Printing upside down!
Printing? Upside down!
Did you know a 3D printer can print upside down? A little over a year ago Adrian Boyer of the RepRap project proved it was possible. Given that a 3D printer using this technology can print upside-right1 and upside-down2, it stands to reason you should be able to print in outer space with zero gravity.
What are the practical aspects of this revelation? I can think of two. Firstly, as mentioned above, you’d be able to print in space. Secondly, if you’re low on real estate, you could always bolt a few MakerBots to the ceiling or a wall. How cool would that be?
| Tagged with | printing, printing upside down, upside down | 3 comments |
3 Comments so far
makeme
Does printing upside down make overhangs easier? Maybe the bot could have built in “pause and ask for help” stages where the person flips it over so it can print any amount of overhang! Or, even cooler, there could be a whole ‘nother axis addition that grabs the bot like a paint shaker and turns it around automatically.
rbisping
the overhang problem is less about gravity drag and more about the direction the nozzel is pointing. if there is nothing under the nozel then the filament just travels in a straight line away from the nozzel untill spring tension of the other end stops it. Its also why some overhangs with short loop cycles or bridging does work.
POTUS
Sounds good, but do read Mary Roach’s Packing for Mars. There are a few unforeseen electronic fails NASA discovered, like fuses that fail by gravitational force. As the element heats in positive gravity, its reduced tensile strength causes it to deform and quickly break the circuit. In zero gravity, it must boil to fail.