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Design for 3D-Printing

(blog.rahix.de)
837 points q3k | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.212s | source
1. AgentElement ◴[] No.43890631[source]
This is a fantastic article. It neatly summarizes several tricks that took me years to pick up.

Another useful trick to minimizing material in a print is to not print surfaces at all. Most of the mass in a print is concentrated in the shell. If the top and bottom surfaces are not particularly critical to the function of the part, then you can remove either surface. The slicer can still fill in the volume enclosed by these surfaces with infill. If you use a planar infill, such as a rectilinear, hexagonal, or triangular infill, the parts can look quite nice. This trick works particularly well on mostly flat parts.

I use two TPU parts printed in this manner daily: A phone case [0] and a relief strap for a pair of headphones [1].

[0] https://www.printables.com/model/615154-google-pixel-8-case

[1] https://www.printables.com/model/577575-hifiman-comfort-stra...