Starting the Work
I worked with Fusion 360 for this one because it is simply easier to deal with. I originally had planned to make the whole thing out of plastic, but that went out the window when half of the shape I originally had planned (the images rendered in marble). Would not fit into the printer. This was my biggest struggle, but I will get through that after a more pleasant description of what I ended up making in the end (the images rendered in wood), as well as my fear of the printer.
I started with a simple sketch and had to refine it to ensure it would work for my needs. I had a more complicated sketch in plan with curves and a hollowed out interior, but that would take half a day to print and was not feasible for the printers we have access to. I still took images of this part of the process; I think they are valuable; they are worth seeing.
Dealing with the printer
My original plan was simply to glue the two prints together and finish the project. There are complicated ways of getting a print to connect, but those involve dovetail joints, at a minimum… and a bigger printer for my laptop. So that led me to phase 2, which is what I like to call optimization. This is when I decided to make skinny supports. I still tried to make them look as aesthetic as possible, but function sometimes must be put over form.
The next step, which I started on Saturday, is to get two, but preferably three, of the skinny ones printed out. Then I would glue them to wooden beams. Each one is quite structurally sound and is 20mm thick, so I am not concerned about the structure falling apart or, more importantly, the laptop getting damaged.
Now to the part that I hate, the printing. The process is frustrating because I have a big shape that, by providence, managed to fit the shape in after some modifications with the shape. Now I have to wait. Waiting is the greatest torture. Waiting means wasting time, and time is the most valuable resource: once it is gone, it is impossible to regain.
I thought a bit
In that same breath, I am very grateful for being able to be able to work with Fusion 360 because any issues I have are very easy to fix digitally; the problem is printing them. Then, when it is printed, if something goes wrong, it is difficult for me to find out what and how to rectify it. It is like showing a person in algebra how to do U-substitution, then asking them to interpret the process for flaws. The only mistakes that get fixed are the ones that are understood.
Sadly, I am printing something that, in theory, should work perfectly, but in actuality, I don’t have the ability to interpret causality and actually understand what should or is likely to happen. I feel confident that if I did not know how to use Fusion at the basic level, I did but had a clear, in-depth understanding of the printer and how it works, why it fails, and what its limits are. I would not only be more confident but also more able to confront the final part of this assignment.
I made something that indicates a function for a system that is foreign to me. I could say that is problematic, but it’s rational ignorance: you know what you really need for your immediate needs. I have to hope, because hope is for those who don’t know. If you know you don’t hope, you do.
