Intro to Project E-Nable

Welcome to Project E-Nable!

In this blog, you will be able to observe our progress as we learn how to 3D print, create and assemble prosthetic hands, and customize them for amputees on and off campus - at no cost!
Today we started 3D printing our own objects.

My print failed because the glue wasn't strong enough and the bed wasn't hot enough.

Apparently, Ultimaker 2 squeezes out some material on the corner of the bed to show us that it's working completely fine. Mine didn't do that, and I should've detected that something was wrong immediately.

Kass then checked the filament (is it tangled up? is the wheel inserted the right way?), the material flow (which was 100% - We need it to be around 107%). Other things we had to look out for included the temperature of the bed, which was 60 degrees. It should have been 80-90 degrees.

Content-wise, we covered flexible string versus fixed string. Both are necessary for the functioning of a prosthetic hand. They take the role of muscles and ligaments in a human arm. The difference between the two: 

• flexible string - retraction
• fixed - to bend and move the fingers on the hand

We also looked at how to assemble a hand, and how to clean the glass bed.

CLEANING GLASS BED

Removing the pins that secure the glass over the heater, and pouring alcohol over it as alcohol dissolves glue. Let it sit! IT FAILED. It dried up. We had to scrape it. Next time we want to wash it with soap and scrub it. Tested with Makerbot.

We successfully printed a chain, but we could not print a bolt and nut. It kept saying, "Filament slipping!" Here is our chain:

Next week, we hope to assemble the hand.

PRINTING AN ACTUAL PROSTHETIC HAND

We checked everything and unfortunately, the machine started hiccuping. Why?

• The nozzle was 260 degrees! (presetting). That is the max and we never want to go to the max. We lowered it to 235 degrees.
• We did not put enough glue. I thought we put enough ):

Even then, it would produce spaghetti that would interfere with the making. So we had to pause the machine, remove the spaghetti, and continue the process.

We don't have to do that if everything starts right. THEN we can leave it overnight.

FINAL settings:

• Speed lowered to 99%
• Flow 113%
• Bed 110c
• Nozzle 235c

Agenda for next meeting

• Clean build plate.
• Assemble the prosthetic hand that was printed overnight.