Is it possible to print this?

[luisito 12]

Hi.

As I do not know how to attach a picture to my message, please look at my user picture. It is a plastic tray, dimensions: 22x18x2 cms. Thickness is 1mm.

It has nothing special except the channels on the bottom and the dimensions, perhaps too large ? The channels would need some sort of support I guess, right?

Do you think it would be possible to get a good print of this piece ?

Luis.

 

[gr5 2,202]

You can post a picture anywhere on the internet and link to it from your post. Or go to "gallery" in top left corner of this page and upload your picture. Then create a new post and click "my media" next to the smiley face.

220mm is 15mm too much for the UM Original so you would need the UM2. Other than that the picture is too small - it looks like it something flat with ribs - looks extremely easy to print so there must be something I can't see.

 

[gr5 2,202]

If those channels are tubes. Like straws. Then this is not hard. 3D printers can "bridge" easily. See here post #17:

http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/1872-some-calibration-photographs/?p=25304

The shorter the bridge distance, the easier to print.

 

[luisito 12]

Sorry, but I cannot see the place to 'upload' my pictures! I can see the Gallery but I cannot see anything to upload!

The 'channels' are not tubes. They are like 'waves' on the surface. Each channel is about 4mm wide.

 

[gr5 2,202]

It is possible you need to create 3 to 5 posts before you are allowed to upload to the gallery.

You could use imgur, facebook, google+, picasa, dropbox, or many other free services to post a public image on the web and then link to it from your posting.

Channels should be very easy. You only need "support" for things in the air. Printers print a layer at a time but if there is nothing in the layer below than there is often trouble with a few exceptions. It can print angled overhangs (imagine a wall tilted) well past 45 degrees - sometimes even 80 degrees tilted wall but quality gets worse after 60 degrees tilted. Also bridges aren't too hard (I linked to images of bridges in my earlier post).

Your biggest challenge is probably warping for a part this large. You might need a heated bed (ultimaker2 as the Ultimaker original doesn't come with heated bed yet - they are working on it). What happens is as you print the upper layers on large parts (more than 4 inches) they cool and pull and the bottom corners of the part start lifting off the print bed. A heated bed keeps the bottom 5mm above the glass temperature of your print material so that it can't pull so hard and also helps it stick better. There are many solutions but some of them require some room past the edge.

Also the UM2 can physically print to 225mm but I think there might be still some bugs/defaults that stop it at 205mm so you might have to do a few simple tricks (change 'machine settings', possibly rebuild firmware) to get that to work. Also that bug might be fixed soon before your printer arrives anyway.

Check out the many things people have printed using UM1 and UM2 here:

http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/467-post-your-latest-print/