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• 

  Created by

  ScribbleJ
• Created on Feb 17, 2011
• Featured on Feb 17, 2011

Everyone else seems to be putting some kind of cooling nozzle on their print head to make the perfect 20mm single-walled calibration cube. What do they do with the cubes? What is the secret to the single-walled cube that makes it so valuable? I set out to find out for myself.

At first, I'd intended to copy the efforts of my fellow Thingiversians to some extent.

There's the Ducted Cooling Fan: thingiverse.com/thing:5756
There's the Around-the-Nozzle Cooling: thingiverse.com/thing:6173

The thing these seemed to have in common was a fan! I can do this. I designed a fan mount, attached some hose, and then a gently blowing nozzle, specially designed with an angle to hit the print just right.

Soon I would know THE SECRET. Perhaps there is an underground economy where 20mm calibration cubes are the currency. It was clear my fellow Thingiversians thought they could just print money!

It seems like it's traditional in these cases to take a photo of the cube before the blower, and after. I got all set up for some scientific testing. I took the suggestion of using an incense stick to see where the air was going. Everything was just right, and smelling of sandalwood. I decided I'd do three runs: Fan off, Fan on, and Thing O Matic Case Fan on, just for a baseline.

Fan off - looks like crap. OK, good, it'll make a nice comparison.
Fan on - hrm, no change.
TOM fan on - everything is THE SAME! I will never be able to afford to eat in the new economy!!!

I knew my nozzle was a good one. I knew it could do the job. It was THE FAN that was letting me down. It wasn't my fellow Thingiversian's secret weapon! It was their achilles heel!

When the machines break down, sometimes it's necessary to bring the ultimate force into the equation: HUMAN POWER!

The final photo was taken in the midst of a dizzy spell after using THE HYPERVENTILATOR! But look how pretty the print came out! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find a paper bag to breathe into. I can even pay for it with the shiny new 20mm cube I've accomplished printing!



I'll be glad to post a youtube video if anyone needs some help figuring out how to use it PROPERLY (tip: if you are not dizzy afterwards, you only ventilated. This is a HYPERVENTILATOR!)

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