3PO build

[savagecreature]

that is really cool! I have soldered so many things over the years but had somehow left it out of my arsenal of techniques for droid building. Thanks for the elegant smack upside the head!

[savagecreature]

I had noticed this this morning before I left for work, made the image and forgot to post it

[Conqueror_Worm]

I have an idea for the eyes-


Brass tubing is really hard to find, but copper tubing is everywhere.  
I used to work at a science museum, and we did a demonstration called Gold Pennies. The basic idea is that you plate zinc onto a copper penny, then heat it so that the zinc combines with the copper to form brass plating.


So, can I scale this up, and use it to brass plate larger pieces of copper?
I don't have the chemicals that are usually used (ZnCL2, NaOH), so I tried to use electrolysis with an NaCl solution to plate the zinc on the copper-


but I didn't get a shiny silver part-

I heated it anyway, but no brass.  I tried a few more experiments with electrolysis, but no luck (see copper fitting in first image).  Next time I will try using oven cleaner as a source of NaOH, and try the more typical experiment.

In other news, I switched my 3D printer from a 0.4 mm to 0.8 mm nozzle, so I can print stronger parts faster.  That took a couple weeks of trouble shooting, but I'm getting decent prints now.

I did complete one very important piece of hardware-

[savagecreature]

I don't know how many times or how many ways I can say, "Awesome!!!" but that's definitely the word that keeps coming to mind.
I have some electroplating equipment (I replate musical instrument keys from time to time) that would probably do the job on those eyes. I buy my stuff from Caswell.  though the home science approach has a very high street cred value in my book.

[Conqueror_Worm]

Huh. They have a brass plating kit.  It never occurred to me to look for one, I assumed you couldn't plate an alloy.

Testing a C-3PO glove that was 3D printed in Thermoplastic PolyUrethane (TPU). It passes the "use the comlink" test around 1 in 4.
3D file by RoelVeldhuyzen



If the above video doesn't work, try this link.



One last little update:

The knee joint is really hard to bend, I'll need to figure out a way to reduce the friction, guessing it involves many hours of sanding.
Leg by Jesse_M
Foot by TKCC71

[savagecreature]

So. Incredibly. Cool. I'm frantically working on my 3D printers (they needed maintenance) to get them up and running so I can get started on my own again.

[Conqueror_Worm]

Yes! Join the madness!
Wow, its been almost a month since my last update, where did the time go?  Did I really just spend a month sanding?
- Reprinted the leg, it was too long and flimsy, so I redid it with a larger nozzle and printed the upper thigh and lower shin at 95% length.
- Reprinted the head. The PLA head was having some delamination issues, so I reprinted it in PETG, with a larger nozzle, and at 103%

[kresty]

wow, that's looking good...

[savagecreature]

So totally cool!!!
You'll have to tell me what you think of the PETG. I printed an R2 dome in PETG, put it in the car because I was going to take somewhere better than my living room to paint it, but when I opened the back hatch of the car it fell out, hit the pavement and shattered.
It definitely reduced my faith in 3D printing droid parts. I had chosen PETG because it was supposed to be stronger than all that.
Maybe it would have been if it had been all one piece? I dunno.
In any case, I would love to hear what your results are like.

[Conqueror_Worm]

I've noticed that too, the PETG is more brittle than I was expecting.  I was wondering if printing it too hot changes the properties of the material.  PETG does seem to be more flexible than the PLA, but when flexed too far, it snaps.  So far, only PLA parts have broken when dropped (not counting super glue failures).  Switching from a 0.4 mm to 0.8 mm nozzle, and 0.3 mm to 0.5 mm layer height made a HUGE difference in strength.  The pieces feel more like an injection molded part than a print.  
I built a stand based on Gordon Tarplay's design:

The above image does not represent the final finish (Gold Krylon paint + primer just happened to be half the price of the other colors).
I'm currently focused on improving the fit of the leg, so I'm printing a thigh that is 2" shorter (despite being 2" taller than Anthony Daniels) to try and bring the knee joint up to where my own knee is.