Introduction: The Blue Meth Throne Charging Dock for Iphone / Android

We are in the process of creating a line of very unique charging stations that will allow you to show off your true nerd inside. This one is the 1st of our line that we created that we think any true fan will like and no lawyer will destroy.

This idea came from watching two of our favorite shows.. pretty much the idea sparked when i saw the blue meth getting cracked into trays and poured into storage containers.. Then imagining making a dock from a pile of blue meth.. Then i was like "I could make that" after much work and rethinking this pile of blue meth idea became this Blue Meth Throne.

Since the last throne we made was taken down we wanted to create a very unique throne that would be inspired by our favorite shows but not infringing on any copyright or whatever excuses lawyers can come up with.  So if you haven't figure out which shows this throne is inspired from then you should start catching up on some TV seasons  ASAP.

Anyways last time i got a little excited and released the 3d printed throne when it was a very early prototype and needed a lot of work in hopes of winning a 3D printer. Something that a lot of people didn't realize and were very judgemental of our prototype. This time around we waited to we were done with our Blue Meth Throne. We already 3D printed, hand detailed it, Made a Silicone / hard shell mold and poured 6 clear plastic thrones. We also tested the throne with Iphone 3G/s, 4G/s, 5 Android S2 S3 with and without some popular cases and bumpers.

We made several video detailing the process we went through to make this so you guys can make your own if you want to. or you can visit my website where you can purchase one 

http://nuproto.com/bluethrone.html

Step 1

3D Model, 3D model,3D Model, 3D model,3D Model, 3D model,3D Model, 3D model,3D Model, 3D model,3D Model, 3D model,3D Model, 3D model,3D Model, 3D model,3D Model, 3D model,3D Model, 3D model,3D Model, 3D model,3D Model, 3D model,

In this case we used Maya for most of the modeling and meshlab to convert files to .STLs. The yellow dots in the 3rd graphic are non manifold, intersecting geometry, holes or stuff that is really bad for 3d printing. So besides 3d modeling you will need to clean all of this dots till you have none left (painful process)




Step 1: Slice, Slice and 3D Print

Since most printers are limited on the size of printing you will need to slice your object into separate pieces in order to fit your printing bed. Our 3D printer can only print about 5 in by 5 in or 120 mm to be exact. Most prints will need support material and a raft so you might have to go smaller than your maximum print size to accommodate for this. We usually print 110 mm by 110mm. Anyways if you think you were done 3D modeling think again. You have to close up your 3d model since it's now sliced into pieces. Once the pieces are sliced and made watertight, non manifold, and all geometry is nice and clean then you are ready to start printing.

This is the fun part because is all about waiting and waiting. The larger piece below took about 11 hours to print because we always print at the highest detail possible(which slows your print job). Piece 2, 3, 4, 5 took about 8 hours each. I would suggest start modeling another project while you print. We were modeling our next charging station :).

Once done Printing you need to remove the support material and sand down the pieces to get rid of the "layering effect as much as possible. We made a little video in how to cut and detail your throne in our next step

Step 2: How to Glue Multiple ABS 3D Prints Using Acetone and Left Over Excess ABS

I'm missing the prep video which pretty much involves a lot of sanding and cleaning the excess support material. You want to sand down your entire model with sand paper. i used a dremel to sand the entire model and the edges that will be bonded together.

once sanded down and all of the supporting material is taken off you want to start soaking small pieces of ABS in acetone. Try to use a glass or something that won't melt because of the acetone. I use old shoot glasses because they are small enough for big and large projects. Also make sure you test your brush before starting.. i found that acetone will dissolve traditional hair brushes. I found some that had white fibers that didn't dissolve.

i usually chop the ABS into tiny parts to accelerate the melting. the ABS plastic will start to melt almost immediately and you will have a very watery liquid at the beggining. This watery liquid is not strong enough to bond materials together but it will be strong enough to melt the left over dust from your sanded down 3D print. I usually do a quick coat of this material all around to melt and blend the layering effect made during the 3d printing.

The material in the shoot glass will keep melting and will get thicker as it dries and melts more ABS plastic. Once the material thickens you can start bonding the pieces together with this paste. This Pace is perfect because it dries very quick and bonds faster that crazy glue and other glues. Since you are using the same color and same material in the liquid paste it will leave no weird seams and if you do it right it will look like a seamless consistent piece.

The paste will get thicker and thicker and this could be helpful to fill any unwanted holes or fill up gaps made between pieces. However, you reduce the thickness of the material by adding more acetone.

This method is great because it will save you  money  in glue, give seamless bonding, and it allows you to recycle otherwise disposable ABS support material.



Question: Can you give a loose description/recipe of how you make this "glue"? I understand it's just ABS melted into Acetone, but I am unsure of the amounts needed of each.

Answer: It's not an exact science.. Or ration because the paste is constantly changing consistency as the ABS melts and the acetone evaporates .. I learned a lot by trial and error and just getting used to the material. I know that The smaller the chunks the faster they will melt and the thicker it will get. The thinner the paste the less adhesive. The thicker the paste the better it will be to fill in gaps. In part of the video you see me adding bigger chunks and more acetone because my paste is too thick and Needs more watering down.. In my next video I will try to set up two cameras so you can see a close up of the paste while I do the video. Hopefully that helps

Step 3: Making a Silicone Mold, Hard Shell Mold and More

Unfortunately 3D printers don't print clear acrylic blue tinted material at the moment. Which is why if you want your 3D printed Blue meth throne to look like "Blue Meth" you need to create a silicone mold and perhaps a hard shell mold.

The reason we are using the hard shell technique in this project is because our Blue Meth Throne is relatively large for us to use a 2 part Silicone mold. Doing such technique would waste too much material and will double or triple the price of the mold. This method is a bit more work but if done right very useful and efficient.





We made a 3 part hard shell mold at the beginning but didn't account for the small indentation in the chair part which made the mold almost impossible to take out. We created another 4 piece hard shell mold to fix this problem which made it much easier to take off. 

Anyways

We used smooth-on supplies for our mold because they are the closest to us and seem to work rather well. We used about 3 coats of brushable silicone material and the hard shell also brushable material. We also used an special clay to restrict the flow of the material which doesn't react with the silicone or the hard shell material.

We speed up the process on this one a lot! this whole thing took us a couple of days but cramp it down to 10 minutes. 

The Gist of of it is that you want to first adhere your 3D Print to a very smooth surface that will hold your mold but won't stick to your silicone or your hard shell. I used a piece of glass and adhere my 3d mold using some clay. 

Once your model is secured you can start brushing on about 3 coats of silicone. Use some kind of tint to differentiate between coats so you make sure you get multiple coats evently. i try to brush on my silicone once the previous coat is almost done drying.. while still a bit sticky but hard enough so it won't come off the mold

Once your outer coat of silicone is done i used clay to separate the area where the 1st hard shell area will be going.. The hard shell material starts a bit watery but as it thickens it's easier to keep on the top areas. You might have to keep pushing it up till it thickens. You also want to create a lip area where the 1st shell will meet the 2nd and 3rd part of the hard shell. As you can see at the bottom i created a barrier to keep the material from falling out of certain area. Doing this minimizes the mess.. i do two coats of hard shell per area i found that one coat is too brittle. Once done with part 1 of the mold remove part of the clay and begin part two and do the same process till you get to part 3.

You could leave your mold the way it is but doing so will require a lot more material.. So i rotated the mold upside down and created a bottom mold are.. Doing So will make somewhat of a hallow mold which will require a lot less material and keep the throne less heavy. My plan is to add some LEDs inside of it in the future so that's why i like this throne somewhat hollow.

The bottom mold has this small clay legs that are later removed and later became air vents to let air and prevent air bubbles. The middle part of the throne where the charger goes will be the primary area where the liquid plastic will be poured.





Step 4: Remove the Hard Shell and Silicone Mold

This is the 1st mold i made.. it didn't go as well as i planned since i didn't account for the indentation of the chair area. i later fixed the mold by using a 4 part mold instead of a 3 part mold (the 3 part mold became a 8 piece mold because i needed to break it into pieces to get the throne out)



This video is for the fixed mold. This one is a 4 part mold instead of a 3 part mold


Step 5: Pour Your Plastic on Your Mold

I'm used to working with smooth cast white resin.. I never worked with this clear material before. The salesperson told me that the lifetime of this product was about 3 minutes (which is a lot more than what i'm used to)

I was kind of happy because my other material gets solid too quick for my taste. So i took my time on mixing my coloring and pouring this throne. (i used a tiny bit of clue coloring) This is my 1st pour so i'm glad i caught this oncamera blooper so you can see how quick this material solidifies and how awry things can go. So as you can see the lifetime is a lot less than 3 minutes

This mold is my 1st mold so it's not as clean as i would've liked.. Also the pour hole seemed to be obstructed by something which limited my pouring speed. Anyways this became the perfect storm as you can see my plastic solidified mid pour!!


Since then i speed up my mixing and improved my mold to allow more flow during pouring. However, i don't have a video of that just yet.

i will add it as soon as possible.


Anyways so after this you take the mold apart and voila!! you have a perfect looking Blue Meth Throne. (some detailing and polishing might be necessary)