B. Rogers_ 3D Sword Hilt

 I have had the desire to apply 3D printing

to my Production Design focus ever since

I found out that we had the Objets at SCAD.

My personal objective for this 3d project was to create a multi-part hilt system that could be printed and married to a 0' 1/4" thick sword tang.

This hilt design is my own interpretation of a classic hilt design.

I utilized the loft tools, and the polar array quite heavily for the pommel.

the handle and spherical guard were primarily the revolve and line/curve tools.

The day we played with Keyshot, and the current progress there.

 The second section of the guard was certainly the most challenging in terms of constructing a form that would marry closely to the circular guard, and would sleeve around the (future) blade. 1/16"th tolerance was closely observed.

The red object is the '1/4' placeholder for the tang, which I built the model around.

Once 1/4 section of the guard was completed, it was mirrored twice to complete the object.

all pieces were joined and Boolean-ed together to create a solid.

I then discovered that I had a variety of issues with alignment after the mirrors, and decided the easiest way to correct issues with the naked edges would be to convert it to a mesh and join the edges through rhino's repair scripts.

The object, now free of naked edges, was ready for the Boolean difference which allowed room for the  physical tang to be inserted. Also; now ready for a new keyframe.

The Keyframe Render, reflecting the future finish I'd like to go for.

The various pieces were pulled apart and assorted to best represent its build envelope.

Then the file was submitted.

6+ hours into printing.

The final product, still a bit wet from getting washed.

Printing wound up taking about 24 hrs.

The 1/16"th tolerances allow the parts to sleeve together snugly. 

The parts marry perfectly to the wooden blade blank that I had waiting for it...
Very pleased with the results: I'd like to consider doing a metal-cast of these parts to use for future applications.