3D Printed Torso

24. That is the number of ribs in a human body. It is also the number of ribs on a 3D printed design a visitor came in to print. He is printing an infant rib cage that can be used as a mold for an infant's torso. This print took many hours to print due to the all the support structures need to ensure that the rib cage printed correctly.

Check out our design stories or create a new one by stopping by the MakerLab. Having trouble making your design come to life? Contact us for help at UIMakerLab@Illinois.edu! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

A 3D Printed Skyrim Digital Book!

"The year was 3E 405." This is the first line in a digital book found in the video game, Skyrim. Now, it is not only found digitally but physically as well. This book was 3D printed for maker Justin Williams. Our Guru, Jim, decided to make good use of our Ultimaker 3 and print the book using two colors. The two different colors allowed the text to stand out on the page. The hardest part when dealing with this project was making the spine of the book. The goal was to make the spine flexible, allowing it to open and close like a real book. In order to do this, we used a printing filament known as Ninja Flex. We have had trouble in the past getting the flexible filaments printing correctly. However, Jim, found that the best way to improve the print quality was slowing down the print speed to 1/5th of the normal speed. The final result looks amazing!

Check out our old stories or create a new one by stopping by the MakerLab. Having trouble making your design come to life? Contact us for help at UIMakerLab@Illinois.edu! And don't forget to like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

X-Y Positioning Table for Institute of Genomic Biology

Berkley Walker at the Institute for Genomic Biology, needed a low fidelity solution for elemental analysis,  instead of a high fidelity and high cost off the shelf model. Our Guru, Brian, customized the tolerances on some parts on thingiverse and helped build a custom DIY solution, which saved them a lot of money.

"With help from the Illinois makerlab we were able to print the necessary parts for an X-Y positioning table to help prepare samples for elemental analysis. These printed parts are being combined with a pulley system and stepper motors to ultimately create an Arduino-controlled positioning system. There are similar systems available commercially, but they cost upwards of $7K and are much more accurate then we need for our application. This system has cost us close to $500 dollars, and that includes the fantastic design services of the guru, Brian Busch. Ryan was also tremendously helpful"

Find out more about our services, our previous projects and let us know if you need any custom design solutions at UIMakerLab AT Illinois DOT edu