3D printing failures shared online
- Published
3D printing is the art of turning a 3D design on your computer into a solid object. However this does not always run smoothly. Enthusiast Richard Horne runs a Flickr gallery of home 3D printer failures - including this image of Tony Buser's attempt at a model of the Statue of Liberty. "I've had a lot more failures than successes... it's not as easy as it seems. You can learn quite a lot from failure," said Mr Horne, who calls the errors "plastic pasta".
Mr Horne had to abort this print of a female warrior statue, complete with swords and armour, after four hours. "The print head knocked off part of the left leg down at the ankle as it approached printing the waist," he said. "If it had managed to print a few more layers both legs would have been joined successfully."
This was meant to be a 3D version of a scanned self-portrait of performer and print fan Fred Kahl. "The gears on my printer's X and Y axis belts were slipping on the motor shaft, causing the print head to not be properly aligned from layer to layer," Mr Kahl explained.
Mr Horne has also turned some of his 3D printer failures into artwork. "It's a promising technology but right now at home it's a bit depressing because it's difficult - you end up with all these plastic objects which can be useful but aren't that great," he said.
Mr Kahl's human figures were not even half-formed when they went wrong. "People don't realise how long it can take to print - it's very depressing when you get a failure seven hours in," said Mr Horne.
Three attempts at printing a complicated cell bowl object. "This mechanical skip of the printer ruins a good print after about three hours of printing. It's quite a common issue as when plastic melts it can wrap up and then get caught on the head," said Mr Horne.
"We call these kinds of fails 'spaghetti and meatballs'," said Fred Kahl. "I started the print and went to bed after a few layers. It's a scan of a person, but she was wearing high heels and had thin ankles. When the print got halfway, the legs broke off and this is what I woke up to."
- Published30 July 2013
- Published22 May 2013