I am looking for some help printing these curtain rod clips. They will be outdoors, so PETG or ASA would work, but I prefer the PETG. I have printed this multiple times with multiple different settings, and I run into a similar issue no matter what I do. The problem is that I must print it on the side for shear strength. What happens is I end up with a flat spot on the bottom every time. This causes the clip to snag on the track, and manually sanding each one is time-consuming and difficult. I tried every type of auto and manual supports, but the result is always the same. It doesn’t seem to improve much with a .2 nozzle, but the print time goes up dramatically.
I realize this is a very small model with multiple rounded edges, but I was hoping someone would have a suggestion I hadn’t thought of. I am attaching the 3mf file here for my P2S and hope some of you geniuses have some options for me. Thank you!
PS, printing these in the most obvious orientation causes them to snap at the weakest point every time, making them useless.
This clip is 11 MM Tall and 20 mm wide. The flat spots you see on the top was on the bottom (build plate) of course. This happens with PLA, PETG, ASA, etc to various degrees.
Could you post some screenshots please ? I cant open the model at the moment I would have suggested using a separate filament for 100% support but I believe your printer is a single tool head version? (Apologies not all that clued up on all Bambu printers ATM) One thing you could do (again can’t see the model so I’m guessing) would be to model your own supports that effectively put the model on small stilts and you just slice or snap the joint areas off kinda like a bottle cap on a fizzy drink bottle, has lots of small touching points but easy to break
IMHO that’s a difficult part and will never be round when printed horizontally. In addition the print settings don’t look optimized to me… probably too fast for such a small piece. And maybe the bed is a bit too hot. And because it is so small, I’d check the printing/cooling times before dismissing the z-strength issue entirely.
Having said that, does the part need to be round on both top + bottom surfaces? If those were designed flat (at least on the bottom), would it still work for your purpose?
Sometimes the “best” (or least-worst) approach is to tweak the design.
Another option may be to orient the part diagonally (with appropriate supports). Still won’t be perfectly round, but probably better overall.
Besides that, which PETG? Doesn’t look like BL PETG HF, but if it is… I’ve found that stuff disappointing for functional (strong) parts. The new “Basic” is much better IMHO. Or, if another brand, perhaps it needs more tuning.
IMO cut off the bottom [0.8mm] of your model to lay it more sanely on the build plate, add normal support to handle the tab, and see if it still fulfills your use case.
I printed in Bambu PETG HF (black) and Sunlu PETG (gray). It was my first time printing with the PETG HF and I was not impressed.
For the Sunlu parts I deleted the supplied supports and allowed Studio to create supports. I did paint supports for the inner diameter for the small over hang to make it as smooth as possible.
The ones lowered into the bed 0.2mm look significantly better than the others. I was very disappointed in the ones placed on an angle.
I don’t know what the use case is for your model but the rope/etc going thru that loop is going to break it MUCH easier when you slice it tab-standing-up. Eat the support and rotate 90degrees IMO, with the tab-flat-with-z-plane, that thing will be rock solid
UPDATE: I have tried just about every orientation using BBL and Elego Filament. After printing, I used several means to try to break the parts in different areas, and it was much stronger on all axes when printed on its side. I even tried to change the model with a flat surface, which definitely improved the print outcome, but the square bottom caused the clip to snag along the track. I am starting to think these printers just aren’t meant for these small functional parts with curves.
I would have suggested using a separate filament for 100% support but I believe your printer is a single tool head version? (Apologies not all that clued up on all Bambu printers ATM) One thing you could do (again can’t see the model so I’m guessing) would be to model your own supports that effectively put the model on small stilts and you just slice or snap the joint areas off kinda like a bottle cap on a fizzy drink bottle, has lots of small touching points but easy to break
