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Machine Series
The pots' vertical ridges reduce the visibility of of the layering.
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FDM 002 by Machine Series
Now being used as our UP! tools holder
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Barbara Busatta
A stationary pot
This is a brilliant collection
After last week’s iPhone cover I wasn’t particularly happy with the surface finish of the product, seeing as the dimensions need to be specific the Acetone trick would probably warp the case out of shape and defeat the object of its purpose.
The surface finish and visible layering problem reminded me of something I’ve been wanting to print for a long time. Machine Series is a homeware collection of expertly designed receptacles designed in the minimalist spirit of Shibui.
The ridged pots reduce the visibility of the layers and are designed specifically with FDM in mind. You can buy the holders professionally machined or you can download the files and print them off yourself.
However, the STL on offer from Machine Series contains all three pots and the lid as one STL file, which doesn’t fit onto the UP!’s build bed. With a recently acquired netfabb Private software package I was able to make a few cuts and extract the particular lid and cup I required.
As to be expected from professional designers netfabb detected no inaccuracies in the files and they were ready to import into UP! Plus’ recently updated software. Though they were both just able to squeeze onto the build plate I know from experience that it is best to keep objects as central as possible so I scaled them both down to 85% and moved them in accordingly.
The UP! software does still crash all the time on the Mac but I recently noted on the PP3DP forum that rather than force quitting the software as I do, every time, all you must do to get the software responding again is remove the USB cable from the computer. Eureka!
Before printing securing the perfboard, wiping with acetone and heating for at least twenty minutes should keep warping down to an absolute minimum and those processes picked up from various sources have saved a lot of misspent time and effort.
Printing the Machine Series FDM 02 model scaled down by 15%, at 0.20mm resolution and on the fastest setting took 3 hours 16 minutes. The raft removal was a synch and there doesn’t seem to be any burn marks as so often happens with the white ABS.
The ridged edge really does eliminate the appearance of layering to the naked eye, I’m aware that this may just be an optical illusion but the pot, which fits together perfectly, is not immediately recognisable as a 3D printed object as so many other prints are. It looks like something you might buy from an actual shop. I would like to try this in a different colour, as a more vibrant cover would look even sleeker.
If the machines aren’t able to produce smooth surfaces it will be up to the likes of Barbara Busatta and Dario Buzzini to design around those foibles. Top work from the designers.
