What does it take to 3d print a bust of yourself? The answer is not as complicated as you might think. In this blog post, we will show you how to make your own personalized sculpture using the latest in 3d printing technology. For those unfamiliar with the process, all it takes are a few short steps and some inexpensive materials from your local hardware store.
We’ll walk through each step so that by the end of this article, you’ll be able to proudly display a beautiful bust of yourself or a loved one on any shelf- no matter where they live!
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3D printing technology/3D printed model
3D printing is a technology that is really easy to understand. The idea is actually quite simple: build an object by stacking layers of material. The 3d printer receives instructions for building the object in the form of digital files, just like how you receive instructions for building something out of Lego bricks. You simply stack layer after layer until you have a fully realized object.
3d printing technology is actually older than the personal computer but didn’t gain interest from the public until it was used for rapid prototyping in industries that require accurate models of parts and assemblies.
With this newfound use, those with access to these machines suddenly had a way to quickly build prototypes without incurring the costs and delays associated with traditional manufacturing processes.
3d printing really took off when hobbyists and enthusiasts started using them to make toys, trinkets, and replacement parts for electronics. Eventually, somebody had the idea of selling plans that could be printed on these machines. The RepRap project was one such effort that made it easier than ever before to print 3d objects.
Today, there are many services that will take any digital file and print it for you on a 3d printer.
But how does this really work?
How do you prepare your digital files so they can be printed? For somebody interested in getting into this new technology but without any knowledge of 3d modeling or computer-aided design (CAD), this can be an intimidating task.
How To 3d Print a Bust Of Yourself?
How to 3D print a bust of yourself? (best printer)
Today I’m gonna show you another cool way to use your 3D printer, to print yourself! Or rather, a bust of yourself. This is not really that extremely hard or anything like that, but it’s easier than the other projects that are similar (3d selfie for example). It won’t be as detailed either, but this is the tradeoff needed to have your 3d printed head in less than an hour. Even though it’s not super detailed, it looks pretty cool on my desk!
Today I’m gonna show you how to do this project step by step.
The main tool is of course a 3D printer. I used my Creality Ender-3 to print this, but you can use pretty much any 3D printer.
I used the Cura software to slice my model for printing, I recommend that you do the same if you don’t know how to do it. If your model is not sliced correctly then it won’t be able to print correctly (trust me at least with this part…).
How To 3d Print a Bust Of Yourself?
Let’s get started! (scanning services/scan camera)
1) First, make sure that your 3d printer is ready and working properly. You need at least 7-8 hours of calibration before starting with this project. Calibration of your printer is extremely important, especially when using a cheap/budget 3D printer like mine! The more precise your prints are likely to be, the easier they will be to paint.
2) Prepare the model for 3D printing. You can do this by using your favorite modeling software (if you don’t have one, Blender is free and powerful), or if you did not create the original mesh yourself (like me in this case), then download it from somewhere like thingiverse.
If you’re using Blender to prepare your model, make sure to use at least version 2.79 because that’s the only version that has all the tools we need. The one we need in particular is the ” solidify modifier “, by using this modifier you’ll be able to add thickness to your mesh and properly 3D print it, otherwise, it might not work.
3) Next up, prepare the picture for adding it later on to our model. For this project I recommend taking a selfie of yourself against a white wall/background with your phone or some other device, make sure that there are no shadows on your face or whatever. Take at least 10 pictures from different angles so you can choose later which one looks best (frontal view). If possible use a ruler or something else in order to get an accurate height measurement while looking straight at the camera.
How To 3d Print a Bust Of Yourself?
4) After that, download the free model, and open it in your favorite software (or Blender if you’re familiar with it).
5) Import your picture (I choose mine to be 1024×1024 resolution but it’s up to you really), and place/align it on the model so it looks similar to how your face looks. Also make sure that there are no gaps between the mesh and your picture, because we want the alignment to be as accurate as possible so we don’t have any problems when slicing or 3D printing! You can use pretty much any method for aligning these two parts together, I personally just used the move tool in Blender. Note: always rotate/move your picture in small amounts and check the results after every move/rotation so you don’t have problems later on.
6) Next up, we will convert the picture into a solid object. We do this by adding a “solidify modifier” to our picture mesh. You can use pretty much any thickness for your model, I chose 0.15 mm just because that’s how it came out from my printer but thicker might be better (it depends). If you’re using Blender you should also make sure that the image is “seamless” . The reason for this is that if there are any visible seams in your model then when slicing it with Cura/Slic3r then some parts of your print end up being unattached to the rest of the print, which causes failure in your final prints. So make sure to check this option if you’re using Blender!
7) After doing all these steps we should get something similar to what I have below, a 3D model with a picture inside it. It’s important that we export this mesh in.STL format so we can further process it with Cura/Slic3r and print it out. If you’re not familiar with how to do that then simply just add an “Export” modifier and change the type from “mesh” to “STL”.
8) The next step is checking our STL file in Slic3r PE (or whatever software you use for slicing), the reason we check it in Slic3r is to further calibrate/check our model there. If everything looks good, then we can save and print out the file!
9) Now for the final step, open up Cura and select your STL file as a model to be printed. Make sure that under “Layer Height” , “Perimeters” and “Horizontal Expansion” you use either 0 or just 1 (depending on what came out best during checking in Slic3r). After that simply hit the SLICE button and let it work its magic by slicing your STL mesh into layers! Note: make sure to choose an accurate printer speed (so for example for PLA print speed should not be too fast because this causes failure), and turn off any extra options such as “infill”.
How To 3d Print a Bust Of Yourself? (cre: instructables)
How to make sculpture 3d printing?
3D printing is a process in which an object is created by laying down successive layers of material. 3D printing processes are used to print objects of almost any shape or geometry, and now these techniques are being widely used for applications such as rapid prototyping, construction models, medical modeling, interactive artforms.
3D printing has many advantages over traditional manufacturing techniques – among them that it produces not only the part, but also its design history (making it possible to easily modify the product), and can be environmentally friendly. The cost of 3D printed products has dropped dramatically since 2005. How does this technology work? Let’s see how it works!
- Design file preparation 2. STL file generation 3. Automatic meshing 4. Converting polygon mesh to slices 5. Printing slices 6. 3D printing 7. Finishing 8. Assembling How does this technology work?
- Design file preparation – The first step is to design the desired object using one of many available CAD programs, most free or open-source software.
2) STL file generation
– Usually, an STL file is created by converting the three-dimensional model into triangles, and then exporting them as ASCII text with an STL file extension. Each vertex in the triangle has an x, y, and z coordinate that determines its location in space (each axis corresponds to a different color). Importantly, these coordinates are determined relative to some origin that need not correspond to the geometry of the part.
How To 3d Print a Bust Of Yourself? (cre: reconstructme)
3) Automatic meshing
– As we mentioned, STL files represent models as a set of triangular faces — this data format is known as a triangulated mesh. A 3D printer doesn’t print triangles, though: it uses solid sides to form each object’s shape and fill in its interior. This technique is known as “slicing” — every polygon that makes up an STL file must be sliced into multiple thin layers that can then be printed on top of one another.
4) Converting polygon mesh to slices
– To convert a model from a collection of polygons (triangles) into an arrangement of planar layers (slices), we need software capable of cutting the model into thin horizontal cross-sections. We also need software that can calculate the coordinates of each slice’s profile — this is usually referred to as the part’s tool path.
5) Printing slices
– The 3D printer builds up objects by depositing material in layers. These are sliced from the part, one after another, following the paths defined in the STL file. Depending on the machine, these printers can deposit materials such as plastic, metal powder, or nylon threads (fused deposition modeling).
6) 3D printing
– After slicing up an STL file into a collection of thin layers and then generating a set of tool paths for each one, all this data is fed to a CNC milling machine that uses its end effector to build up a part by depositing layers of material. The end effector, also known as the print head, is attached to a linear gantry that allows it to move in six degrees of freedom (x, y, and z plus rotational axes).
7) Finishing
– Once the 3D printed object has been completely produced, it needs further processing. This primarily entails removing excess material from the final component using a tool such as a drill or a laser cutter.
8) Assembling
– After removing all support structures and unclean parts will be ready for assembly! Optional: Sanding, Painting & Polishing – For a better look you can sand the printed product to smooth out any rough surfaces using sandpaper or a Dremel. Then you will need to prime it and paint it to give the desired finish.
Conclusion
3D printing your own bust is a fun project that can be done in just one day. You’ll need to use some modeling software, but if you have the right skillset this could be an easy weekend project for DIYers.
If not, it’s still possible to order any number of pre-made models with different features or customizations so there are plenty of options out there!
So what do you think? Would you like to 3d print yourself? Let us know how we can help and we’ll get started on finding the perfect model for you.
Further Reading:
- Top 7 Best 3d Printer For Board Games
- Top 7 Best Creality 3d Printers
- 7 Best Filaments For Ender 3
- Top 7 Best 3d Printer For Nylon
- Top 7 Best 3D Printer For Cosplay Armor
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