PNG TIME

ipblocker

9/15/2015

Waxing Poetic


so I've been learning 3d modelling with my son using the software "Blender" with the intention of printing it out on a 3d printer.

Only none of our designs have printed out properly.  

Two days ago my son committed himself to a homework assignment in which he seals a letter he wrote with his own custom signet in wax.

Yesterday he offers me a design to print out on the printer.  I was proud of him for doing that, except that as of yet, I have not been able to figure out how to print out my designs.  

The learning curve was steep and I saw no straight forward process to learn, so as usual, I learned using google, forums, and a whole lot of intuition.

Well, after a few hours of reading I discovered there is software out there to help you find the errors in your design.  It took a while to download, but once I did, I instantly saw the problems in Calvin's design, we fixed them together, and then, about 15 minutes later, he was holding it in his hands.

I had an old piece of wood lying around, I glued the signet to the wood to make a nice peg handle.

We then melted crayons to provide the wax, pressed the signet stamp to the wax and.... viola... blob.

We tried again after coating the stamp with a little oil, and waiting longer for it to cool... and bingo!

One personalized, totally unique, high tech but low tech, creative homework assignment completed.

And, we both learned a ton of things that will make future designs go well.

I think we turned a corner today, and my confidence in our ability to design and print our own stuff has soared!

Today is a holiday in this country.  And this is one of the things we chose to do for fun.
-Chad