The Freedom Seven Ornament

The final print for the speaker award

In 2015 the 43rd Space Congress asked Don to 3D print the speakers award. Of course, he took on the project. The logo for the 43rd space congress was the Freedom 7 Capsule.

This print means more to Don than most of his prints. The Freedom Seven was meant to launch on May 2nd (his birthday) in 1961. The doctors had a radio brought into the delivery room. The launch, however, was scrubbed, but Alan Shepard would be launched 3 days later to become the first American in orbit. Don grew up in the shadow of the Space Program and part of his job is covering NASA for everyone from Scientific America to Popular Science.

The build in Lightwave

Don decided this would be a good test for his new Wanhao i3 printer which had just arrived from China. Don’s a big fan of the Wanhao printer lineup,  and his three Duplicator 4s  have proven to be solid workhorses, all with over 5,000 to 10,000 hours and still running.

Tool path preview in Simplify3D

The capsule was built in 3 pieces using Lightwave 3D 11.6 and exported  as STL files. These files were imported into Simplify3D 2.2.2. This latest version includes  a preset for the Wanaho i3. Just to establish a baseline, Don used the default settings. The resulting g-code was transferred to the printer via an included SD card, although direct USB printing is possible. Don printed in PLA 205°, no bed temp, 0.17 mm at 3600 mm/m.  The print took about 8 hours. The assembly was done with Control Gel Super Glue.

Don also designed and printed a stand to hold the capsule. This file is included as well.

Astronaut Winston Scot with Don’s 3D Printed Freedom Seven speaker award

The print ran great. The Wanhao i3 gave Don exactly what he needed. The i3 is a great machine. The print was done 3 times, one for each speaker. The final prints were painted with Modern Masters bronze paint.

The Space Congress was VERY pleased with the print and have already asked to commission next years award.

Freedom 7 Christmas Ornament

Ornament print set up for six on a Duplicator 4S

Since the print turned out great for the speaker award, Don decided to set up a print for this year’s Christmas Ornament (last year’s Astrolabe was a huge hit, CLICK LINK HERE).  Don ran 0ut of his usual Scots brand tape and tried a roll of blue painter tape he had in the garage. It actually printed great. He may change his ‘winning’ formula in the near future.

He printed his ornaments using Wanhao Silver from http://ultimate3dprintingstore.com/

To download these files, click on THIS LINK to go Don’s store.

Merry Christmas!