3D Printed Shoes
Here I’ll be posting my progress as I attempt to design a 3D printed pair of shoes.
Prototype 1
The following process was used to create my first shoe design.
I used my phone to take a 3D scan of my foot.
I imported the STL file from the scan into the program Rhino and used the shrink wrap tool to
a) Create a mesh offset 8 mm from my foot.
b) Create a mesh offset 3 mm from my foot.
Using Rhino, I subtracted the 3 mm offset from the 8 mm offset to create a 5 mm thick shell around my foot.
I further modified the shoe in Rhino and checked to ensure the design could be 3D printed.
I 3D printed the shoe in TPU
Areas for improvement:
The shoe required a small cut to be put on. The opening should be larger.
There was very little flexibility. The walls are likely too thick.
Style. This is not an aesthetically pleasing shoe.
Prototype 2
The same process was followed to create this shoe with a few modifications,
The walls were reduced in thickness to around 2.5 mm.
A tread design was added using Rhino.
When printing the shoe, a “fuzzy skin” modifier was added to improve the appearance.
Note: The material is the same, however, it’s a different color.
Prototype 3
This design is nearly identical to prototype 2 with the addition of a tongue and laces to make the shoe easier to put on. After a brief and moderately painful test wear, I realized they were not nearly flexible enough for walking.
Prototype 4
Two changes were made to fix the flexibility issues for prototype 4. First, the walls of the toe of the shoe were made thinner, as the original walls were too rigid to bend properly. Second, the sole of the shoe was divided into more sections because bending could only occur in the gaps of the tread. With this prototype, walking is possible but painful.
