Waste processing facility
This may not be as 'sexy' as some other prints. It's for the rear of an industrial tract on an O scale model railroad.
These are properly known as 'anaerobic digester eggs', but colloquially known as 'sh*t t*ts' in the vernacular. 😉 They form the basis of a high-tech waste processing center where urban sewer waste is broken down over time in mostly-sealed large containers and the results are a solid 'digestate', used mostly for fertilizer and solid fuel, and a methane-like 'biogas' which can be used as fuel.
It is said that some digestates have been used as secondary ingredients for some plastic mixes. (Filament?) 😉
Some liberty has been taken with the scale of these and they are smaller in scale than they would be in real life. In O scale, these would be the equivalent of just under 30 feet (about 9 meters) tall, but in real life they can be 150 feet tall (about 46 meters) or more.
The top photo is the mostly-finished model. The bottom photo is the real-life prototype on which the model is based.
RE: Waste processing facility
Looks good. As an aside, doesn't Blender have a surface emboss feature to make it easy to add those tiles in the dome? It looks good as is, but that was the first difference I noticed. Not sure it'd work on parabolic surfaces, and I'm not a Blender user... so just wondering.
RE: Waste processing facility
I don't use Blender. I simulated the texture of the eggs by making the model much smaller and then scaling it up, using the polygon approximation in an exaggerated manner. It could probably be better simulated using OpenSCAD, but that's too much like real work.
Some people have some tricks to use textures on otherwise flat surfaces in FreeCAD, but I did not try that.
RE: Waste processing facility
It is always nice to look at and fantastic to see what creative works can be produced with this small printer 👍
Statt zu klagen, dass wir nicht alles haben, was wir wollen, sollten wir lieber dankbar sein, dass wir nicht alles bekommen, was wir verdienen.
RE: Waste processing facility
'Small printer'? 😉
I consider it a full-size printer. 😉
Actually, when I had settled on Prusa as the vendor I wanted, I went with the I3 over the Mini mainly because the I3 could print the pieces for a 6464 series box car.
RE: Waste processing facility
In Blender Select edge and Ctl + Click on screen to create polygons. Ctl+LMB click works for verts, edges and polygons.
You will have to draw each vert one at a time though, as it only adds a single vert at the position you clicked with an edge linking to the original vert. Works with edges and faces too.
Can be time consuming having to extrude each vert/edge/face with no interpolation between the two points, but if you use this method in tandem with a sub division modifier, it can be pretty usefull and time saving.
RE: Waste processing facility
Sorry to mention that you do GREAT PRINTS
RE: Waste processing facility
Sorry to mention that you do GREAT PRINTS
Thank you.
RE: Waste processing facility
Nice print. Sadly I keep clicking this thread when it crops up in my "unread" feed thinking it's a discussion on recycling print scraps XD
RE: Waste processing facility
Here's an update showing it installed in more or less its final resting place, on a section of the layout that is pretty much bare except for track as of this time. This shows the illumination on the catwalk and the control shack and the obstruction lights.
Sorry about the dust and clutter. This is very much a construction zone. 😉
RE: Waste processing facility
That looks excellent!
There are professional divers who make a good living doing maintenance on digesters. One of the lesser-known career paths they never told me about in high school!
and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
RE: Waste processing facility
Nice print. Sadly I keep clicking this thread when it crops up in my "unread" feed thinking it's a discussion on recycling print scraps XD
Thanks.
I've wondered about recycling the scraps too. Each week I throw away a filament box maybe 1/2 full of scraps such as priming strips, skirts, supports, test prints and the occasional failed print.
Our local trash hauler gives us a separate roll-out container for recyclables such as glass, paper, cardboard and plastics. I phoned them and they said in no uncertain terms that they do NOT want 3d print scraps, even PETg, in the recycle container.
I know that there are some firms that will accept print scraps, but they want them sorted by type and the cost to ship is obviously more than the value of the scraps.
I'm intrigued by the Recyclebot, but there's no way I have enough scraps to make a meaningful amount of filament.
RE: Waste processing facility
That looks excellent!
There are professional divers who make a good living doing maintenance on digesters. One of the lesser-known career paths they never told me about in high school!
Thank you.
It's a very unique model railroad accessory. I have yet to see another on anyone's layout.
That would be a disgusting occupation to be in, but I'm sure it pays very well. LOL, that makes cesspool pumping seem like a nice clean job by comparison! 😉
RE: Waste processing facility
Yeah, the cost to recycle is likely always going to outweigh the value of the scraps. I've been separating mine with a plan of sending them to Replay3d someday. You get a credit for what you send in but I accept that I may be out some cash in that - though I may instead take an alternate route and just melt them into sheets in my oven and use them or offering them up on something like Freecycle for crafting etc.
I don't produce near enough to warrant a home-extruder either; but I feel as though at least I'm taking ownership of the scraps I produce and not the easy out of just putting them in the trash.
RE: Waste processing facility
@vintagepc
As an aside, I gather from your username you may be a fan of vintage technology. I also get the impression that you're from the UK for some reason. I'm a regular at the annual Vintage Computer Festival in Wall, NJ, US. I play around with 8080/Z80 CP/M and HDOS machines. I have a working Imsai 8080 and Heath H-8. LOL, if I misread your handle, please ignore. 😉 😉
RE: Waste processing facility
@vintagepc
As an aside, I gather from your username you may be a fan of vintage technology. I also get the impression that you're from the UK for some reason. I'm a regular at the annual Vintage Computer Festival in Wall, NJ, US. I play around with 8080/Z80 CP/M and HDOS machines. I have a working Imsai 8080 and Heath H-8. LOL, if I misread your handle, please ignore. 😉 😉
*looks over at the Commodore 64, PC-10, 1950s TV, '63 console tube stereo, laserdisc player, and pile of reel to reel machines...
Nah, you're good. 😀
Might even have a pile of 5150 gear coming by way soon... 😉
East coast US, but actually a Canuck expat so you probably picked up on some of the spelling/grammar.
RE: Waste processing facility
I have a feeling there are more vintage techies around here as well. Back in HS I did build some tube guitar amps, Fender clones at first, but did a huge 6550 amp, mostly of my own design. Back then we could not afford the off-the-shelf equipment.
If you're planning to attend the VCF in NJ, let me know beforehand.
RE: Waste processing facility
Haha - will keep in mind, though that's not a casual sunday drive for me; smidge too far away for that :0) And I'm trying to avoid *too* much more stuff materializing given my available space.