I’m printing off some health dials for a game. It consists of a casing with a post in the center, on which a numbered dial is placed, which rotates around the post. I don’t want the dial too loose or too tight. Printed off a few, and the dials fit around the post perfectly. I then printed off 7 more, all at the same time, same batch, same plate. 5 of the dials fit perfectly. But 2 of the dials were too loose.
How could some dials come out perfectly, but others didn’t? It’s been rather hot and humid outside lately, would that have any effect?
Are you cloning the original sample? Or are you trying to put each one on your plate?
Once I get a working model of what I want, I will use the clone feature to make ?? amount on my plate. Then each one is the same as the original.
I think it’s a pretty cool feature. Clone 1 into 9 and get 10 of something in one printing. Also, use the arrange features. And don’t forget to save your work.
Manufacturing variation. FDM is an amazing process, but it’s inherently subject to variation - and, I’d say, more variation that most other traditional manufacturing methods and most other additive methods, too.
Without seeing the models, the layout on the bed, and the print settings, it’s hard to speculate on what may have happened.
Measurements are helpful to understand what’s gone right in some cases and wrong in others.
Spinning parts. If your seams were set to random, I believe it actually randomizes per object, so they might not have been exactly the same. That’s all I can think of, other than just random jank
If they are exactly the same (cloned) and your prints are not coming out exactly the same in regards to very slight size variations I would put it down to cooling, different positions on the plate are subject to slight variations in cooling. Either external or from the printer itself.
Tight tolerances and FDM can be annoying. They can change based on any number of factors… sometimes seems almost random. Print time, orientation, position (which itself has sub-factors like bed shape or fan location), speeds, filament condition, humidity, phase of the moon, movement of dark matter… among other things. Not to get too dramatic about it… it’s generally manageable and can get dialed in, but yea. ¯\(ツ)/¯
For (most) holes the solution is generally simple… drill bits and reamers are far more accurate. Print slightly under size and finish with precision tools. That goes double for holes on vertical surfaces. If needed, get some extra walls around them or solid infill so there’s more material to drill through. I’d rather get an undersized hole than one too large, any day.
Sorry I don’t have a better answer as to “why” in this case. As CF said, we’d need more info at a minimum, but even then it may come down to a lot of experimentation to determine actual cause(s).