MyOpen3D

MyOpen3D is proud to present our latest open source educational electronics kit, the Desktop Guardian! Debuting at 2017’s Seattle Mini Maker Faire, the Desktop Guardian is an automated rubber band cannon built from laser cut plywood and 3D printed parts, and is powered by an Arduino Nano, an ultrasonic “sonar” sensor, and of course, rubber bands! MyOpen3D will be selling a pre-packaged kit for those attending , but as a fully open source project we’ll also be releasing full design files and build instructions on Thingiverse (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2533083)!

This kit is intended for children (aged 10+) and adults of all skill levels. We of course encourage all builders to tinker with the hardware design and the included Arduino sketch to adjust or broaden the Guardian’s basic functionality!

If you need assistance in assembly or if you would like help modify and/or change its functionality—particularly if you are located in the Seattle, Washington area—MyOpen3D encourages you to attend one of our workshops based on this kit! Please contact us to find dates for existing workshops or to schedule your own!

Also, be sure to follow us for more fun maker-y videos on 3D printing, CNC milling, basic electronics and engineering!

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A handful of filament brands have recently begun producing metallic PLA blends, combining (for example) 40% copper or aluminum dust with 60% PLA. While they make objects with an interesting surface sheen, their overall print quality suffers a bit. This is especially problematic with overhangs and bridges, likely due to the filament holding heat a little longer and weighing a fraction more than normal PLA would.

In addition, the particles break up the molecular strength of the plastic bonding to itself, making prints more brittle than with the usual PLA. That being said however, the visual effect may still be worth it in certain situations and for certain needs.

The most frequent question I receive at the maker space about these filaments is, “does the metal make it stronger?” and my answer is always the same: “No, don’t go to metal blends for strength. It’s purely for visual effect. But, it is a cool visual effect.”

We’ve also read a bit about printers buffing this material to get even more of a shine. Unfortunately, all the buffing techniques we have tried have resulted in just smudging the plastic and reducing its shine, ultimately making it look not that great in the end. While we’ll keep testing various methods to improve finish and quality, the dragon pictured above is right off the print plate with no post-processing and it looks great as is. (Though, it should be noted that the tail has already broken off due to the extra brittleness of metallic filament blends.)

MyOpen3D will be hanging out and participating at Renton’s inaugural comic convention, Renton ComiCon (http://www.rentoncomicon.com/location.html), on October 28 - 30. Swing by to see us showing off and demoing our printers, and if you’re feeling like it, pick up a kit as well!

We’ll also be hosting a panel on Friday, October 28, at 2:00 PM on the basics of 3D Printing and its application to fun, geeky activities like cosplaying and role playing games.

The convention will be at the Red Lion Hotel in Renton (naturally), and tickets can be purchased from their website (http://www.rentoncomicon.com/tickets.html), or from the Red Lion Hotel lobby starting at 9:00 AM on Friday.

Come check out MyOpen3D at the S**O MakerSpace booth this weekend at the Seattle Mini Maker Faire! We will have kits for the Prusa i3+ for sale, as well as freebies and examples of the type of quality you can expect from our printers.

Tickets at the door are $21 for adults, $18 for students, and $12 for kids!