> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://alexanders-organization-7.gitbook.io/alex-digital-fabrication-diary/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://alexanders-organization-7.gitbook.io/alex-digital-fabrication-diary/week-2.md).
# Week 2
Lately, I've come across a lot of articles and pictures pointing out the lack of snow this winter. I really like to do alpine skiing but due to climate change in the resulting warmer-than-usual temperatures, a lot of ski piste appear to be just a white stripe on a green field of grass this year. This inspired me to create a snowflake-like shape to serve as a snow motif in nature.
I came up with the idea of creating shapes similar to snowflakes. Snowflakes seemed like a good starting since they have symmetric geometrical structures.
(, accessed on 21.01.2023)
After looking up some images of different types of snowflakes I abstracted the shape to the hexagon. This is going to be the first type of shape I want to print. I also want to already create a mechanism to attach two shapes together.
## Initial Design: Hexagonal Snowflake
For CAD I decided to use Tinkercad due to its intuitive interface. For my initial print, I created a hexagon shape with 6 rectangular cutouts on each site. For the thickness of the structure as well as the width of the cutouts I choose 0.5 mm. For the length of the cutouts, I choose a quarter of the diagonal axis of the hexagon. The plan is to attach 6 other pieces to one. Additionally, I rounded the edges by 0.5 mm.
{% file src="/files/DLFTkN9PALnE4hwGP3XZ" %}
Filament setting for the initial print
* Printing bed temperature: 0°
* Nozzle temperature: 180°
I printed three pieces of the structure. The print turned out fine. Maybe the thickness of the structure could have been slightly increased since the pieces were quite bendable.
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Connecting the pieces using the slits worked very well and kept the pieces together.
