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.
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.
Last edited by jmadrigal on Mon Sep 26, 2016 9:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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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.
