On Sun, May 24, 2015 at 11:34 PM, Gerardo @neorigami.com < [email protected]> wrote:
> I know it doesn't make much sense to think about 3D printed bone folders > since you can probably find bone folders where you live with ease. Where I > live bone folders don't seem to be common, so I thought about printing one > in a 3D printer. I have no idea about the material used for 3D printing so > I wanted to ask you: might it be a good idea to print abone folder? Do you > think the resulting bone folder would work? Would it last as well? > > Thank you in advance : ) > Hi Gerardo, The quality of a 3D printed bone folder will really depend on the type of 3D printer used, and the resolution of the print. The most common (read: cheapest) type of 3D print would probably be from an FDM printer (ultra glorified hot glue gun) using PLA or ABS (types of plastic) filament. The strength of the part would depend on the infill (hollow vs solid). An example of such a printer is the MakerBot. In my experience with MakerBots, I would not use one to make a bone folder since there are going to be ridges from the different layers fused together and I want a very smooth edge. For the same reasons I would not recommend using a sintering method either. I think you'd have more success with an STL printer (layers of resin which cure/solidify when exposed to light) as those tend to be a lot more solid and have finer Z resolution than the standard FDM printer, and you would only get ridges along the Z dimension, so you could orient the part such that the part which would be used to press against the paper is contained entirely within the X-Y plane. How many bone folders did you want to print? If it's just one, 3D printing is fine, but it takes awhile. I'd say a couple hours each. If you'd like to make many I'd suggest resin casting, or some form of casting. Make a mold from silicone using an existing bone folder (or one that you 3D print). That would be a lot more time efficient. You could also machine one from wood/teflon ect. In a pinch, I just use a credit card.
