Excited to have my first 3D printed tooth

[Julie Niederkorn]

I attended the PaleoBlitz in March and was very interested in the 3D printing of fossils. I am putting together an “In-School Fossil Field Trip” for elementary age classrooms.  I was able to have my neighbor print a tooth for me using the MorphSource files.  It has some odd lines running through the enamel but that is ok.  I think the students will enjoy learning about how 3D printers will be useful in studying fossils.

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[Lisa Lundgren]

@julie-niederkorn, whoa! That is so cool!I’m so glad the MorphoSource files worked. @cgrant and @taorminalepore –any ideas as to the lines running through it?
I’m really interested to hear the results of the in-school field trip. How many students is this going to be with? @bmacfadden –check out this cool 3D printed Meg tooth for classrooms.

[Bruce MacFadden]

@cgrant

Yup that is really cool! What a wonderful way to engage folks in science and make it fun to learn. And for you to use Morphosource.

Claudia–it would be great if we could get Doug Boyer involved in the conversation!

[Claudia Grant]

@julie-niederkorn

@llundgren @taorminalepore  @bmacfadden

Julie, great to know you guys are using the resources we have uploaded to MorphoSource! Yes, please let us know of student’s impressions and classroom outcomes. Regarding lines, that could be due to many reasons. It has happened to me once or twice. The first time, it coincided with my roll of filament running out of filament and it just printed weird (with lines). The other reason could be due to someone accidentally bumping into the table where the printer is located; that can cause misalignment. Another reason could be changes in room temperature. The extruder needs a certain temperature to melt the plastic properly and sometimes changes in room temperature can cause issues when printing. I recommend to use a soft sand paper and try to smooth out the front and the back. I would avoid smoothing out the sides of the teeth because that can be a good lesson relating to serration. The lines, in this case, are not related to scanning; these teeth were all scanned at high resolution with a CT scanner and we have printed all of them before. They all print beautifully. I hope that helps–

[Taormina (Tara) Lepore]

@julie-niederkorn

Hey Julie! That’s super cool, I’m so glad you’re able to use 3D fossils in the classroom. Helpful explanation Claudia, too, on the printing lines. Good to know.

@llundgren @cgrant

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