9 replies to this topic

[VoidElecent]

Hi everyone,

 

my roommate just got a Ender 3 Pro 3D printer and we are really excited about using it. I currently house a few colonies, including two polygynous Solenopsis molesta and one young Temnothorax curvispinosus. I would love to get into 3d printing formicaria, but I have no idea where to start, especially for such small species. 

 

I'd love to get into designing fomricaria as well as printing them—if you have any advice that could help me learn more about doing so, please share!

 

Thanks,

Void

 

[NickAnter]

I would recommend getting a decent software first, so that it is easier to make everything symmetrical. Also, it is not easy. It will take a few tries to get things printing properly, especially with a good, albeit finnicky, filament like PETG.

[Froggy]

For modeling Tinkercad is good for putting basic shapes together and is easy to use, I'm sure theirs better stuff than it but its ok, but Ultimaker Cura is good for print settings

 

Tinkercad: https://www.tinkercad.com

 

Ultimaker Cura: https://ultimaker.co.../ultimaker-cura

[NickAnter]

Tinkercad is a collosal pain in the rear for me. There is no proper align setting I can find, and, it is very had to move something in small increments. Leaving you with things that are not the same size, such as the inmer lip of the formicarium, and the chamber walls, leaving a gap for small ants to get stuck in(happened to me). I havent tried others yet, but from what I have seen, things like Fusion 360 are better, and, you can get that free if you are a student.

[VoidElecent]

Luckily, I have access to AutoCAD, Fusion360 (which I hear is ideal), Inventor, and Solidworks for free through school. I want to take advantage of that...

 

Where do you recommend I learn about hydration techniques?

[NickAnter]

Well, I have made a few hydration systems, the best is connecting some sort of wick to a dish filled with water, and have that either be the hydration medium, or connect to one, which allows for nest hydration.

[Froggy]

Tinkercad is a colossal pain in the rear for me. There is no proper align setting I can find, and, it is very had to move something in small increments. Leaving you with things that are not the same size, such as the inner lip of the formicarium, and the chamber walls, leaving a gap for small ants to get stuck in(happened to me). I haven't tried others yet, but from what I have seen, things like Fusion 360 are better, and, you can get that free if you are a student.

There is snap grid and align options, as well as measurements (in millimetres) when you hover over those little square things, not saying its better in any way, but I though you should know, I'll try Fusion 360

[SleepyAsianAnter]

Well, I have made a few hydration systems, the best is connecting some sort of wick to a dish filled with water, and have that either be the hydration medium, or connect to one, which allows for nest hydration.

Or you can incorporate a water tower and not have to worry about any complicated hydration designs at all

[akaant]

I use sketchup for all my projects. As long as your designs aren't too complicated it works great.

[Domagoj]

I use SolidWorks almost on daily basis, and print stuff modeled in it (not on daily basis). It's very powerful, but not really suitable for organic shapes. Don't get me wrong, you could use it to make roughly potato shaped chambers and squiggly passages, but it would be a bit of work. Solidworks (and Fusion360) is excellent for primitive shapes (anything based on extrusion or revolving squares, circles, polygons etc.), but irregular shapes are comparatively slow to make. Good thing is that, in this case, the exact dimensions and geometry (submillimetre precision) of chambers are not crucial so there is at least that. If you go with Solidworks, Fusion360 or similar parametric software, I'd suggest you model very rough shapes (e.g. elipsoids) and then finish deforming them in something like Meshmixer.