First 3D Printed Parts

 

I recently purchased a Solidoodle 3D printer and have been learning about and experimenting with 3D printing!  The video above shows my printer building up a lens cap layer by layer using fused deposition modeling.  ABS plastic filament is fed into the printer head, heated, and extruded into a very fine bead of plastic which slowly builds the part.  Each layer is only .3mm thick so as you might imagine it takes some time for the part to be fully created.

I've designed a few parts using the modeling software Google Sketchup, but I usually check the model sharing website, Thingiverse, to see if someone has already shared a design for an item I want to create.  Below are some of the first item's I've printed including, a lens cap and scuba mask mount for my GoPro (both from Thingiverse) and an antenna cap to protect the car cover on my 55 Ford Fairlane.