The only tell is a slight bump on the seam line of the back. It’s 0.1mm layer heights and 0.6mm thick.

Printed in TPU, I was looking for a solution like this for a future project and wanted to share it with someone.

  • Remy Rose@piefed.socialEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    Oooh that’s cleverrr… Great job! Definitely coulda used this technique a few times in the past if I’d ever thought of it

  • Lee@retrolemmy.comEnglish
    4·
    2 days ago

    Could you explain more? Is this just an experiment to see if you can line up and fuse 2 separately printed objects? Are the 2 parts different materials? I feel like I’m misunderstanding.

    What I think you’ve done is print 1 object in TPU and then print a 2nd object, also in TPU, close enough to the 1st object such they fuse. Maybe your future plans would help me understand. I’m interested in learning about different techniques.

    I had considered doing something like object fusing to create foldable objects, like print the first couple layers in TPU (for both objects as well as a connecting piece between them) and then print 2 separate objects on top of the TPU base – think like a foldable phone case where rather than use a normal hinge, it would be an edge in TPU and the rest is PLA/PETG/whatever. Reason to do the whole base in TPU is that I thought just printing the part that connects the other 2 parts in TPU wouldn’t fuse well enough and would separate with use. I’ve not actually done this.

    • the16bitgamer@programming.devOPEnglish
      4·
      2 days ago

      So the whole process.

      1. Print the first part, the first part has an interfacing slope which is 3d printer friendly. Which results in some stair stepping, but this time this is what we are trying to get.

      2. Remove the first part from the print bed.

      3. Start the second print.

      4. Auto stop the second print after the first layer, and align it with the first print. The first print has a notch which is used to align the 2 parts.

      5. Resume printing. The second print is design to print over air without supports, but with the first print in place it now prints on top of that and fuses the 2 parts together.

      The reason I am doing this is so I can print parts which is larger than my print bed, without using fasteners or adhesive to bond them together. This method basically welds the parts together. This was just a small test print to prove the theory

  • TootSweet@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    You don’t explain much what’s going on or what you’re trying to get it to do instead, but let me take a wild guess and you can tell me if what I’m saying is correct:

    • You’re trying to print two separate items.
    • The first layer of each of the items in question happens to be a rectangle roughly half as big as what appears to be a single rectangle in the picture provided.
    • But you had the two items separated by a small amount in the CAD software and/or slicer.
    • You’re wanting it to print two separate items with enough margin in between that they don’t merge into one single inseperable item.
    • But somehow it’s fusing them.

    Is that roughly correct?

    If so, my first guess as to what might have caused that is “first layer expansion”. Your nozzle is too close to the bed, making the width of the bead it lays down on the bed spread out a bit more than it should, resulting in a wider bead than you’re trying to make. And the amount of space you left between the two items is small enough that the first layer expansion is pretty much entirely swallowing up that margin. To fix, increase your z-offset a bit. If the first layer expansion isn’t an issue otherwise, you could also “work around” the issue just by separating the items by a greater amount in your CAD and/or slicer software.

    If more than just the first few layers remain fused (like, if the parts hypothetically had straight vertical sides and every layer fused all the way up, rather than just being fused on the first 1-to-6-ish layers), then it’s probably something else. Maybe overextrusion?

    And, again, both of those theories are contingent on whether I’m even interpreting the question you’re asking correctly.

    • the16bitgamer@programming.devOPEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      Close

      Yes I am trying to print 2 separate items, this was a test print but the idea would be a print larger than my print bed. I would use this to fuse them together.

      The design isn’t the box but the interface. It’s a long slope which causes stair stepping. But while this is considered a defect I am using it to mate 2 parts. First is a slope which is printer friendly then an adjacent slope which would print in the air but I stop the print after the first layer so it’ll print ontop of the already printed part which I position after the first layer.

      The models are designed in cad since this is going to be apart of a bigger part. Don’t want to share that yet because it’s not designed yet.

      The parts are designed to fuse, that’s the point of this design. Again it’s designed for parts bigger than my print bed.

    • the16bitgamer@programming.devOPEnglish
      6·
      3 days ago

      CAD, got the parts designed up, then made 2 prints.

      Print 1 is one half while print 2 I only printed the first layer. Aligned the 2 prints, then resumed printing.

      I used magnets to hold the finished part down as to not move.

      • FauxLiving@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        3 days ago

        I used magnets to hold the finished part down as to not move.

        Were you able to remove it from the bed and re-align it? That’s some clean alignment.