Project 3: 3D Printing a Top - Grant Peterson
Process Starting out, I had no idea what I wanted to make with this project. While I have come up with a number of projects involving the laser cutter and/or wood cutting, none of them really lent themselves to the use of Fusion 360's sculpt tool. After messing around with the tool and rotational symmetry for a bit, I decided that I wanted to make a really alien-looking top. I started with a cylinder and formed it into the rough shape I wanted. Then I added lots of weird little holes into my design, using the rotational symmetry tool to make the pattern the same all the way around. When it came to printing, I realised I had a problem—it would be very difficult to print the spindle at the top without adding in lots of support material. So I redesigned it a bit, modifying the spindle so that it was a separate part that would lock into place with a key and keyway. Printing this resulted in a decent prototype, but with several problems. First, the print came loose from the pr...