Wow … um, so I wrote the original draft of this post about 3 weeks ago. I intended to clean it up and post it within a couple of days of finishing my camera mount project but work got busy, I have a new manager who expects me to work. I know, what’s up with that. And I got sucked into binge-watching No Guns Life, which reminded me, from a style perspective, of Dorohedoro. Anyway, I got lost in Work and anime and started another project and.
Please forgive me for not posting sooner.
With that said, here’s the post …
Body orientation needs to be considered when slicing your items. Take for instance this webcam mount I created for my first 3D project. The intent is to use the flexible nature of the plastic to grip the camera. But, because of the orientation I used, the layers ran horizontal to the bending force and ended up acting like perforations causing instant and catastrophic failure.
In this case, it failed almost at the junction between the one arm and the back of the mount which makes sense, the orientation of the layers limited flex, and that was the point with the least flex. It was destined to fail, even if not right away.
There was also a lot of support structure required for the overhangs which hold the camera (a picture coming up of the print that worked shows these.) So, not only was the structure of the plastic in its weakest orientation for what I wanted it to do, it was the second most wasteful orientation I could have chosen. Only flipping it 180 so the long part is at the top would have been worse.
A quick and easy fix was to turn the item on its side. No support was necessary in that configuration and the layers were laid out in long strands in the direction they were to flex.
Here you can see the arms flexing out a bit and gripping the camera tight and not breaking because the layers are laid out horizontally, long-wise from the base forward.
After this facepalm event, I started spending more time in my slicer software checking different orientations of the print. Looking to minimize the need for support structure and ensure there aren’t any situations like above.
I had a print which, the first time, worked. Then I had some adhesion issues because I had my temp set for PLA and I was printing PETG. It’s always a good idea to double-check all the settings in your slicer to make sure they’re right for both the print and the filament. Then I had 2 failures about 1/2 way through. I was printing the objects tall, that is on an edge, in part to try to minimize the amount of support material I would need to pull out of tight spaces … there are tight spaces in this print.
After 2 failures in similar spots, I got frustrated and changed the orientation so the boxy skinny objects were flat on the print bed instead of on their side. There would be a little more cleanup work getting the support structure out, but they would be much lower and should also print faster as a result. Another benefit I hadn’t thought of, was that the slicer could fill the large areas in with crisscrossed layers which will give them more strength and less flex, which is what I’m looking for in this print.
All talk no show
OK, lots of words describing this but as the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” I’ve got a few thousand words worth of pictures with even more words! And more is better, except when you’re being sentenced, then less is better. Trust me on that one.
I’ll use a recent example print. The hinge for my “My first 3D project” project.
- My First 3D project – part 5 – Good enough for government work.
- My First 3D project – part 4 – Hold me down
- My first 3D project – So refined, more refined than anything else. The most refined.
- My first 3D project – “Disneyland is fun. This is not fun.”
- My first 3D project – Part 2 – Web Cam positioner a ball(sy) joint
- My first 3D project – Part 1 – Web Cam Positioner
You can see from the pictures below, different orientations for the objects to print. Some are optimized for minimizing support structure. Just remember to consider the orientation and how the layers of material will be laid down. I ended up using the last one, the “Flat orientation” orientation.
Guidelines
- If applicable, try different orientations for your print in the slicer to see what the support structure looks like.
- If you expect stresses on the item, make sure you orient the print to maximize the strength of the material.
- Beware to not put layers parallel to bending stress forces.
- To make more rigid bodies, print them flat on the bed so the slicer can create crisscross layers, which will add strength and rigidity.
- If you want the object to flex, make sure it’s
- not too thick
- printed on edge, but make sure the layers are perpendicular to the bending forces.