Super Sweet Printing Tech – Zero Extra Shells
0-extra shell on left print, default settings on the right
While perusing Thingiverse yesterday I noticed TheRuttmeister’s suggestions on printing a small 7 toothed gear for a Stepper Upgrade for the MK5. Here’s his suggestion:
I recommend that you print the small gears with 0 extra shells (infill of 0.1 or higher will result in solid teeth).
I had never heard of such a technique, but RoberHunt‘s print of this gear, showing the “zero-extra shells” on the left and his default settings on the right. However, those results really speak for themselves. I’ve tried to print small objects before only to find out that I couldn’t get the fill ratio to the point the object was solid. I’m definitely trying this idea out next time!
| Tagged with | extra shells, printing tech, R&D, randd, tech | 5 comments |
5 Comments so far
Jetguy
Thanks for the tip, I’ve had this problem and never understood what the magic setting was causing the problem.
nick
This is a great tip for printing thin walled objects (less than 2.5mm thick) or ensuring that critical thin sections of an object are properly filled.
“Extra Shells” is the number of times it will create a perimeter around the honeycomb mesh infill. If Skeinforge decides there is not enough room to fit the specified number of perimeters + the infill, then for some reason it ends up skipping both….
For the vast majority of Thingiverse objects you still want “Extra Shells” to be 1 or more. Increasing the number of extra shells makes thicker parts with lower infill much stronger.
Allan Ecker
Back in the day thin walls were often the only way I could get the Hercules to print.
The Hercules definitely is a special needs robot though…
M_G
Hoorah, now perhaps I can finally print tiny electronics enclosures on a ToM! Looks like I was taking a completely wrong approach by increasing the number of shells. Must try this out tomorrow.
Super Sweet Printing Tech – Unsupported Overhangs - MakerBot Industries
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