Spinneret Day 2

So I finished a primary design for the spinneret yesterday evening and tried to print it, but the printer I have access to couldn't print all that well-it kept coming off the platform because the supports weren't strong enough.

Today I worked on a new design that would be more printer-friendly.

The small cylinder to the left was the first edition. It was about a centimeter in diameter, but couldn't print well. The new one I did today is to the right of it.

This has a wider base and is a bit larger, so hopefully the printer will be able to handle it.







For scale, the top cylindrical part is about 2cm in diameter. (I also fixed the aperture, it's now about 30 μm in diameter.)











I did something a little different with the internal structure...

This is more like what I had envisioned for the spinneret. The fluid (dope) comes from the right through a cone that compresses it until it reaches the tube which will do most of the work. Keep in mind, that tube is about 30 millionths a meter in diameter. After passing through the tube, the dope should polymerize and be silk as it exits the spinneret to the left. 

I found that such a small structure doesn't even register on the path code for the printer. My final product should be an assembly of the parts I made. As mentioned before, it will not be functional or even tested. I will also include 3D  (STL) files of each part in the project, with images such as the one above to illustrate my intentional design.

In the next few days (since we won't be at school friday!) I should work on integrating a method for creating a pH/ion gradient within the spinneret. (I have some ideas.) Hmmm...

- Noah