Chain Mail 3D Print - First Try

3D printed some simple Chain Mail recently. Just small sheets to begin with - about 6"x"6" inches. But I am really happy with how flexible and sturdy the result turned out.

I used some basic black PLA from Hatchbox with a layer height of 0.2 mm on the Monoprice Maker Select v2. I was worried about the huge number of bridges, but the printer worked like a champ. I slowed the print speed by 30% on the first two layers of the bridging and got a solid print with no stringing. No supports were required.







The sheets bend well in one dimension and in two dimensions. They wrap around cylinders and even drape well over sharp edged shapes. There are some oddities in that behavior that depend on the orientation and spacing of the links. Nothing to keep me from experimenting, but it is something I need to understand more before I create any real projects.

I also experimented with varying the link-size and spacing between the links to see if I could add some visual interest or patterning to the sheets. It oriented fine, but the differences didn't show up as well as I had hoped. This might be because the chain mail was all black - maybe another color or surface finish would show the variations more effectively.

I also added a few through-holes along the edges of the small sheet so that I could tie several sheets together to form a larger sheet. It kind of defeats the concept of "pure 3D design," but it's a simple solution that I can use right now.

Overall, this is a successful experiment for me. I'm already working on a more finished piece with some extra goodies and techniques thrown in. Hopefully, I will have a small piece ready to wear soon.

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Terrarium Frame - First Tests

Been designing a 3D-printed frame for a small terrarium. For the first test I used a clear plastic holiday ornament that is 100mm diameter. I went through a few iterations with the basic design

Some lessons learned:

1. Flat pack, assembled designs print much quicker than monolithic, one-piece designs
2. Tolerances are very important in assembled designs
3. The simpler the joints the easier it is to control tolerances
4. Test-fit one sample joints before printing multiples
5. No shame in sanding-to-fit

I am playing with variations of this concept - different shapes, sizes and styles. I will share more details about all the designs and the design-process soon, but I also need to digest the lessons-learned before I can articulate them. (Update: Painted the frame with a faux antique bronze)

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Light for Monoprice 3d Printer

Designed a bracket to hold an LED light on my Monoprice 3d printer. And I'm really happy with the results. I'm no longer printing in a gloomy shadow box. I can actually see how the print is going without using a flashlight.

An animated gif showing the difference the lamp makes to the illumination on the print bed. Also notice my high-tech printer enclosure (two trifold panels and a plastic bag.

The light from my studio's overhead light got blocked when I stood near the printer, and the desk-lamp still wasn't bright enough. I had to hold a light near the printer to really see what was happening with the print, or make the entire room blindingly bright just to see what the print looked like. So I decided to design a bracket to permanently attach a light to the printer itself.

At first I was going to do a simple squared-off S-hook and hang the light off the top rail of the printer. But no, that was too simple for a self-proclaimed designer. So I used the notches at the corner of the vertical and horizontal bars to create a pair of brackets. And I "just had to" decorate the bracket with mini-pilasters and notches and grooves. Hey, it may be a simple functional object - but that's no reason to not adorn every surface with decorations.

I had an old LED strip-light designed to go under kitchen counters. It's way too dim for my kitchen needs, but worked really well for shelves and the workbench. Plus, it was almost the exact size of my printer and the multiple LEDs gave an even illumination to all sides of the prints- no pesky shadow sides. So it had already become a sort of portable flashlight for my 3d-printing corner.

Finally, I had the brilliant idea to attach it to the printer and avoid the extra step of holding the lamp every time I wanted to check the progress of the print.

The lamp casts a nice, even illumination across the entire build plate. Really makes it easier to see how the print is progressing - even when you're printing with black filament on a black bed. Very happy with this enhancement.

The Monoprice i3 v2 has notches at the top of the vertical bar. Be careful - the notches on my printer were NOT THE SAME SIZE on both sides. I had to customize the tube that goes into the notch.

The bracket fits snugly at three points to keep to keep the lamp secure. There is a 30mm standoff for the filament to feed into the extruder. The post and flanges fit of the bracket into the notch at the corner of the printer's top and bottom rail. (Yes, I didn't level the bed, so my first layer is rough.)

The view from underneath shows the multiple LEDs on the lamp (providing evenly distributed light) and how the bracket clasps the beveled edges of the lamp. I printed the test piece at .20mm layer-height and a fast speed. It's ugly, but worked so well I decided to use this teat run instead of printing another, finer tuned one.

Here are some design captures from the 3d modeling program. I used attached pilasters for decoration and to add some thickness to the walls for added strength. I wanted to both hide the thickness of the walls and to make it to look like wrought-iron decorations. It does look less clunky than simple, thick walls - a little more delicate maybe. But the decoration doesn't read very well at this scale. It was good practice though.