Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted · How to Make a Raft for AVA's Gear Toy 2

Hey everyone, members of the human hive mind, I bring you this interesting question!

How do I make my own rafts?

My most popular 3D printable item is AVA's Gear Toy 2. It is a planetary gear set located here:

AVA's Gear Toy 2

It's appeared on a few YouTube segments and is at the very top of my Analytics listings. So I figure I'll make a new one by crafting the original a bit better. More comments, better size scaling from small to large, three printable build plates, and general cleanup of the code - oh also designed for Customizer.

All that seems really nice and then I realized that I could make the whole thing be print-in-place if only I made the base of the unit be a raft. Just like selecting the raft feature on Cura's Build Plate Adhesion settings, I will make my own raft and then all eight of the gears can be printed on a base that is a custom designed raft. This will end all that silly build plate and assemble with glue nonsense and let me actually do this popular item as a print in place.

I already know the technique for making hinges that print in place, and I have a bit of a clue for how to make a raft but really I would like confirmation and a little bit of community support on this one to save time and grief on it. Also this way I can reference the excellent community resources at Ultimaker to maybe sell more UM printers (yeah maybe lol). but anyway, for what it's worth I'll make mention!

So tell me, how would you go about this?

Les

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    • Our picks

      • Help Us Improve Cura – Join the Ultimaker Research Program
        🚀 Help Shape the Future of Cura and Digital Factory – Join Our Power User Research Program!
        We’re looking for active users of Cura and Digital Factory — across professional and educational use cases — to help us improve the next generation of our tools.
        Our Power User Research Program kicks off with a quick 15-minute interview to learn about your setup and workflows. If selected, you’ll be invited into a small group of users who get early access to features and help us shape the future of 3D printing software.

        🧪 What to Expect:
        A short 15-minute kickoff interview to help us get to know you If selected, bi-monthly research sessions (15–30 minutes) where we’ll test features, review workflows, or gather feedback Occasional invites to try out early prototypes or vote on upcoming improvements
        🎁 What You’ll Get:
         
        Selected participants receive a free 1-year Studio or Classroom license Early access to new features and tools A direct voice in what we build next
        👉 Interested? Please fill out this quick form
        Your feedback helps us make Cura Cloud more powerful, more intuitive, and more aligned with how you actually print and manage your workflow.
        Thanks for being part of the community,

        — The Ultimaker Software Team
        • 0 replies
      • Cura 5.10 stable released!
        The full stable release of Cura 5.10 has arrived, and it brings support for the new Ultimaker S8, as well as new materials and profiles for previously supported UltiMaker printers. Additionally, you can now control your models in Cura using a 3D SpaceMouse and more!
          • Like
        • 18 replies
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...