Lookalike
The Lookalike version of the Kassel Hand model most closely resembles the historical Kassel Hand artifact and, aside from nylon dowels and cotter pins, is made entirely of plastic (PLA). Highlights of this version of the model include interior components shaped like the original artifact and a ring on the wrist casing similar to the one on the artifact. This model is the fastest and easiest to print, post-process, and assemble. It is designed to show how the artifact moves, but it is not designed to hold up under significant force.
Digital 3D Models
Lookalike Model Assembled
Top Half of Shell
Bottom Half of Shell
GitHub Files
Click here to access GitHub files to print your own Lookalike.
New To Printing? Here Are Some Helpful Tips
An .STL file contains information about all the shapes that make up the item you want to 3D print, but it doesn’t tell a machine how to make it. Let’s use a recipe in a cookbook as an analogy. You can think of an .STL file as a picture of a finished dish in in a cookbook, your 3D printer as a chef, and GCode as a recipe. When you have a picture of how a dish should look, you don’t necessarily have all the information you need to make it—you need a recipe. When you process an .STL file with a slicer software, the software takes that picture and writes a “recipe” for the 3D printer to follow: a GCode file, written in the programming language that gives your printer step-by-step instructions to create a model. Because different 3D printers need different base settings written into their GCode, you will need to use a slicer set up to work with your specific 3D printer. Your slicer will have various settings you can change to make small adjustments in how your 3D printer will create each model. Settings that work for one printer or filament may not work for another, so you might need to experiment with your setup a bit when creating your own models. We hope you’ll have fun joining in on the creation process!
Assembling Lookalike
Getting started assembling Lookalike now that it’s printed? Here’s what you’ll need:
- plastic cutters
- thick wire cutters
- pliers
- precision picks
- plastic file set
- pin vise
- 0.8 mm drill bit
- 1.5 mm drill bit
- 1.75 mm extruder cleaner wire (also called a “ramrod” or “cleaning rod”)
- twelve nylon dowels
- 3/8″ by 1/16″
- two cotter pins
The videos below walk through post-processing and assembling the components of the model. If desired, click on “CC” in the lower right of the video screen to turn on closed captions.
Part 1: Printing Lookalike
Part 2: Post-Processing Lookalike
Part 3: Assembling Lookalike
A note about the ring clip in the final stage of assembly: the thicker half of the ring clip goes on the inside of the wrist casing, while the thinner half sits on top of the exterior of the wrist casing. You can add the plastic ring to the ring clip before inserting nylon dowels or afterward.