Design and printing techniques from the Alchemic Matter workshop: the joints, seals and tricks behind the projects, explained so you can use them in your own work.
Lab note: every way to give an FDM print a surface, from the build plate and fuzzy skin to ironing, exposed infill, displacement textures, special filaments and post-processing, with starting settings and when to use each.
Lab note: beyond "bacteria hide in the layer lines". The three separate risks of FDM prints in contact with food (material, printer, surface), what the research and the regulations say, and a practical risk ladder with FAQ.
Lab note: which infill pattern and density to use for display pieces, everyday objects, functional parts and flexible prints, why walls matter more than infill, and when the infill becomes the decoration.
Lab note: why clear filament prints cloudy, and the settings that make FDM parts close to glass: PETG, one wall, no top and bottom shells, 100% aligned infill, hot, slow, no fan, then polish.
Lab note: the slicer settings, materials and coatings that make an FDM-printed vase hold water, from vase mode with wide lines to extra perimeters, higher flow and a sealing coat.
How to decorate a cotton T-shirt with a 3D printer: print a flat graphic in soft TPU on baking paper, then fuse it into the fabric with a household iron. What matters, the steps and the common failures.
FlatHinge is a print-in-place hinge only 2 mm thick: two 0.8 mm leaves and a row of knuckles whose ends are interlocking 45° cones, printed flat with no supports and no pin.
FlexiSnap is a snap-fit seal for 3D-printed cases: a rhombus-shaped rib on a soft TPU cover squeezes through a narrow neck in a rigid PLA groove and locks behind it, closing the case against dust and splashes without gaskets or glue.