10. Open Source Hardware¶

This week we were asked to work together as a team to build a machine using digital fabrication and open source platforms, and we decided to build a printing press machine, because we thought it can have many different applications, on the biochromes week we tried to give our fabrics some prints manually and it was very difficult so we thought this can help, plus printmaking is fun so we can experiment curving materials and print them

Printing Press Machine¶

References & Inspiration¶

Credits:

Research¶

A printing press is basically a sandwich of the medium you want to print or emboss and a stamp that gets pressed between a roller and a flat surface. We looked into different presses to understand how the machine works and what to consider when designing one.

Mind Mapping¶

We used a shared Miro board to put our ideas together so each one of us can edit, add or change anything

Design Considerations¶

In order to make a new design you need to think the design before starting, the mechanism, tools, and features. and this is what we did here we did not start from scratch we used some open source platformers to help us start, we watched videos, read some studies and saw some designs to be able to build our own machine they are all linked in the end of the documentation

Feel free to scroll through our Miro Board below..

Etching VS. Proofing¶

We had two options for the mechanism:

proofing press: roller moves on plate

etching press: plate moves between 2 rollers

We decided on Etching press because etching press is easier to operate than proofing press

Why Is Our Design Special¶

It is adjustable
Easy to assemble
Portable
Affordable
minimal
customizable
open source

Print Making Materials and Alternatives¶

As we can use various mediums to print on and print with

Dry point etching/printing materials

Linoleum
Balsa wood
Zinc or copper plates (1mm)

Alternatives

Aluminum cans
CDs
Tetra packs
Try different types of wood (MDF, HDF, Maple, Pine, Cherry, ...)
Collagraphs (make a collage of different materials)

Embossing

Cardstock
3D printed plate
Try etching materials (CDS, Tetra packs, ...)

Alternatives - etching tools

A needle in a mechanical pen
A thumbtack taped to a stick

Paints and inks

Relief printing ink
Etching ink

Alternatives

Watercolor pencils (used with damp paper)
Watercolor
Oil paint
Watercolor crayons
Chalk pastel
Gouache
Biochromes

Ink Making¶

We used Charcoal to make a printing ink

Recipe

Dye stuff: charcoal
Solvent: 2 Cups Water
Arabic gum: I Cup

Tools¶

* Glass Jar
* Wooden Stick
* Roller brush
* Scale
* Coffee Filters
* Acrylic board
* Dye Stuff
* Pipettes / Syringes
* Test tubes
* Petri dishes
* paper cups
* Solvents ( water / Alcohol )
* Paper

Some Prints We Made¶

Experiments¶

We stared by experimenting the very traditional wat of printing, putting a stamp in ink and use your hand to put pressure on it to be printed on a piece of paper, and it works perfectly if you put enough pressure but it takes a lot of effort and time

Then we tried another way to print using a rolling pin it makes the process a bit easier in terms of pressure but still needs a lot of time and have a larg error margins

To understand the mechanism better we used the pasta making machine to print on a paper using a stamp and it worked perfectly, so we started building our first low fidelity prototype

(Low - Fidelity) Prototypes¶

Following the pasta making machine we built this prototype using to rolling pins and two bands

Rolling Pin Printing Press

When we made sure it is working we upgraded the prototype to this, we laser cut the sides and the bottom, made holes according to the size of the rolling pin handles using drill

Fabrication Process¶

Designs¶

1) 2 Rollers¶

We used TPU Filament to print the roller because it is smoother and leaves no marks on the papers we are printing and is a bit flexible and can take more pressure than PLA

Upper Roller

Bottom Roller Bottom roller has the same design but a different connections

Roller STL Files

2) Roller Holders¶

The holders were 3D printed using PLA filament

Upper Roller Holders

Bottom Roller Holders

Upper Roller Connection STL

Connection Used For Both STL

3) Side Walls¶

We used the CNC Milling machine to cut the side walls, that are made out of 22mm plywood

Side wall SVG File

4) Bed¶

The bed as well was cut using the CNC milling machine using 22mm Plywood

Bed STL File

Super quick guide to CNC¶

Check out the detailed explanation I wrote for week09 about the CNC we have in the lab and how to use it.
For the bed and the side walls we used the following settings:

Toolpath	Cut Depth	Tool	Feed Rate	Spindle Speed	Plunge Rate	Stepover	Machine Vectors
Profile	24.5 mm	1/4 inch End Mill	1.8 inches/second	14000 r.p.m	0.9 inches/second	40%	Outside the lines

5) Handle¶

This handle and it's holders were 3D printed using PLA Filament

Wheel STL File

Wheel-Roller Connection

6) The lead screw¶

This 8mm * 100mm Lead screw was cut using a Metal cutting saw

Assembly¶

Final¶

3D Model¶

Fabrication File

Machine Anatomy¶

Parts	Quantity	Technology	Notes
Body ( Structure )	2	CNC Plywood Profiles	You can use any other material
Feet ( Body Holders )	4	3D Printed PLA/ABS	-
Roller Press	2	3D Printed TPU	-
Roller Holder	4	3D Printed PLA\ABS	-
Handel	1	3D Printed PLA\ABS	-

Printing Press 2.0¶

While we were proud of what we accomplished so far, we took a break and then we gave it another go, and it was then when we realized that the pressure coming from the rollers was as not good as we hoped it would be. The reason for that was the properties of the TPU, it's soft and somewhat elastic. That's why we decided to replace the 3D-printed rollers with metal ones that we found in a local store, we also rethought the rest of the materials we used and the methodology behind our printing press.
Ala designed an easier-to-fabricate model that can be laser cut and 3D printed only. Check out the detailed process here. Below is a gif with the output.

Printing Press 2.0 B.O.M¶

All of the materials below are probably cheaper from local stores, so keep that in mind.

Qty	Description	Price	Link
2	Metal Rollers	30$	Link
1	5mm MDF Board	5$	Link
4	Screw Bar (8mm)	1$	Link
2	Screws (R4mm)	0.25$	Link
18	Bolts (8mm)	0.1$	Link

Printing Press 2.0 Fabrication Files¶

Printing Press 2.0 Laser Cutting File
Roller Holder

Equipment needed to replicate the machine¶

MACHINES¶

3D PRINTER FDM
LASER CUTTER
CNC MILLING MACHINE

TOOLS¶

HAND DRILL
CALIPER
METER
PENCIL / MARKER

Materials To Buy For The Low Fidelity Prototype¶

Qty	Description	Price	Link	Notes
1	Print Making Ink	17.00 $	Link	You can find alternatives
1	Rolling pins	19.50 $	Link	-
1	plywood Board	47.00 $	Link	We Used plywood waste

Materials To Buy For The Final Machine¶

Qty	Description	Price	Link	Notes
1	Print Making Ink	17.00 $	Link	You can find alternatives
2	Lead Screws Nuts	14.99 $	Link	-
1	PLA TPU Filaments	15.99 $ - 27.99 $	Link - Link	-

References & Tools¶

How to use Etching press

Miro

p3d.in

Last update: 2023-05-15