Episode 4: Nokia Lumia 820 shell: functional and smooth!
We promised yesterday to show you an upgraded Nokia Lumia 820 shell, so here we are again with the newest shell: harder, better, stronger, faster!
FULL POWER
After episode 1, 2 and 3, fasten your seatbelts for episode 4! Our engineering team worked on full power again with the 3-matic and Magics software to fine-tune the shell even more. The version you see here is 3D printed in ABS, a very accurate material. Unfortunately it’s not the cheapest material to 3D print in, but wait until our next blog to see the perfect alternative.
So what did they do? The engineers created what they call a ‘fillet‘: they smoothened and flattened the edges of the camera whole. Maybe it’s not that visible on the picture, but wait till you feel it in your hands…
The shell was printed like this, to get the best results:
And, because of the support structure, it’s very important to take the print out very carefully so you don’t damage the buttons.
It’s been four days now since our very first print of the Nokia Lumia 820 shell, but if we take a look back at our first print it’s hard to imagine how bad the first tests were.
So what changed? After the 3D printed tests with different material it became clear: the wall thickness isn’t how it should be and the buttons didn’t function at all. So we
- Made the walls of the file thicker (2 mm)
- Adjusted and fine-tuned the button functionality
- Decided upon the best print orientation
- Choose the best materials to print in
Is that it? No of course not (are you kidding?)! Monday we’ll release our first printable, functional, smooth file on Thingiverse. Stay tuned!
