I want to be able to print this hinge upright as creates the best strength and also gives the nicest print with regards to all the circular walls and holes being printed vertically.
Printing with slicer supports is ok and even after messing with different settings they never leave a clean surface behind and requires some work to then make the pieces fit together nice. I dont have an AMS so dont have the option to use a different materials like PETG.
So ive been trying different ways to design in my own supports with blocks of material the same shape as the piece it is supporting, trying various size gaps between the support piece and the supported piece, different patterns etc and think i can get a reasonable result but wondered if anyone has done anything similar on a similar model and has any advice.
Another option is to design your own supports as part of the model itself. You can then micromanages space with cut-away tabs that well provide sufficient support but with minimal disruption to the model. I had once posted something here on how to do that but I can’t find it now. In the mean time, take a look at what this designer did.
It isn’t easy to spot in the 23 models he has loaded for this hinge kit. But you will want to focus on what he did with the models that have the word “support” in the file. You will see that he specifically designed-in structures that would tear away. By using curve-hugging structures and leaving minimal tabs the supports snapped off very cleanly with minimal post processing needed.
Here’s one video that shows how to print the impossible by just including a simple cone with a small nub. It not for Bambu but it shows the principles I learned from the other examples.
But I wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t do a plug for my favorite technique. Don’t use PETG, use PC instead. Yes, it is harder to print with but it is perfect use-case for making hinges and threads. It machines well and I use it in place of heated thread inserts and it is perfect for drilling if you later want to use metal rods for hinges. You get a nearly injection-molded quality. The trick here though is to increase wall counts to 100% by increasing the wall loop to 999. This will eliminate infill and instead give you 100% filament throughout the model and with PC, it produces a product that is very close to the strength of metal.
Here is an example of a replacement part I made for a desk lamp clamp.
The structural strength of this was amazing and the supports just snapped off. See if you can spot the design mistake in this example. In the end, the mistake didn’t matter but it bothered me after I printed it and realized I goofed.
In the end, the mistake didn’t matter but it bothered me after I printed it and realized I goofed.