/zine-machine

A compact 3D-printed block printing press

Primary LanguageOpenSCADMIT LicenseMIT

image of the zine machine

zine machine is a compact 3d-printed block printing press.

Convert images into blocks, try friends' blocks, or use the supplied type to set a page.

All files and instructions necessary to print and use a zine machine are open to the public and available on this website.

Zine Machine is an experiment in guerilla digital fabrication by Gestalte Design

Table of Contents

Step-by-Step Instructions

Supplies Not Included

  1. Brayer — a kind of roller you would use for a lino plate.
  2. Ink — any kind of ink, the kind you would use for block printing.

Zine Machine Basic Setup

  1. Print out the parts for the zine machine. You'll need access to a 3D printer, of course. Or, if you want you can send the stl files to a 3rd party for printing.
    1. Note that you will need to slice these stl files first before you bring them to a 3d printer. We recommend using slic3r. You can find instructions on how to do this on their website.
  2. Follow the assembly instructions found here.
  3. (optional) Clamp the zine machine down for a day or two before use the plastic tends to bend very slightly.

Zine Machine Custom Image Plates

Many 3D software prorams allow you to drop in a 2d vector and "pull" it into the third dimension. If you can imagine you have a black and white image. All the white pixels are "0mm" height and all the black pixels are "3mm" height. That's effectively how it works.

You can find the instructions here.

FAQ

This FAQ will expand as we encounter more questions. Feel free to make a pull request to add some yourself.

Printing the Zine Machine

Q: Can I just buy a zine machine from you?

At the moment, we don't have the ability to provide this service.

Q: What 3D printer do you recommend?

We used a Prusa MK3S+ — the settings were calibrated for this printer and will work the best.

Creating Custom Plates

Q: What kind of images can I use?

Look at woodcuts or linocuts for some inspiration. Be careful when trying to print an image with very thin lines or lots of complex intersections. If you hope to push the limits of your design, you'll want to know the thickness of the nozzle on your 3D printer.

Q: I don't have adobe illustrator!

You can find many "vectorizers" online. We've used rapid resizer before.

Contact

You may fill out issues here on the GitHub, of course.

or DM us on Twitter or Instagram

License

Software License is MIT

CC0
To the extent possible under law, Gestalte Design has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to Zine Machine. This work is published from: United States.