This is a story about 2 things: digitally designing and 3D printing a box for a very special ring and the technology used - haptic 3D modelling and 3D printing. The haptic 3D modelling package is designed for artists and designer makers who struggle with CAD. The haptics as virtual 3D touch and movement in 3D makes a huge difference in the way we can work: intuitively, enjoyably, serendipitiously, playfully, seriously' creating organic forms easily and swiftly. And it enables this group to access 3D printing.

1. Designing for 3D printing
By Ann Marie
Shillito
This is a story about 2 things:
•digitally designing and 3D printing a box for a very special ring
•That the technology we use makes a difference in the way we work:

2. I am Ann Marie Shillito. I am a designer
maker / jeweller, Author of ‘Digital Crafts:
Industrial Technologies for Applied Artists
and Designer Makers’,
Founder/CEO of Anarkik3D Ltd, Honorary
Research Fellow (Edinburgh College of Art)
and Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the
encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce)
My daughter is Kari and in
2011 I designed her
engagement & wedding rings. I
did this digitally using the
haptic 3D modelling software
that my company, Anarkik3D,
has developed specifically for
designer makers like me who
want to access the exciting
potential that is 3D printing.
+
In this presentation I illustrate the
thread, that ‘the technology we use
makes a difference in the way we
work’ and this story is about digitally
designing and 3D printing a box for
her ring.
First, a bit of context…

3. The software is central. Because with our haptic software I can work &
3D model more quickly and easily in a more organic way than I can ever
do with a CAD (Computer Aided Design) package. The two technologies,
digital modelling and 3D printing , used together, made a big difference
to the way I could design the titanium ring (and then the box).
‘intertwine’ and flow around the
diamond of her engagement ring,
hand wrought in gold.
To make this ring by hand would
be a long and arduous job. Also
with osteoarthritis in both my
thumb joints a painful one too. (in
fact, for hand making I would design the
ring differently!)
3D printing is remarkable. By designing for her wedding ring to be 3D
printed, and be printed in titanium by i.materialise, two bands can
3D modelling using Anarkik 3D Design/Cloud9 software

4. 4
I only use Anarkik 3D Design 3D modelling
software. The reasons:
•most CAD (computer aided design) packages
have too steep a learning curve
•interface & functionality are too complex for
what designer makers need with too many drop-
down menus
•the mode of working is engineer/product
designer biased & doesn’t fit designer maker way
of thinking
•we need to be able to play and experiment
fluidly: as makers we cannot devote the amount
of time that is needed to reach this stage with
CAD.
The box for the ring.
I have a small consumer/personal/desktop 3D
printer and this story is about designing a box
which could be 3D printed in extruded PLA.
This image of the Rhino interface is
from an early version .
Technology should be designed to fit
the way we work. We should not
have to adapt to imposed defaults
and unfamiliar methods of
interaction.

5. 5
Anarkik 3D Design software uses a 3D haptic device. This is the
difference between CAD and our haptic software. The device
gives me, the user, a real sense of ‘touching’ and ‘feeling’ a
virtual object: force feedback, haptics!
I can also move the cursor in 3 dimensions and interact more intuitively both
within the digital space and with virtual objects. This makes navigating a 3D space
and manipulating 3D objects a synch!
This also makes for a straight forward interface,
with visible menus. There are additional hot keys
to learn and use as needed.
I can get immersed in the creative process
without my cognitive flow being disrupted by
complexity and myriad drop-down menus!
This makes a difference
in the way I work
and design.

6. 6
• move & rotate objects & world in 3D
• manipulate, deform: feel and see interactions
• scale, construct, subtract: serendipity as default
• export file formats: direct to 3D printing
• to some CAD (e.g. Rhino)
This is the non complex Anarkik 3D Design/Cloud9 interface:
Incorporating a haptic device (virtual touch) makes it easy to use.

7. 7
This then a story about digitally designing and 3D printing a box
for that very special ring, starting with creating a base.
1. I select a cube from the menu, scale it to
size and then scale down in the ‘y’ axis to
create the base platform.
Scaling is easy with 3D movement of the
haptic device: push in/out for larger/smaller,
x,y,z keys for dynamic non uniform scaling.
2. I select a sphere & using the slice plane and the
cursor to position it, slice the sphere to create a
dome. Instructions in a task bar give information
to complete tasks.
Precision and exact dimensions are not an issue
as I am not designing for industrial production,.
More important is being able to work fluidly
without the distraction of entering exact figures
via the keyboard as you do with CAD.

8. 8
Digitally designing a ring box: continuing with creating a base.
3. Next is to move the dome onto the base and I
used Snap on both parts to align them accurately.
Here the grid is invisible but there is a box in the
top menu to tick to make it visible: the grid’s axis
can be changed with the ‘page down’ key and its
position moved with the arrow keys.
Working ‘by eye’ to get the proportions right is one way designer makers
tend to work in the non-digital place of sketching & benchwork.
I will use all the advantages computer assisted designing offers, such as
undo/redo (great for experimenting and exploring) and for a high level of
precision there is always CAD.
4. Boolean union was then used to make the 2 parts into a single unit.
And you know what, by having a 3D haptic force feedback device I really
can feel the objects I am creating. I can both see and feel where I am. I can
get more immersed into designing, experimenting, exploring and making
creative decisions. There is less disruption and less uncertainty about
knowing my cursor’s position in the digital space!

9. 9
To make the slot for the ring, I select a cylinder
from the menu, create it, scale it to size, then
narrow it down to ring shank width by holding
down the ‘y’ on the keyboard & push the grasp
on the haptic device to thin the cylinder down.
The read-out gives the dimensions. I use Snap to
align and position the forms.
Boolean subtraction
‘cuts’ the slot for the ring.
I select both cylinder &
base, press down the ‘1’
key and toggle until the
cylinder is shown in wire
frame mode, then I click
on Boolean subtraction.
With this action completed, I move or delete the
intersection bit & there I have the ring slot. I did
redo this to position the slot at an angle.
Digitally designing a ring box: the slot for the ring.

10. 10
I used a 3D alphabet & designed the side panel and the top of the box to be 3D
printed separately, flat down on the printer bed (no overhangs) rather than
upright, so that supports for any overhangs were not needed .
This required designing a frame with chamfered corners and with location points
(spheres) so that parts would slot together neatly for gluing. Spheres at the top
corners were Boolean subtracted out of the side panels to create hollows for
locating the four corner spheres on the top part.
By copy/pasting the original base and scaling it in just 2 axes, parts the exact
length were created so the frame would fit the base and the top would be the
right size.
Digitally designing a ring box: the sides.

11. 11
3D printing a ring box: the sides.
The four side panels of the box were each printed separately flat down on
the printer bed. The 3D printer I use is the kit type and I was new to setting
it up and using it. The host is Repetier and I have a choice of two slicing
programmes, Skienforge or 3DSlicr. The extrusion material is PLA.
Okay, I am not a geek and I really struggle with setting up, understanding
G-code and how to tweak the various parameters to get good results.
Saying that, I am really taken with the
‘sketch’ quality of the panels. I glued
four together to see what the box
could be like. I have yet to 3D print the
top and the base.
For comparison I decided to redesign
the box to be 3D printing through a 3D
printing service company using the
sintered powder or binder method.

12. Different systems for 3D printing , materials and access
Process
Digital model ‘bacon-sliced.
Digital slices sent to printer
Layers physically built into 3D object.
Method, range of materials.
(3a) Extrusions: polymers, edibles,
composites
(3b) Sintered: polymers, metals.
Other materials/systems (e.g. binders):
resin, sheet material, paper, starch ….
Access:
Own home printers, fablabs,
service companies (i.materialise,
Sculpteo, Shapeways, Ponoko,
3DPrintingUK, etc..

13. 13
Digitally re-designing the ring box for 3D printing using sintering method.
For the extrusion method the four side panels were printed separately, flat
down on the printer bed to avoid having to add supports for overhangs.
For printing by sintering or bonding powder, the compacted non bonded
powder supports overhangs so the box top and the sides could be
designed for printing as one piece.
By using the original base,
the frame was made to fit it
by using Boolean subtraction
to remove its copy from the
centre of a flattened ‘cube’,
scaled to the right size and
proportions. I interwove the
letters with the ‘line’ to hold
parts like the centre of the
‘O’ in place.

14. 14
Digitally re-designing a ring box for 3D printing using sintering method : cont..
The text panels were easily
tweaked to fit the new frame and
scaled to overlap at the corners to
do away with corner posts. The
corner spheres were kept to
consolidate and visually and
physically strengthen the top.
As the box is for a special ring (and to
sell as a possible Valentine’s Day
present) I used a matrix of different
size hearts to make box top. The
heart was created a few years ago
and is part of my library of things.

15. The heart was created from a sphere
pushed and pulled (deform function),
mirrored and made one surface/object
using Boolean union. This could then be
scaled larger, smaller, thinner, thicker,
taller, wider, narrow, etc using the haptic
device with x,y,z keys to control non-
uniform scaling to create a variety of
hearts to fit into any position.
15
I added 2 overlapping hearts to the base and
deformed the dome to give it a more organic
form which would support the ring by wedging
it a bit more firmly into the slot.
Once completed this was uploaded to my
account on i.materialise to select the material,
get a price and the shipping estimation.
Digitally re-designing a ring box for 3D printing using sintering method: cont..

16. 16
Initial feedback advised that the ‘lines’ and the
lettering on the top were below recommended
specification for thickness and these parts might
not print successfully. I removed these and
replaced them with small hearts to fill the gaps &
join up the small parts like the centres of the ‘O’.
Amending the design for successful 3D printing.
Once again this was uploaded to my account on i.materialise to get a price and
estimated delivery date. It is always exciting to receive and open the package!
The box is still to be hand finished and it is
good to have the physical model to consider
the options: maybe dye the base a different
colour and the hearts picked
out, painted or gold
leafed, the top left
white with one heart
picked out in gold leaf
too. Watch this space.

17. 17
Summary, notes and a quote ..
The technology we use has a major effect on the way we work. If the
technology is problematic, the way we work with it might then be difficult,
degrading our intentions and the outcome possibly distorted and debased.
This can apply to all tools we use (including technology) and to the processes
and materials we select for particular tasks and for specific outcomes. Only with
knowledge of what tools, processes and materials can do can we sensibly make
decisions about what and which is appropriate for the task. To know this we
need to have sufficient know-how and knowledge about affordances and
limitations and a hands on approach is a well tested method for not just
learning ‘how to’ but also for exploring, pushing boundaries and finding out
new things.
Peter Dormer encapsulated gaining this knowledge (explicit and tacit) and it’s
value very succinctly in this quote:
‘It is not craft as ‘handicraft’ that defines contemporary craftsmanship: it is
craft as knowledge that empowers a maker to take charge of technology.’
(Peter Dormer 1997).

18. Summary, notes and a quote ..cont.
In slide 4 I outlined issues I have with CAD as a designer maker, much of which
was borne out in our Tacitus Research Project at Edinburgh College of
Art/Edinburgh University from 2000 to 2004.
Out of this research project we set up Anarkik3D Ltd, and developed Anarkik
3D Design as our own brand haptic 3D modelling software, the aim being to
provide a digital way of 3D modelling that is more closely aligned with the way
designer makers already work in the ‘real world’ with actual materials and
hand tools. Haptic means ‘touch’ and in our case ‘3D touch’. It is this approach
that has produced a more appropriate way of working for designer makers and
designs are more free form.
3D printing is perfect for realising complexity and as the range of 3D printable
materials expands, so designing will be further turned on its head as the more
traditional manufacturing processes are either passed over entirely or
combine with new technology (i.e.3D printing and ‘lost wax.’ casting) and new
possibilities are realised.
18

19. One other requirement is affordability and value, that is, justified in terms of
real economic gains from using 3D modelling technology to access 3D printing.
How we engage with digital technologies is changing continually and generally
for the better. It is nigh impossible to predict what factors might emerge with
significance for designing, making and producing that will justify investment of
time, money and effort to learn new stuff and ways of interacting digitally.
Usability is improving. Overall access is easier and the outlay to take a first step
into 3D digital modelling is affordable.
Anarkik 3D Design software delivers on all this too.
Meanwhile some of the work by other designer makers using Anarkik 3D
Design can be seen on our website and Pinterest boards. And our videos show
the technology in use. Here are the links:
19
Anarkik3D main website Anarkik3D on Pinterest
Anarkik3D videos Anarkik3D Blog
Twitter: @anarkik3d @anarkymarie Contact: email us