3D Printed Top

[jmadrigal]

I have been having fun with my printer and trying to get decent top made. I am using the metal tip that was supposed to go on the Short Circuit (from the upgrade pack). I have been extremely pleased with my results so far. I am on my 4th iteration (which is printing now). This is my 3rd and it plays really well.

Specs: 72mm tall (not including tip) 87mm (including tip) / 65mm wide / 77gm
           



This is iteration 2 next to 3. I made the 3rd version wider and added material to the shoulder.



The top area comes out a bit sketchy since I print it upside down. I use support material to help but it still comes out a bit rough. I figure it's worth it for the one piece design.

[Neff]

Excellent!  Nice size, nice shape. I bet that shoulder would clean up on a lathe rather well

[jmadrigal]

The lathe is a good idea, I will have to look into that. I am hoping to step up to a lager version once I am happy with the weight distribution. I assume it should scale up.

[ta0]

Looks very good!
What is the plastic? ABS?
Do you think it will withstand normal play and falls?

We are at the start of a revolution . . .

[jmadrigal]

I used ABS on this version but also want to use nylon in the future. I dropped it a few times already (on tile) without any issues. I used 3mm walls on this version but doubled wall thickness on my new version. I will be looking out for strength issues.

[dazzlingdave]

This is great, and I bet it would scale up to larger tops just fine!

Nice work.

[jmadrigal]

I will bring it along to Nationals this year if anyone wants to try it out. I will most likely only be there Saturday since there isn't a top competition. I don't know how much time there will be but I would love to meet other top players.

[robtsou]

Very Nice! I'm going to have to get my printer back up and working!

[Jack]

omg this opens up so many possibilities @-@
well done sir!!!

[kyo]

Some tuning on your printer will eliminate most of that roughness on the overhang.

You can turn/sand/etc to some extent to remove it, but keep in mind that prints aren't solid.. you only have a few walls of plastic before you expose the underlying structural fill.

I've not had time (and currently am down a couple printers thanks to shipping to/from worlds causing damage) to do much on tops but it's certainly a good application for printers. In theory, given enough print time, you could make very light weight, very large tops. The problem is finding 20+ hours to have a printer occupied and running smoothly.

Kyle

[jmadrigal]

Kyle,
Thanks for your input. It forced me to investigate my settings on the slicer a little deeper. I am going to try a few things to improve my print. Right now I am sitting at about a 4 hour print for this version. I am glad I finally got around to working on this. I have to many projects. 

[jmadrigal]

So this is Rev D of my top creations. I figure I would show a short video of how it plays.

https://youtu.be/nEN9URVKvA0

[ta0]

You could have fooled me into thinking that you were playing with a Giulia. Nice!

[113]

Dear JMadrigal,

This is why I am glad I joined this forum! Thank you so much for the inspiration!

113

[jmadrigal]

ta0
I did like the one piece design of the Giulia so it was a starting point. I am still playing around with the weight distribution but I am definitely happy with the play. The fun thing is getting to tweak as much as I want without spending a ton.

113
Thanks for the kind words. I am glad to part of the community and be able to stir the creative fires. I hope I can see some others printing their ideas as well.