The First 3D Printed Prosthetic Stretched Lobe

Being a full-time body piercer I have seen a lot torn and broken lobe piercings. As soon as I got into 3D printing I knew then that I wanted to find another way to "fix" those lobes. Some lobes are not broke in a way to just stitch them back together to repair them. Some are broke with parts torn off. Things happen in life that may not be able to be fixed, but this is one that I knew I could.

Step 1: Creating a Shape and Size

I took some measurements of the lobe I was working with to come up with a generic pattern to hold up to the ear. After that I began redesigning on CAD a prosthetic out of ABS to pre fit. See if and or what would need to be modified.

Step 2: The ABS Model to Fit to the Lobe

About 2 hours later I got this using my #xyzprinting Da Vinci 1.0.

Step 3: The Fitting

So this is the lobe and the prosthetic. I put the lobe into the upper lip of the prosthetic to see how things will fit. After this was done, i made the markings on the lobe to pierce the mounting hardware. The editing the design to put the holes in for the mounting hardware.

Step 4: Prosthetic Mounting Hardware (lobe Piercings)

In this step I placed the marks in the locations needed to hold the weight of the prosthetic. Then did the piercings. After that, played the waiting game for them to heal.

Step 5: Master Design

After all else was done this is what I ended up with for the master design. I built this out of PLA. I used my XYZ JR for this part. The end part was changed a bit more by taking a bit of the top off. That you will see in the next and last step.

Step 6: Lock and Load

This is the final part at this point in time. Already this is being build in new ways and upgraded in the mounting tot he lobe. This is a project that I will continue to evolve. Thank you for checking this out and I hope that all of you have a great rest of your day/night.