I am not the only maker in the Ask House! Mr Ask is pretty handy himself. He can play all kinds of instruments, photoshop like a pro and graphic design almost anything like it’s no big deal. He’s pretty techy and is always interested in how shit goes together, so it was no big surprise when he said he wanted a 3D printer. It’s ultimate nerd.
I saw him watch YouTube after YouTube on the topic before he formulated a plan. He decided to buy an Anet A6 machine, which basically comes in parts that you self-assemble. It’s a cheaper model but he liked that have to assemble it (sort of but really it was the right price point) and get to know it’s parts. It arrived on a Friday and we didn’t get home till 8pm but that machine was going to be put together – tonight! I helped peel the protective film off a zillion, tiny, acrylic parts and ruined a perfectly good manicure! I wound some cord keeper stuff around a bunch of cords (very similar to plaiting hair) but I eventually got tired and hit the hay at around 2am.
I woke up to the scratchy, electronic noise of a 3D printer at work! Mr Ask’s first projects were all things to improve the printer itself! Things to help the spool of filament feed more regularly, braces and other parts to improve the actual printer. Yep, you can 3D print a 3D printer, sort of! So weird. And of course a few things were printed to test everything. Strangely, 3D printing and sewing have a LOT in common. Lots of points of machine and user failure and steep learning curve for newbies. Not to mention the ability to envisage a 3D item and then work out how to make it come to life.
Not one to keep all the fun for himself, Mr Ask asked what I would like made. I wanted bangles and earrings – oh my! It all started when I wanted cat earrings. Mr Ask offered to whip some up and I was excited! About an hour later, I had earrings! Since this was very early stages, the print came out a little rougher than Mr Ask wanted, so he gave then a quick sand and a coat of spray paint. I glued on some earring posts and joined the parts with jump ring and done! I wasn’t sure which glue would be best but I used my trusty E6000 and it worked great. After such a success, I asked for some earrings to wear to my Spotlight event and Mr Ask whizzed up these ‘Stitch Bitch’ earrings. Which I love! I have a bunch of other designs planned, which will come up as we build a library of different colour filaments.
I have a hard time buying bangles, my hands are just a fraction too big for most. A few tries were made but most came out just a tiny bit too big or too small. Precision was needed! So, I gave Mr Ask my beloved carved bangles from Retrorespection (as seen in both pics above) and he measured them up with his digital calipers (we have such neat tools!). There were a few designs before we hit perfection. Then these gorgeous lattice bangles came out without a single flaw! I actually have it in black, red and green already but I am keen for one from the pink filament that just came in.
You can paint 3D printed items with spray paint (auto paint being best) and I have experimented with using UV cured gel nail polish too (mixed results) but I feel that using coloured filaments works the best. I foresee some fun designs in our future, especially as Mr Ask builds a stash of different coloured 3D filaments. Remember, all of this was made just weeks after the 3D printer arrived, so there is so much more to learn and explore. The print quality just keeps getting better and better all the time. I have watched Mr Ask rewire, solder, replace and rearrange that printer so much that it’s a complete different beast. He even has endoscopic cameras and lights, so that he can view the prints happening over a real-time internet link. The video below is a sped up view of a little boat, called a ‘benchie’ that is used for calibration being made. Just this week, he set things up so that he can remotely start or stop a print! I swear he should have been an engineer!
He even made me a modular earring hanging system that works great for hoops that don’t close all the way and dangles. It has a key hole shape, so you can leave the back on the earring and just slot it in. I’ll have more about that in an up coming post. I love that 3D printing can solve problems like that. And it’s pretty cool that I can have custom made jewellery made in a few hours! I will never get tired of saying ‘Oh, my husband made it’! A few people have already asked if we are selling these and probably not. We are not in a place to deliver consistent and quality results. But you never know what might happen in the future.
While I love everything that Mr Ask has made for me, the best part has been working together on creative projects! We are both passionate makers with diverse skill sets and it is awesome to collaborate. It’s also nice to share tools, I have plans for that dremmel! I am constantly shocked at the amount of creative stuff that comes out of our tiny home! On the weekend I was simmering something in the kitchen and hand sewing on the couch, I had glued items drying on the coffee table and Mr Ask designing at the computer with the 3D printer running underneath. Our house may be a mess but we are happy creating together xxx
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