By Ben Wood ~ Options Teacher

Our grade 7 “Introduction to Content Creation” option course has been busy designing Hextiles in Tinker Cad that represent each student’s passions and interests. Once the students were satisfied with their 3D model in the CAD software, they learned how to “slice” their models to prepare them for 3D printing.

Slicing is a process where the original 3D model is digitally cut into the layers that the printer will read and lay down the melted PLA plastic. Once each layer has been extruded to the build plate, the whole model will be formed. You can imagine this like assembling a loaf of bread, by adding each slice together until the loaf is whole.

Once the hextiles have been printed they may need some clean up by removing the support material or sanding. From there, each student will prime and then paint their tile to produce the final product. We hope to add these to our growing hextile display outside of the 3D printing room in the grade 7 hallway.