I’m reasonably new to 3D printing, and want to do some in-place printing, but have so far been totally unsuccessful. I’m trying to print two 80mm bars joined with a dovetail, so they can easily be detached from one another.
This is a short section of the bar:
I have modelled the dovetail so that there is a gap all the way around. I have tried 0.2mm gap as well as 0.5, but no matter how big the gap the two halves are effectively welded (stuck) together.
Is it possible to do what I am trying to do here?
I have tried printing the upper and lower sections separately, but the supports for the upper part makes for a poorly fitting dovetail joint, so I’d rather print in-place if possible.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
For that particular model the ideal thing to do would be turn it on its side and print the parts separately, but I appreciate that might give problems with the round part.
If you are able to rotate the dovetail the other way up then print the parts separately it might work as you would only have a bridge in the middle, rather than horizontal overhangs on to top part.
Other alternatives are the leave the model as it is, print the parts separately, but do manual supports just at the outer ends of the top part overhangs.
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Thanks @Ukdavewood,
I may try reversing the dovetail; it’s not ideal but I like you thinking there.
I did try printing on their sides but the circular bosses were too ugly and the post wouldn’t fit well in the holes.
So I guess you are saying it is not possible to print these two together in-place?
Not impossible - I suppose you could try a wider separation, less support interface, and maybe a hammer to separate the parts.
Does make me wonder thought why you need the dovetail in the first place.
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…I need to attach some brackets to the underside of a shelf. The shelf and brackets need to be easily demountable and reasonable compact when stored away. The dovetails are perfect for this, at least I can’t think of a better solution. It is a bit whacky though…
I would split the part and print it on the side. I normally use 0.2mm gap between parts.
Yes it is possible, if you add one layer 0.4mm in the design which is only lines every 4-5mm apart so to make a bridge(interface) between. But also a bit depends on the material.
The other method is add a bit more space 0.6mm and use the interface layer and support part of bambu settings but you need to play a bit with the settings to ensure that the two parts can brake apart . Interface layers/percentage//Fan print speeds for interface and support
In both methods i tried PETG does not work for me but very good success with ASA/ABS . PLA only sometimes
For the design version there are some ball Bearing in place prints ( google) , which i tested and after a few attempts worked and show some tricks
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Aha! I tried printing some print-in-place hinges recently using PETG, and they welded together. Maybe that is where it all went wrong.
