Ombre dyed 3D printed folding fan
So, in my ongoing experiments with 3D printing applications in our field, here's a fun new project!
I came across the freeware file for this Chinese folding fan on Thingiverse, which prints all in one--no assembly required. Cool! So i had the folks at the Makerspace here on the UNC campus 3D-print me a copy so i could test it as a fan prototype, figuring that if the file was sound and the mechanism functional, it would serve as a potential template for any number of other folding fan designs. (BTW, you can follow me on Thingiverse here if you have an account!)
Since i did my dye tests last week in PLA, i decided to do this project in ABS, another type of plastic which our 3D printers can process. I went by the makerspace this morning to pick up the finished fan, and here's what i found waiting for me:
The fan fresh out of the printer, folded. You can see it's about 7.5" long and frankly, that the staves are fairly thick for a folding fan. Most fans of this length carved in sandalwood would be half as thick. So there's that.
Here's the fan open on the table. Note that you do need to run the stabilizer thread through each stave of the monture in order to control its range when open--otherwise it's just a bunch of disconnected staves on a pivot post. There are three holes in each stave for this purpose so it's a matter of about 10 minutes spent lockstitching them together. It's pretty cool! But also fairly plain...
...so i did a round of dye tests on the ABS filament using Rit dyes again, with reasonably positive results.
So, i ombre dyed the fan like this! I used Violet and Royal Blue, no auxiliaries, simmering baths.
The bottom-most stave of the fan that was touching the bottom of the dye pot deformed a bit, but i was actually able to iron it back straight again using an industrial iron with steam and a presscloth.
I came across the freeware file for this Chinese folding fan on Thingiverse, which prints all in one--no assembly required. Cool! So i had the folks at the Makerspace here on the UNC campus 3D-print me a copy so i could test it as a fan prototype, figuring that if the file was sound and the mechanism functional, it would serve as a potential template for any number of other folding fan designs. (BTW, you can follow me on Thingiverse here if you have an account!)
Since i did my dye tests last week in PLA, i decided to do this project in ABS, another type of plastic which our 3D printers can process. I went by the makerspace this morning to pick up the finished fan, and here's what i found waiting for me:
The fan fresh out of the printer, folded. You can see it's about 7.5" long and frankly, that the staves are fairly thick for a folding fan. Most fans of this length carved in sandalwood would be half as thick. So there's that.
Here's the fan open on the table. Note that you do need to run the stabilizer thread through each stave of the monture in order to control its range when open--otherwise it's just a bunch of disconnected staves on a pivot post. There are three holes in each stave for this purpose so it's a matter of about 10 minutes spent lockstitching them together. It's pretty cool! But also fairly plain...
...so i did a round of dye tests on the ABS filament using Rit dyes again, with reasonably positive results.
So, i ombre dyed the fan like this! I used Violet and Royal Blue, no auxiliaries, simmering baths.
The bottom-most stave of the fan that was touching the bottom of the dye pot deformed a bit, but i was actually able to iron it back straight again using an industrial iron with steam and a presscloth.