3D Modeling and Fabrication — 3D Printing Project

Part 1: File Work

Much like laser and CNC cutting, 3D printing was also brand new territory for me. I had some experience with digital modeling for art and animation with programs like Maya and Blender, but that kind of modeling doesn’t have to follow the strict laws of physics. Creating a structurally sound object was going to be a challenge.

I initially worked in Rhino to draft up an idea I had in mind. However, at the time I was much more familiar with Blender’s interface, especially in regards to making negative spaces, so I finished the design there instead. This had its own set of problems though; I had to manually check surface ‘normals’ to be sure that the file was printable, which would’ve been much easier to do in Rhino. There was also the issue of converting file types.

Part 2: 3D Printing

The actual printing phase was much easier than the design phase. The only problem I ran into was that my model was too big (I had used the wrong measurement units in Blender) so my model was slightly too big to be printed. I worked around it by simply scaling the object size to 75%, but that created another problem. There is a holder at the bottom designed to perfectly fit a standard size tea candle, but reducing the size made the holder too small! Next time I print this, I’ll be sure to properly account for the base.

Part 3: Final Piece

The piece is a candle holder that is meant to look like a campfire in the woods. I went with a solid grey to make it easier to paint later if I wanted to do so, but when only illuminated by the candle inside, the grey is hardly noticeable. I would love to do more shadow-based candle projects like this in the future, with new designs and more detail.