Failed Articulated FUD print separation

So, this is the first time, since printing with shapeways that I have ever had to complain about a print. Thy have always been super awesome, however, at some point, I realize that something is bound to go wrong.

This is my robot design:


The Jaw, neck, hip, knees and elbows were supposed to be printed in place so that they would articulate. It also states in the above image that it is 8 pieces in total. It was meant to be wired up with LEDs and a switch, so some of the other pieces are meant to be removable.

I had it ordered in FUD...and it wasn't cheap.

However, I received the package with 16 pieces (17 if you include the "mystery piece" I recieved in the package as well).. all the pieces were printed beautifully, but were separate and apart from each other...rendering my model null and void





The sad thing is, I wanted this model to show off at a presentation I am making on 3D printing in a week. I happened to be in NY and had it shipped there to save me time and customs fees.

I won't lie I was heartbroken and I doubt that I would get a reprint before I leave. I contacted Customer support already, just waiting on a reply.
Has this ever happened to anyone before?

I understand that SW has recently reworked how models are oriented to maximize machine space. I am going to guess that even though my pieces are meant to be printed interlocking, that perhaps it still counted the pieces as being separate because they are not touching or sprued together. Perhaps I am wrong. I would not mind someone giving me some explanation though. I hope that by sharing this, i can avoid this happenning to anyone else. Maybe SW is not aware of the issue.

Cheers
Corretta

Have you contacted customer service? Send them an email, with the pics attached, and see what they say. It certainly looks like the joints were meant to be "trapped" so should have printed as one. (Not sure about the head - is the rear slice attached to the rest? It traps the neck joint, so if it isn't "trapped" or attached, the head & neck will come apart...)

BTW, is the one wrist broken? Looks like it.

Yeah, I contacted Customer Support. Just waiting on a reply. it's the weekend, so it may be slow in coming.
Some of the pieces were meant to be removable and others meant to be "trapped". In total it should have been 8 pieces...but I got 16 pieces because the trapped pieces were printed as separate pieces.

I will update once I get a response.

From what I see, the Hips, Elbows, Knees definitely should have come out as one piece. I would call that an error.
I've had over 30 of these printed.. never had that difficulty. It's fully articulated, but it's only one "part".

Yes. With WSF. But as it was a sprue or loop (depends how you want to call it) to make work easier, no strong complaint made. Just mentioned it when related to a discussion, like now again.

OMG, sprues / loops / cages being pushed. And this still happening. Cry or laugh?

Always has been that way, otherwise selection of orientation should be possible.

Or fish memory.

Customer service responded with this:

Adela Zemkova (Shapeways) Oct 19 13:09 Dear Corretta, Thanks for your email. I am sorry to hear that you had issues with your recent print. I have checked the design and it looks like it was actually designed this way - with separate parts that need to be assembled. Please also note that the repricing had nothing to do with Frosted ultra detail. It only affected Nylon and Steel. We also do not shrink wrap FUD, we print it exactly the way it's designed. Can you please review your design and make sure the parts are actually interlocking so we can print it for you like that? Thank you! Adela Customer Service agentwww.shapeways.com

*insta-headache*

That is clearly not the case. This is clearly going to be a fight. C'mon guys 'Orly?

I am attaching the screencaps of what i just resent to customer service. The red circles are where the joints should be.

Part 2




Clearly there is an error with the way the model was printed. My model is exactly as I had designed it. unless there is a glitch in the SW matrix showing them something different from what i am seeing.

Cheers
Corretta

Ok...so Customer service sent me this today:

Adela Zemkova (Shapeways) Oct 20 08:59 Dear Corretta, Thanks for letting me know. I have raised an official complaint for this order (10173). As soon as we have determined what could be the cause of this we will offer you a proper solution. If our investigation shows that we can successfully re-print this model, you will be informed by email about all the production updates. Cheers Adela Customer Service agentwww.shapeways.com

So I shall be patient and see what they say. Hopefully it shall be soon.

Cheers
Corretta

Ok...am getting a reprint...*whew* Thanks SW :3

I am just keeping my fingers crossed that it works this time. *fingers and toes crossed*

Still curious if anyone else has had this happen...and why? >_>

Guessing... the software used to plan the jobs knows zilch about linked parts.

Here's a hypothesis: If Shapeways is using an automated optimizing tool to break apart models with separate shells to maximize their print runs, it is conceivable that they would have a switch for each model they enter into the optimizer to either "break" the shells for optimum space usage, or "don't break" the shells to make sure articulated models like this are printed as one assembly. A human probably incorrectly flipped the switch to "okay to break apart" for your model when it was entered into the batch.

Like you I've never had cause to complain before, but on the order that arrived today, two of the three models are broken, and they look to have been broken by someone changing the model prior to printing rather than a handling or shipping issue.

One model had 6 parts shown on the model page but the bag contains 10 as they have split four of the parts in half. I'm guessing they thought they'd split on a sprue but they haven't so they've literally broken the models in half. I might be able to glue those back together but I shouldn't have to.

One of the other models in the order they have also broken (9 parts instead of six in the bag), this time they did at least break it from a sprue. I'm guessing this was done to save support material, but it means that the orientation has also changed damaging some of the model.

Interestingly the third model in my order contains copies of the parts they've broken in the other two orders and yet in this case they've printed it perfectly. This suggests to me that it isn't an automated process going funny but a human deliberately choosing how to alter our models for printing.



You can see this all in the attached photo. On the left we have the two parts making up the properly printed model. In the middle you can see that the model has been printed with one side separate to the others (broken from the sprue), while on the right you can see that the part has been split horizontally and not from a sprue just straight through the model. There is a sprue on the right hand model but it's been printed unbroken. The right hand model might be fixable with glue but won't be as strong as it should be, and I shouldn't have to repair a part I've paid for. The part in the middle as it was just broken from a sprue is fine functionally but the print orientation looks as if it has been changed obscuring some detail. I'm guessing the reason for both these changes to my model are to reduce costs by reducing the amount of support material required, but shapeways should not be breaking our models like this. If you want to suggest alterations then suggest them, but don't do them without asking. If you can't afford to print a model because of the amount of support material required then either swallow the cost (i.e. don't break our models) or change the pricing scheme.

Clearly there is some form of problem with the setting up of the FUD print orders. I can understand re-orientating single parts from an order, but they shouldn't be moving trapped parts, and they certainly shouldn't be breaking single parts into multiple ones as they have no way of knowing if that will affect the model or not. They really should be printing the model as we upload it as we clearly know best how it should fit together.

I've sent a complaint through the contact form (actually two as I didn't spot one problem initially) so hopefully I'll get a sensible response shortly (it was order 803256 if anyone who works for shapeways is reading this).

Oh man...sorry to hear you've had the same issues as well. I am still waiting on the shipment with my reprinted model to arrive. Living outside the US makes this a painfully long wait -_-

If not, I will see if I can request Store credit so I can rework the model to be printed in another material, because each time I still have to pay customs and shipping duties on everything I get in. So wasting money on failed prints is not an option for me. Trapped parts should not be separating before printing. It is either an issue with netfabb or just plain human error.

I really hope the issues are sorted out quickly. Clearly, many people are having an issue with FUD recently. I will be posting an update once my print comes in.

Yeah there is clearly a problem, and I guess we are just the tip of the iceberg. I guess they've changed their process somewhere that is leading to these problems. I guess the point we would both agree on is that they should print the model we upload; no moving inter-locking parts and certainly no breaking single parts into two pieces. If they just followed those two simple rules I think most of the current FUD problems would go away.

Fingers crossed for your re-print. Having had the broken models in my hands I'm leaning towards asking for a refund and to re-work the models slightly but we'll see what they say when they eventually answer my questions I sent through the contact form.

Mark