Hollow Form Final Object
The Gruelling Process
I guess when we decided to hollow form 3D print a large chalice we should've expected to run into some issues. According to the 3D model and the dimensions, it should have printed just fine. Boy were we wrong. We followed all the standard slicing and modelling procedures in the book. The problem with the older Slic3r program is that it doesn't give a preview of the sliced object, it just shoots out a g-code. This means on the first try we didn't realize that Slic3r had written a strange g-code, as some random parts as well as the spindles were set to be printed solid, even with the hollow form configuration file loaded in. So when the printer reached the spindles it started printing them solid. The speed of the printer plus the excess material created by printing fully solid pieces meant the spindles were coming out melty and gross looking, something that clearly wasn't saveable by sanding or acetone.
In order to make sure that the chalice would print and slice properly we actually had to get Bryan to slice a new g-code using the updated version and a new config file. That way we could make sure the print parameters were okay. After finally starting the print after two wasted sessions, we had another issue. It wasn't until about 1/3 of the way through the print that we realized that the chalice was too big for the printer. We designed the chalice to be about 7.8 inches tall but it turned out the printer could only print about 6 inches. This gave us two choices: we could either start the print over completely with a scaled down version, or continue it as much as we could and print the entire thing in two parts. Considering we had spent so much time setting everything up, and the scaled down chalice would have been tiny comparatively, we decided on the latter.
This decision presented yet another problem. The place where we had to stop printing the chalice meant that the next half had to start on 6 little pegs and grow up to meet and form together. I quickly realized that wasn't going to work because the little pegs didn't have enough surface area touching the base, and after resuming the print the pegs pulled off easily.
The solution was to consult Bryan again and get a second updated g-code, this time of just the top half of the chalice. He also added a second outer ring on the bottom layer of every peg, these would increase the surface area of the base but could also be broken off easily wen the print was done. Once this new g-code was loaded up the print worked flawlessly. We finally had two complete parts that we could acetone weld together.
We misjudged the cutoff point of the print a little bit so it didn't fit perfectly, but with a little sanding and help from the slurry, the print turned out really well. The final object ended up being a fully functional and water tight chalice that is completely hollow.
I guess when we decided to hollow form 3D print a large chalice we should've expected to run into some issues. According to the 3D model and the dimensions, it should have printed just fine. Boy were we wrong. We followed all the standard slicing and modelling procedures in the book. The problem with the older Slic3r program is that it doesn't give a preview of the sliced object, it just shoots out a g-code. This means on the first try we didn't realize that Slic3r had written a strange g-code, as some random parts as well as the spindles were set to be printed solid, even with the hollow form configuration file loaded in. So when the printer reached the spindles it started printing them solid. The speed of the printer plus the excess material created by printing fully solid pieces meant the spindles were coming out melty and gross looking, something that clearly wasn't saveable by sanding or acetone.
In order to make sure that the chalice would print and slice properly we actually had to get Bryan to slice a new g-code using the updated version and a new config file. That way we could make sure the print parameters were okay. After finally starting the print after two wasted sessions, we had another issue. It wasn't until about 1/3 of the way through the print that we realized that the chalice was too big for the printer. We designed the chalice to be about 7.8 inches tall but it turned out the printer could only print about 6 inches. This gave us two choices: we could either start the print over completely with a scaled down version, or continue it as much as we could and print the entire thing in two parts. Considering we had spent so much time setting everything up, and the scaled down chalice would have been tiny comparatively, we decided on the latter.
This decision presented yet another problem. The place where we had to stop printing the chalice meant that the next half had to start on 6 little pegs and grow up to meet and form together. I quickly realized that wasn't going to work because the little pegs didn't have enough surface area touching the base, and after resuming the print the pegs pulled off easily.
The solution was to consult Bryan again and get a second updated g-code, this time of just the top half of the chalice. He also added a second outer ring on the bottom layer of every peg, these would increase the surface area of the base but could also be broken off easily wen the print was done. Once this new g-code was loaded up the print worked flawlessly. We finally had two complete parts that we could acetone weld together.
We misjudged the cutoff point of the print a little bit so it didn't fit perfectly, but with a little sanding and help from the slurry, the print turned out really well. The final object ended up being a fully functional and water tight chalice that is completely hollow.
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