3D Printer Notes
d. bodnar  revised 8-8-13

This is the Sketchup file that I used - I first drew a large hemisphere and made it smaller - the base material is 3/64" thick - anything much thinner was tough to remove from the printing platform without damage.

The base material is quite flexible, even when 3/64" thick.  If you look closely you can see that the hemispheres are actually made up of stepped circles.

When I printed this test I had the printer put down a "raft" of support material - the strip then was separated from it to give the material shown above.  You can print directly onto a smooth surface, such as glass, but I chose this method for these tests.

After printing with a raft I tried printing to glass, covered with painter's tape.  Here the printer is just starting the print of two strips of rivets.  The print head is circled in yellow.

The two strips, the bottom one is 1/64" thinner than the one on top.  They can easily be removed from the painter's tape.  The small blob at the bottom is where the printer automatically cleans its tip before printing.

The thinner backing is much more flexible.