Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
(Source: Images CC-BY-SA Jason Brownstein)
Figure 6.6
(a) First version. (b) Second version. (c) Third version.
To complement the blinkiness of the board, materials selection was
considered as part of the design process. Clear plastic filament is avail-
able for use on 3D printers but it differs in transparency. A trial print
was completed with standard clear PLA available from Lulzbot, and
the result was considered acceptable. In the second iteration, T-Glase
Nylon clear filament was used. This filament was chosen because of its
optical properties, which enable it to carry light in much the same man-
ner as fiber-optic cable. The T-Glase made the PLA look slightly dull
in appearance. The appearance of the T-Glase diffused the light much
better and provided an almost shiny finish to the enclosure. But with
any change in the design process comes consequences, which may
cause you to rethink another aspect of the design or manufacture. When
using PLA, the settings are relatively standard for the Lulzbot, and the
printing operation was executed with a high success rate. By comparis-
on, the T-Glase nylon required reworking the settings, including in-
creasing the extruded temperature, slowing the print head movements
down by more than half the PLA speed, increasing additional cooling
with use of the onboard fan, and adjusting the extrusion layer height.
Each of these settings ensured the print layers fused together well,
