Mastodawn

Nov 9

Air Hockey table. Pretty straightforward. But what if I printed graphics on it and made it look like a real hockey rink?

I am not a sportsball (sportspuck?) person. So I don't know what the markings are. That's okay. There's a rulebook with all the dimensions. (See pages iv-v, 1-3.)
https://media.nhl.com/site/asset/public/ext/2024-25/2024-25Rules.pdf

But the real rink's aspect is 200:85 and the air hockey table is 195.563:143.586 (about 2.35:1 and 1.36:1). So I'll have to adjust.

🧵 2/N

The rink graphics have a lot of fine lines, and it quickly became apparent that they'd strain the resolution of a multicolor print. Then I remembered this experiment where I colored a print with laser printer toner.
https://chaos.social/@kbob/111885268597930365

The smooth acetate sheet gave the print a very glossy surface, which would be great for simulated ice.

🧵 3/N

#AirHockeyKit

Kernel Bob (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image I have now performed the laser toner to 3D print trick. This is a small PLA rectangle with a ~40x50mm cartoon transferred onto it. I think this would be awesome for putting labels and graphics onto project enclosure boxes. Maybe I'll try a #BlackMagicProbe enclosure, though something bigger would be easier to register. Here's the Reddit post that started it all. https://old.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/xnotu1/heres_a_quick_video_of_the_toner_transfer_process @[email protected] #3DPrinting #MixedMedia

chaos.social

#AirHockeyKit #Cairo #PyCairo

Nov 9

I've decided I'm going to use PyCairo to draw the graphics. That will let me mix arbitrary calculations with vector graphic elements, and PyCairo can generate a variety of image formats. That's where I am now, just starting to learn PyCairo.

🧵 4/N

#AirHockeyKit #Cairo #PyCairo

Nov 9

Obligatory PrintKits link. Tell 'em kbob sent you. (or not -- there's no referral program or anything)
https://printkits.com/

Also obligatory re-toot of the old image from 🧵 3 - I'm sure some servers don't save images that old.

🧵 5/N

PyCairo. It's not as Postscript-like as I thought it would be. But it works. I have a bunch of hockey rink markings in a PDF file. Vector, so the printer can find its own resolution.

The gray border shows the area the bumpers will cover. That will not be shaded on the transfer acetate.

🧵 6/N

#AirHockeyKit #Cairo #PyCairo #SVG

Nov 11

I decided to make the air hockey rink look like Spousey's favorite team's home stadium. I got to decode an SVG file to extract the mascot. (SVG is a nice file format, IMO.)

Here's the current artwork next to an overhead photograph of the actual rink.

🧵 7/N

#AirHockeyKit #3DPrinting #TonerTransfer

Nov 17

I'm printing the air hockey surface tonight. The build surface is taped down, and the first layer is underway. (Ignore the smeared ink. That's from an inkjet, and it's on the underside of the transparency.)

Air hockey tables have a lot of holes.

🧵 8/N

Nov 17

The first layer is printed. It's okay, not great, quality. I'll find out in five hours whether the top surface is good.

🧵 9/N

Shiny.

I was wrong about the smeared ink. I guess it was on the top surface, and now it's on the print. Oh, well. So I will try again.

Still, the technique worked, and the registration is well within spec. (I was hoping for 1mm but willing to accept 2. It's well under 1mm.)

The holes interrupt the ink, but I don't see anything I can do about that.

🧵 10/N

I tried an experiment. I printed a small test piece with sections of 0, 1, 2, and 3 layers of transparent light blue filament on top of the white. Trying to get a gel coat/ice translucency effect and also get the blueish tint of ice.

I haven't decided whether it's an improvement. I'm not sure the photo captures the appearance -- it's subtle -- but if you have a preference, please comment, thanks.

🧵 11/N

Nov 18

I printed the air hockey top a second time. I used a single layer of transparent blue. The second print came out better. Not perfect, but good. I play tested it for a minute, and the puck glides nicely.

I printed two paddles in the team's colors and two more in the colors of their best friends, the Diablos of Newark. And a total of 16 pucks in two sizes, because those will get lost.

So I think the table is done. On to the gift wrap!

🧵 12/N

#AirHockeyKit #OverEngineering #3DPrinting

Nov 18

One more photo, this time with extra glare.

🧵 13/N

Sometimes I design stuff just to see if I can. This is a test print for the air hockey kit's gift box. The curved piece is a compliant spring that holds the table in the box by its legs The grey piece is one corner of the box, enough to test mating with the spring and fit and tension. They're all good (2nd iteration).

I can see three cardboard boxes from my desk that would do this job just fine.

🧵 14/N

#AirHockeyKit #Fusion360 #CADModel #3DPrinting

Nov 20

Modeling the curved tip on the spring was fun. I ended up using five sketches to define a loft, then another sketch and extrusion to trim its upper edges. There's probably an easier way. But I had that exact shape in my head.

🧵 15/N

Nov 20

Here's the gift box bottom. Empty, with the air hockey table legs, and with the whole air hockey table. It's snug, but it only touches at the feet.

Generous finger holes on the ends to lift the table out.

I have some ideas for surface finish for the box top. Gonna do a test piece.

🧵 16/N

#AirHockeyKit #3DPrintEffects

Nov 20

This is what I'm thinking for the box top. Printed on a sparkly build plate, one whole layer of transparent purple. The second layer is opaque, except for the logo, which is transparent all the way through. Depending on the light, the logo is sometimes easy to see, sometimes obscured by sparkles.

I'm hoping that it's enough to identify as a logo but not immediately obvious what logo it is.

🧵 17/N

#AirHockeyKit #FinishedProject

Nov 21

I have never seen PLA warp like this. I guess the diffraction grating build plate's adhesion is very low.

🧵 18/N

Warped or not, the box works and looks pretty good in sparkly PLA. IMO.

I pronounce this project finished.

🧵 19/N

Dec 8

I'm making another gift box. And I'm using the same sparkly build plate. I have an idea for reducing the plastic's propensity to warp. I'm cutting grooves in the first layer (top as shown here), and an offset set of grooves on the opposite surface. And doing a little to break up the perimeters.

This is inspired by something @yrabbit was doing a few weeks ago.
https://mastodon.sdf.org/@yrabbit/115518742390483537

🧵 20/N

#AirHockeyKit #3DPrinting
1 attachment

Dec 8

The layers before and after the groove transition. Dual color silk PLA is showing a lot of color. I'm getting more ideas for surface treatments with infill tricks.

🧵 21/N

Dec 8

It still warped. A lot less than the earlier box, but the corners did lift off a little. Shiny build plate has no grip.

🧵 21/N

The box is finished. Final glamor shot. And the gift fits inside perfectly.

I think I'm done printing gift wrap for the season.

🧵 22/N

Dec 22

I said I was done printing gift wrap, but I was wrong. Here are some more.

First up, the generic gift box. I like that the bar code is visible through the translucent top. The font is Roboto, perhaps the most generic font.

🧵 23/N

Dec 22

Next, a gift box twofer.

Long box is long.

The ombré box has octagram spiral infill in one corner, sort of looking like a star sticker. I did that by modeling an octagram, loading it into the slicer as a modifier, and changing the infill in that region.

EDIT: attach the image.

🧵 24/N

Dec 22

This is for Chirpy. It's another ombré filament, silk this time. The name "tag" is two separate SVG files applied in the slicer. The little bird and the lettering are one SVG, and the magenta ink stroke is the other. For the latter, I just drew a Bézier curve in Inkscape and gave it a fat stroke.

The bottom of the box has a chamfer the same size as the top. It cuts through both the lid and the box bottom.

This box will return.

🧵 25/N

Dec 24

I printed another generic gift box, this time in a more generic color.

🧵 26/N

Dec 24

Macarons! Matte PLA, fuzzy skin, three piece construction, two different sizes. And a box/tray for them. Inside surface quality isn't great, but it'll do.

We'll put a small gift inside each macaron. Spousey wants to mix the big ones in with edible macarons in another box.

I reused the screw top I developed for a desiccant jar (the white cylinders in the background).

🧵 27/N

Dec 26

This gift has been given, so here's what was inside. A Leatherman and a bit set inside a Pelican 1010 micro case. Spousey said Chirpy would like a gold box better than the rainbow.

There's a better pic of the box top artwork upthread in 🧵 25.

The inner insert is based on a model I found on Printables that doesn't fit.

🧵 28/N