The Makerbot Barge Story

I decided to enter the Make it Float contest. The first thing I decided to do is to make a block, hollow it out, and make it air tight . This was a buoyancy test. It floats, but was unstable! I assumed it just needed a bigger footprint, but that was not exactly the case.

My Personal Project goals:

• Presented project must be printable in one print job.
• Float objects weighing more than a few coins!
• Make something expandable to have possibilities beyond the scope of the contest.

I uploaded the first test, which went pretty good. This gave me the idea to make a barge to float some weight.

Development of the project: How well does plastic float coins? Will interlocking pieces stay connected in a little turbulent water.

RESULTS: About 6 square inches of plastic 1/8" thick will float 1 quarter, but not two. Uploaded pics of the floating quarter and sunken plastic (with two quarters on it). The locks held fine in rocky water.

UPDATE 1: If one block floats, multiple blocks linked together would float even better! Construction of the barge is underway.

UPDATE 2: After a few prototypes I finally have the barge sections ready. These pieces interlock to form a very strong floating platform. The blocks can be configured in many different ways for different floating goals. I intend to make a video demonstrating the various possibilities soon. 10 of these bad boys will fit on the build platform, so the final barge will be 10 or less pieces.

UPDATE 3: The float test, successfully floated 20 ounces of can goods in the pool. Sent the Makerbot for a ride on the barge with a couple cans of water chestnuts.

VIDEO #1: Constructing the barge and loading it up!
http://youtu.be/97RX_ILET-o

VIDEO #2: Sending Makerbot across the pool with a little food. http://youtu.be/gShfVZ-6JHo

UPDATE #4, uploaded an image of the 8 barge pieces fitting on the build platform, which is the number of pieces I used to float a couple pounds of weight.

I'm sure it is no surprise that this entry consumed a vast amount of plastic, but hey, it definitely floats some serious weight. Two more pieces (10 total) would fit on the build plate if carefully placed, but 8 pieces met the target stability carrying a load on it.

Criteria satisfied and goals have been met

This entry meets the criteria and goals of the contest and met my personal goals too. My focus for this entry was on stability, buoyancy, expandability, flexibility, and ease of use. Anybody can duplicate my results with only a 3D printer and plenty of filament. No extra parts or hardware is required.

The interesting thing is my initial idea of locking all the blocks together was incredibly unstable. I almost gave up thinking I wasted time and plastic, but because the design allowed for multiple configurations, I discovered that spreading the blocks out further with spaces between them, gave the barge the increased stability it desperately needed. This new configuration also allowed placing taller, more top heavy loads on the barge as demonstrated on the video.

Used ABS, heated platform to 90C. I got my best results using a raft. The first print job was pretty nerve racking. I was concerned that I miscalculated and the 1/4" glass added just enough height to cause the build platform to bottom out before the job would be completed. After 12 hours (started with two pieces for some reason), only 85% complete, and about an inch and a half of vertical build room remaining, I was pretty tense. In the end I figure I had less than a 1/4" platform travel to spare.

I tried hotter (up to 110C) and cooler (down to 50C) platform temps but 90C seemed to be the sweet spot for my printer and this job. I also tried lowering the platform temp after 20 and 40 layers, but that didn't work well either.

A couple of my blocks got some water inside of them after being in the water for a while. I let them drain for a couple days and then sprayed clear coat sealer on them. After this treatment, the blocks did much better.

Happy printing and floating!