The current idea for Glint club originates from the exploration of the Glint border and ornament. Writing on the glint club blog in 2015 the authour explains “In April 1956 David Bethel submitted his design for the Glint border & corner to Monotype, the designs becoming B1309/10 in August of the same year. Beatrice Warde was at this time working as the corporation’s publicity manager & developed a self-confessed ‘mania’ for ‘working out combinations’ of Bethel’s new border. Warde went on to invent the Glint Game, encouraging others to ‘experiment & invent’ new Glint combinations, she claimed to have discovered 75 such combinations in collaboration with her personal assistant Sarah Clutton.”
I find the idea of exploring two simple components in all their different permutations compelling. The restrictions of the rules creates a space for intensive exploration, discovering new possibilities for alignment and pattern creation.
Christmas Card using the Glint Ornaments (Glint Club 2015)
Glink
After analysing the forms of the glint ornaments I composed 2 of my own variations and tried to print them alongside some other blocks that were experiments in the creation of halftone blocks. The halftones didn’t work but the glink did.
The forms of glink blocks were also informed by the metal swash ornaments in my own collection. Due to their L shape they can be organised and printed in many different orientations.
This week I have been exploring the use of resin 3d printers to be able to generate printable blocks from home without the need for other tools like laser cutters/routers etc. The results so far have been promising – producing blocks that are sturdy enough to print with regularly at a detail that allows very fine design work to take place. Most interestingly, I feel, is the ability to free the shape of the design from the constraints of it being a conventional rectangular block, as would be the case with most traditional cast or routed methods of creating a printable block. In these designs you can see me experimenting with a range of simple modular forms. The blocks are printed to be type height and are divisions of an inch so can be combined with lead and metal type easily.
These original blocks were based on the elementary shapes as defined by the Bauhaus school, the square, circle and triangle.
The type height EL BlocksAlong with the type height blocks I also printed a selection of blank spacing blocks to help with locking up.
To counter the elephants foot effect I shaved off the lowest 1 mm of each block.
With lockdown lifting I have been able to get access to the print room to finally see how my test blocks print. First impressions are very promising, the surface takes ink very well and transfers the design to the paper without slurring or marring the design. When printed next to conventional type made of wood and metal they are the correct height and the quality of the printed design is comparable if not impossible to identify as being a different material. After a day of printing they appear to be in much the same state as when I started with no sign of compression . They also clean easily with Lincoln wash and white spirit without the printing surface being affected (some materials fog and become textured when exposed to a solvent).
Initial blocks – Angle and flat printed blocks.
The flat printed blocks produced a successful print with an even distribution of ink. The angle printed blocks however appeared to show signs of compression with the printing surface being slightly lower than the other flat printed blocks. When locked up against other blocks it also becomes evident that they are also not square, seeminly having shifted slightly during the 3d priting process. Finally the actually print surface, due to being made up of many layers of resin rather than one flat layer as on the flat printed blocks retains ink when cleaned and prints with a slightly textured finish. Overall the flat printed method appears to produce the most consistent results.
Registration circles
After printing a few different variations of the 3 circles, which have been designed to test registration, there is a noticeable misalignment between layers. Close observation of the blocks when printing indicates that due to the slightly flared bases of the blocks, the elephants foot effect as mentioned previously, when pushed next to each other the blocks do not sit flat on the bed of the proofing press. Instead they tilt side to side. I will need to work out a way to negate or minimise this flaring in order to create blocks that will produce accurate prints.
I purchased the Mars 2 alongside some further relevant materials. When a print is made it first needs to be cleaned off the excess resin with a relevant liquid (in the case of the water based resin I have purchased this is water), after that the print needs to be cured under ultraviolet light. Some people leave their prints outside to cure in the sun but with the current unpredictable weather and a need for the prints I create to be consistent across a range of prints I opted for a machine that will wash the print as well as cure it.
Elegoo Mars 2. (Elegoo 2021)
Tinkercad
While waiting for the order to arrive I endeavoured to learn more about the 3d design process but setting myself a series of tasks to complete in tinkercad, this was a method I utilised in the Digital Media unit and I found it very helpful to progress through the relevant tasks.
Tinkercad provides various short tutorials on how to create commonly made items. (Tinkercad 2021)
The tasks I set my self to complete were
Draw a square
Draw a cube
Set cube to 1inch x 1inch x 0.918inch (Type Height for letterpress printing)
Add letter to cube
Hollow cube
Support cube
Add drainage holes
Mars 2 3D Printer Calibration and Tests
Levelling the print bed of the Mars 2, the white rectangles on the rear of the machine are the extra carbon filters I purchased.
Once the printer arrived there were various assembling and calibrations to be done. Much of this is documented very well in the materials that come with the machine and after levelling the print bed I attempted my first print with the test model provided, a chess piece. While printing this piece I kept the space well ventilated and used gloves while handling resin. After a roughly 2 hours the piece had finished printing successfully and I washed and cured it using the wash/cure unit.
A time lapse of the rest model being printed
The finished models upside down on the print bed
Using the Wash/Cure unit to wash the prints in warm water. The Wash/Cure unit uses a vortex of water to remove excess uncured resin from the prints.
Once dried the models are placed in the Wash/Cure unit and the mode is changed to “cure” along with a timer being set. The machine rotates the models and shines uv light at them.
The final printed model after curing.
Testing the Test print
Structurally the piece is very solid, the resin doesn’t feel brittle and the surface feels relatively smooth to the touch. With being in lock down I have limited tools to test the durability of the print, however it withstood multiple drops onto a concrete floor without shattering which is important for a printing block as they can easily be knocked off a table in a print space.
Print Angles
The test piece was printed flat on the print bed but a technique that is often used for more complex prints is to angle them off the print with a series of thing supports holding the piece in the air. In his video “My favorite way to 3D print perfect resin bases for my minis. Something I discovered printing dice?” (2020), maker 3dprintedpro shows that the reason for this is that apparently when things are printed directly on the print bed they can be hard to remove, with so much of the print being in direct contact with the print bed. When the initial layers are attached to the bed they are intentionally overexposed to create a good adhesion to the print bed, this overexposure can cause a slight variation at the base of the print where the overexposed resin expands slightly. This is colloquially called “elephants foot”. Also for complex prints with overhanging parts when printed flat you run the risk of not it printing incorrectly if not angled and supported in the right manner.
With the print process taking a while and me not having any blocks designed for print yet, I downloaded a selection of coins/tokens/model bases (essentially flat objects with a design on one surface) with which I can experiment with print angles to see which method of printing will work best – flat on the bed or at an angle with supports.
Initial Tests
Angled Designs
I placed a selection of designs on the print bed and varied their angle of elevation, then placed supports around them to connect them to the bed. The prints were successful and similar to the eye, but when viewed closely you could see and feel a stepped pattern across the top surface of the token caused by the angle of the layers being printed. Interestingly prints that were only angled slightly from the print bed had the worst examples of stepping, with it be very pronounced even to the eye.
Flat Designs
Using the same token designs as the last experiment, I printed a selection flat on the print bed. With printing something so shallow the print was completed very quickly (around 25 minutes). However I found that when placed in the wash/cure unit to wash the prints that there was a lot of excess resin. The wash/cure unit cleans the print via creating a whirlpool of water that the print is placed into. Evidently, this doesn’t clean a print sufficiently when the design is shallow and on the print bed. For the next prints I will try cleaning the prints by hand in water with a small scrubbing brush. The quality of the prints was very good but they were very hard to remove from the print bed, to remove a print you lever it off with a metal tool much like a paint scraper. With so much force being exerted upon them, when they did separate from the bed they ricocheted off the cleaning surface and onto the floor, so some means of removing them from the bed needs to be considered if this is the way I choose to print future print.
Printing a Design as Veneers
With the flat design taking so little time to print, and my skills in Tinkercad progressing, I also experimented with printing a selection of thin designs that could be mounted onto a block of material (for instance mdf) to bring them to type height. My research shows that this is something that other printers have done, as shown in the previous post.
Though the print was ready very quicky the resulting prints were so thin that once cured and dry they have warped and curled. I tried heating them in warm water and clamping them to correct this but the prints remained unsuitable for printing.
It is my hope with this project that I can devise a method of production that minimises the amount of post production needed before printing with the blocks. Printing a design as a veneer in this way and then mounting it was always going to have involved accurately cutting and mounting them on to wood. Something that in the current lockdown with minimal access to tools will be very difficult so I will progress with my aims of accurately printing a type height block.
References
3DPRINTINGPRO, 2020. My favorite way to 3D print perfect resin bases for my minis. Something I discovered printing dice? [viewed March 7, 2021].
My analysis of the threats and opportunities the medium presents has yielded some questions that I will answer via some further research.
How strong are resin prints? Will they crack if put under pressure?
In the video by the maker Thomas Sanladerer, “Is resin 3D printing worth it?” (2021) he poses a similar question and conducts various forms of research to compare the SLA and FDM print processes. From this research it would appear that when force is applied perpendicular to the direction the layers of the resin that distortion and compression is minimal. The relative hardness and whether a 3d printed block will crack is harder to answer through secondary research as there are many different types of resin with different properties (clear, matt, “plastic like”). I do know, from my own primary research into the letterpress printing process in the proposal stage, that the amount of excess force exerted on a block is low. Metal type and wood type are not hard materials and dent easily, blocks from these materials do not deform or break except if used in an incorrect manner on the press.
New software to learn
After discussions with classmates and relevant technicians at the University, a few different programs were suggested. There are paid options like Autodesk and Sketchup and free versions such as Blender and Tinkercad. The paid options appear to be too extensive for what I aim to produce, being more suited to complex 3D shapes. Tinkercad appears to be able to very quickly produce simple shapes in the correct file type for printing.
How much does the resin smell and are there any safety concerns?
Looking at the various resins available and reading their safety sheets, all would appear to need to be used in well ventilated areas and to use gloves when handling them. Some resins are cleaned with alcohols (either isopropanol or methylated spirits) whilst others are water based and cleaned with water. In the current pandemic isopropanol alcohol has become very expensive which seems to indicate water based is a more economical option. Water based resins also are noted to be low odour. Some models such as the Elegoo Mars 2 pro has a built in carbon filter, Elegoo also produce a rechargeable carbon filtration unit that can be used with any printer (Elegoo 2021). Maker, Uncle Jesse, reviews an integrated Wash/Cure unit produced by Elegoo that appears to make the washing and curing process much easier and cleaner (2020).
How long does a print take?
In order to print a model with a 3D printer the file needs to be sliced into layers via slicing software. Many printers make use of a free slicer called Chitubox, this software also gives an estimate of how long the print will take. I have downloaded and inputted a simple 1 inch cube model created in Tinkercad and the print time is stated as being 1 hour 4 mins. This time would be the same whether you filled the print bed with designs or whether you were just printing one, it would only extend the time if the print was made taller due to the fact the prints are made layer by layer.
How much will a solid block 1inch cubed cost? Will it be uneconomical to do a selection of letters in this way?
Chitubox also allows the user to input the cost of the resin you plan to use and then generate a cost estimate based on the volume the print will use up. A solid 1inch cube is estimated at £0.76 when using waterbased resin. When 3D printing a large model it is quite common to hollow out the piece to use less material so there maybe a way to do this to minimise the resin used but still create strong prints.
There appears to be various models and makes of printers available, which is the most suitable?
3D printer technology is in a continuous state of improvement, with models of printers being superseded by new models every quarter and old models being discontinued. This has made researching what is the most suitable difficult as review videos quickly go out of date. Most machines are made in China and imported into the UK via the EU so this has also made sourcing a machine difficult. Most commercially available have a similar sized build plate and overall size, the differentiation seems come from the speed of the print and the quality of the LCD screen (3dnatives.com 2021). At the time of writing the brand Elegoo have just released the Mars 2, confusingly this is a newer model than the previous Mars 2 Pro. The Mars 2 appears to be the most suitable, it has a high quality screen with a fast print size. It also has a rubber gasket around the shell to keep fumes inside and space for carbon air filters.
References
CHAN, N., 2020. Elegoo Mars 2 Pro $300 Resin 3D Printer Review![viewed Feb 14, 2021]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AWWRP12hGw&ab_channel=AdamSavage%E2%80%99sTested
ELEGOO, 2020. How the Air Purifier Performs on ELEGOO Mars 2 Pro Printer [viewed Feb 17, 2021]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJsFSNYjzMc&ab_channel=ElegooOfficial
ELEGOO, 2021. Mars Series LCD Printers 2021]. Available from: https://www.elegoo.com/collections/mars-series https://www.elegoo.com/collections/mars-series https://www.elegoo.com/collections/mars-series
ELEGOO Mercury Plus 2 in 1 Washing and Curing Machine Review | Resin 3D Printing Cleaning 2020. [viewed Feb 17, 2021]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0_2wwVgDEo&ab_channel=UncleJessy
ENFOY, A., 2020. 17 Best 3D Printing Software of 2021 (CAD and Modeling Tools) 2021]. Available from: https://www.adamenfroy.com/3d-printing-software
MENSLEY, M., 2021. 2021 Best Budget Resin 3D Printers (January) 2021]. Available from: https://all3dp.com/1/best-resin-dlp-sla-3d-printer-kit-stereolithography/
SANLADERER, T., 2019. Is resin 3D printing worth it? (Elegoo Mars Review) [viewed Feb 13, 2021]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrglNNw5A8Q
SANLADERER, T., 2020a. 3D Printing Basics: Resin Printers! (Ep3) [viewed Feb 17, 2021]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TZ2R88rPoo
SANLADERER, T., 2020b. Elegoo Mars (2 Pro): Which one is the best resin printer?[viewed Feb 17, 2021]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yZ4KiK_pl0
VEGOILGUY, 2020. Elegoo Mars 2 Pro HONEST review + Mars original comparison – by VOG (VegOilGuy) [viewed Feb 15, 2021]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qq33YeFCLg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qq33YeFCLg
What 3D resin printers are available in 2021?2021. [viewed Feb 13, 2021]. Available from: https://www.3dnatives.com/en/top-10-resin-3d-printers280320174/
In my previous research for my proposal I identified the work of the Richard Ardagh and the A23D printed type project (2014). This was funded in part by an Arts Council grant and the pieces themselves were fabricated by model making specialists Chalk Studios using industrial machines. The designs were 3D printed as veneers and mounted onto MDF blocks to bring them to type height. As a project it is an interesting exploration of how detailed a 3D printed block can be, with the design of the typeface itself being custom made to explore how sharp and complex the strokes of a letterform can be printed.
Designer Jack Gover at Print My Part, a 3D printing service, has worked with Gordon Chesterman, a Letterpress Printer, to fabricate 3D printed replacement letters for an antique set of wood letters (2017). As with A23D these blocks were 3D printed from digital designs as veneers that were then mounted onto wood to have them reach type height.
The 3D printed replacement letters amongst the original wood letters.
Previously, I have been interviewed by Chris Wilson, a printmaker, design educator and doctoral candidate based in Newcastle upon Tyne as part of his Digilog PhD project. In his project he has been documenting and analysing the intersection between traditional craft and contemporary production methods in relation to Letterpress printing. Currently his website is offline while he finishes writing his thesis but it may be worth getting in contact to discuss my own project.
Alongside the production of the blocks for printmaking, other designers are addressing the need for the production of printing presses themselves. The Open Press Project was started when they noticed “intaglio printmaking is only accessible to a small group of artists, most of which don’t have the option to get themselves one of the very expensive and heavy printing presses or work in one of the very few printmaking workshops in art universities or private institutions.” (2019). The press they designed can be downloaded as digital files and printed and assembled anywhere in the world, enabling the democratisation of the intaglio process.
As noted in my proposal research, in order to create a printed impression on a printing press a letterpress block needs to be 0.918″ in height, other dimensions are measured in points (commonly abbreviated to pt) which is a unit of measurements based on divisions of an inch (72pt in an inch). This standardised height presents a set of specific challenges for contemporary production, primarily that the measurements are in imperial whilst most substrates available now are measured in metric.
0.918″ converted into metric is 23.3172mm
Thicknesses of substrates available in the UK are generally available in measurements such as 1,3,5,8,12,18mm. Thus when using a laser cutter to produce designs to be printed into a suitable material such as MDF, plywood or acrylic there will always be a portion of the block height that needs to be made up with something like paper.
Past Laser Cut Experiments
In the past (June 2016) I produced my own set of laser cut ornaments for printing which were laser cut 3mm MDF mounted onto 18mm MDF blocks with wood glue. Custom cut mount board and card was used to bring these to type height. Though useable, the use of loose card beneath each block made using them (particularly at the smaller sizes) laborious as sheets would move during printing. In some cases I glued all the components together but that introduced inconsistencies in their height as well as another stage in the process of their creation. The blocks printed successfully but due to the printing surface being glued by hand to the mounting block there was a very fine level of mis-registration present when similar blocks were over printed.
Laser cut 3mm MDF shapes and ornaments mounted onto 18mm MDF blocks. The largest measured 3″ and the smallest 1″.
Past 3D Printer Experiments
Previous to these experiments with laser cutters I have tried utilising early commercial 3D printers and in 2013 I tested a FDM printer. FDM or “Fused deposition modeling is the most widely used form of 3D printing at the consumer level. FDM works by extruding thermoplastics, such as ABS, PLA, through a heated nozzle, melting the material and applying the plastic layer by layer to a build platform. Each layer is laid down one at a time until the part is complete.” (Form Labs 2021).The best way to think about this method is like icing a cake with an icing bag. Though you can get some fine detail in the quality of the stroke, when filling in a large area the resulting surface has a lot of unnecessarily texture. The result of these experiments were a series of type height Helvetica Upper case A’s. Though the printing surface took ink well they required too much further sanding and finishing on the printing surface to be worthwhile creating in a large enough number to print an edition with.
My own 3D printed experiments in 2013.
Contemporary 3D printer technology
A comparison between an FDM and a SLA part showing the difference in the layer height and the resulting disparity in quality. (Form Lab 2021)
3d printing as a method of fabrication has advanced very rapidly in the past 10 years, both in regards to the methods used and machines available for the home user and crafts person. They have gone from very large machines requiring a whole workshop space allocated to them to small, desk mounted machines that are user serviceable. In particular there have been great advances in SLA, also known as stereolithography printing. As stated by Form Lab in their analysis of the medium, in SLA printing “liquid resin is cured by a highly-precise laser to form each layer, which can achieve much finer details and is more reliable to repeatedly achieve high-quality results” (2021). The bonds between layers created this way are incredibly fine and though different machines can produce different heights some like the Mars Pro can achieve a layer height of 0.01mm (Elegoo 2021).
Consumer units with a printing area of around 8cmx13cm are produced by many manufactures and are used by a thriving community of makers online. In all3dp.com’s overview of the many models available currently the 3D printing site, Mensley states that the machines themselves start at around £200 with a litre of resin costing between £20-£40 depending on the type/colour (2021). If I wanted to be able to create type from home during the lockdown, a resin printer seems to be the best option but some further research is needed. With there being many positives and negatives related to the introduction of the process I felt a SWOT chart would be helpful.
SWOT chart for 3D Printing
Strength
Streamline work flow by working and producing work, rather than working digitally at home and waiting till I can get access to the print room to laser cut.
Quality of printed surface appears to be very smooth.
3D printing software appears to be able to make use of vector files produced in conventional 2d design software like Illustrator.
I learn new processes quickly and enjoy the experimental nature of learning.
Weakness
Upfront cost of machine
New software to learn.
Though there is a lot of community support online for model making using a resin.printer, printing blocks for print making is not as widely documented.
Use of potentially toxic chemicals at home and related safety concerns.
As a late addition to the project that wasn’t covered in the Proposal, will it still be able to integrate into the project?
Opportunity
University has a selection of technicians who may have knowledge on the subject.
With there not being evidence of many projects using the technology this way there may be an opportunity to get my research featured online and in.
Threats
How strong are resin prints? Will they crack if put under pressure?
How long does a print take?
How much will a solid block 1inch cubed cost? Will it be uneconomical to do a selection of letters in this way?
There appears to be various models and makes of printers available, which is the most suitable?
References
CHAN, N., 2020. Elegoo Mars 2 Pro $300 Resin 3D Printer Review![viewed Feb 14, 2021]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AWWRP12hGw&ab_channel=AdamSavage%E2%80%99sTested
ELEGOO, 2021. Mars Series LCD Printers 2021]. Available from: https://www.elegoo.com/collections/mars-series https://www.elegoo.com/collections/mars-series https://www.elegoo.com/collections/mars-series
FORM LABS, 2021. FDM vs. SLA: Compare the Two Most Popular Types of 3D Printers [viewed Feb 14, 2021]. Available from: https://formlabs.com/uk/blog/fdm-vs-sla-compare-types-of-3d-printers/
MENSLEY, M., 2021. 2021 Best Budget Resin 3D Printers (January) 2021]. Available from: https://all3dp.com/1/best-resin-dlp-sla-3d-printer-kit-stereolithography/ https://all3dp.com/1/best-resin-dlp-sla-3d-printer-kit-stereolithography/ https://all3dp.com/1/best-resin-dlp-sla-3d-printer-kit-stereolithography/
SANLADERER, T., 2020. 3D Printing Basics: Resin Printers! (Ep3) [viewed Feb 17, 2021]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TZ2R88rPoo
What 3D resin printers are available in 2021?2021. [viewed Feb 13, 2021]. Available from: https://www.3dnatives.com/en/top-10-resin-3d-printers280320174/
