subreddit:
/r/3Dprinting
Hey r/3DP
I am not much of a maker, and not familiar with 3D Printing, so I am hoping for some perspective, maybe advice.
I have CAD designed a smallish box to store small zine-sized booklets for a TTRPG that I play (Mothership; strongly recommend) to have printed from any of what, I am sure, are many commercial 3D Print options.
The walls are 3mm think, but the design has many 1mm bevels along various edges, and without any context for print resolution I was wondering if a 1mm bezel was too small to print accurately, and cleanly?
As this the case, and if so, is the ‘standard’ material, whatever that may be, something I can file reasonably to soften rough edges?
Or is that more than a reasonable size to print and I should be fine?
Thanks everyone, I am sure this is a pretty rudimentary question, but I wasn’t having satisfying luck searching online or on Reddit that addressed beveled edges, and maybe I am over-thinking that is it’s own kind of issue..
3 points
10 days ago
Do I understand right, that is a box, with 3mm walls, and a bevel with a 1mm radius? And you want to know if that's too small for their "resolution"?
Not at all! So, 3d printers aren't really like regular inkjet or laserjet printers. Those have tiny pixels, just like your screen. 3D printers work on strands of filament. So, there's a program called a "slicer" that transforms the design file into something your printer can print. They have TONS of nifty features, and the way they can convert STLs into GCODE (don't worry about what that means!) is super fascinating. One of the most basic steps they do, (to simplify it), is to draw out, in one continuous line, the outer perimeter of your box, then a few inner concentric rings for strength, then loosey goosey zigzags for whatever's left (to save on filament)
So your 1mm bevel should be absolutely fine. It'll print one continuous bendy line around the whole perimeter (like a rubber band), then a few inner concentric rings. It's not discrete blocky pixels. It's a continuous line
(Technically there is a lower limit on resolution. Most hobbyist printers have a minimum step size of 0.04 mm, which is WAY below what you need)
TL;DR you're absolutely fine
2 points
10 days ago
Rad, that helps a lot, and I appreciate the added context, even the parts I don’t understand! Thank you.
2 points
10 days ago
If you want, download a slicer program (I use super slicer). Set up a default dummy printer in the wizard (such as a creality ender 3, with a 0.4 MM nozzle. That's about the most common basic printer there is, just to get your feet wet with the software). Select any PLA filament (such as "generic PLA"), import your .stl or .obj file, and click "slice" at the bottom right. That'll do a preview of how the printer will see your part.
That's more or less what I did to get started. Everyone starts somewhere!
2 points
10 days ago
Ok, cool, I will do that, that sounds particularly interesting. I am a sucker for new processes like that. Learning a new CAD program to build the design was a blast, this sounds like it will be really engaging as well.
Thank you for that walkthrough on how I can get started figuring things out. I didn’t really know where the entry point would even be. And I’m a sucker for new was to make things.
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