoring this thread for print votes and print suggestions. Happy Printing!

@LeoDDC Woah! really great looking print, I'm amazed that the printer did the fabric so well; thanks for the close-ups! Did you use the supports in Cura? Also, what filament is that; I really like the grey colors, I think they show details well.

@Didier Klein, thanks for sharing the video. I love watching prints in action! Yours was particularly entertaining, as it had the meshmixer supports, I'm always amazed by those support structures. Also, cool filament holder; I'm too lazy to buy anything that doesn't already come on a spool :mrgreen:. @illuminarti, lol thanks; yeah I should just keep my toothbrush there as I find myself just mesmerized by the printer for most of the day; and consequently spend a large portion of my day there. I really do need to stop watching it so much!!! @pm_dude, cool print; it looks really nice for no supports. I'm totally jealous, filament sales 10 minutes away! @Cabo, fantastic looking first print! Better than my first print. Looking forward to seeing many more .

That is too cool! Could you point out some of the items you 3D printed or used the 3D printer to prototype? *To be more specific, if you 3D printed anything else other than the nose cone; which looks totally awesome and not even 3D printed!

@Skint, yeah I've definitely been busy. I'm always reading the threads via my emails even if I'm not responding. I want to spend so much time in the forum, but also want to do so many other printing things that I often have to think about how I want to split up my time. I really love the UMO it's got a lot of great features, and I now understand why people like the extruder much; it seems pretty robust. Interesting utilization of the printer Skint, I would love to see the finished product when you have the time. @Didier Klein, definitely need to clone myself or improve my workflow :mrgreen:. @SandervG, thanks! I originally printed the frame with the intent of putting the a picture of it and the printer inside the frame. I call the device Recursive Love. Also, definitely interested in spreading the news of how to make frames for one's self!! I think the main resource will be the dimensions and where to get lenses put into the frames. I still don't have a full hinge design, I've been really happy with just the small bit of wire I've been using. I have some design ideas I've been experimenting with that I'll be suggesting, but I won't be able to attest to their durability. I'll be interested in your opinion when I post the material. Also, happy birthday! I hope you are finding yourself well and have a good time. @IRobertI, , we all have our off days. I'm trying to gain momentum for monthly print challenge threads. Here are some proposed rules if interested: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/5836-monthly-challenge/?p=55810 I'm getting it started for next month and the more people the better, I think it would still be fun even if only a couple people participated in printing, but a lot of people voted.

Proposed "Rules" Beginning on the first of every month a winner is declared from the previous month. Official votes will be flagged with bold text as above; "Vote:Name". During all days of the printing month, votes can be cast. During all days of the printing month, print submissions can be made with a bold text, "Submission." During all days of the printing month, print suggestions can be made with a bold text, "Print: http://www.thingiver...om/thing:192211" or the whole text of the link. During all days of the printing month, print votes can be made with bold text, "Print Vote: name or link of the vote print" If you suggest a print and want to also vote for it, indicate so in the suggestion text in anyway you see fit. One vote per person, if changing a vote indicate so in the text; else it will be assumed to be your single vote. I'll tally up the best print votes on a somewhat regular basis and put the numbers on the first post in the thread. I'll also keep a running tally of the prints that have been suggested and made, as well as the number of votes each new suggested print has. An example submission could include things like closeup photos of hard to print details, an overall photo of it on the printer bed not removed, a photo of it off the bed; some information about the print, how long it took to print, how many attempts did it require, printer type, bed temp, nozzle temp, filament type, print speed...; and potentially some shared files.