Designing to optimise the extruder path

[WindyMiller 2]

Is there way to design a component to ensure the optimal extruder path for the strength of the printed component?  I have designed a flexible plant clip on Tinkercad that basically consists of a curved part with two rectangles attached.  When I just sliced it in Cura the preview showed an extruder path that was essentially three separate components, instead of following the curve all the way round.  Is there a way for me to optimise the design to avoid this?

 

Thanks!

 

Chris

Plant clip.stl

[GregValiant 1,489]

There are tiny gaps between the parts that make up the model.  Computers aren't smart, but they are accurate.  Cura is noting the gap and correctly splitting the part there.

 

Go back to TinkerCad and make sure that the individual pieces are flush face-to-face and then do the boolean "Merge" or "Join".

 

This is in MS 3D Builder.  I zoomed in as far as I could.  The gap allowed me to paint the surface on one side red.

 

Here is the other side of the big end.  You can see that the radii aren't tangent to the straight edges either.

 

Because the model is not "homogenous" the Cura Mesh Tools can split it into parts.  If it was assembled correctly it would be one entity and this could not be done.

 

So...back to the drawing board.

 

The left one is my rework, and the other is your original.

Edited July 16, 2023 by GregValiant

[WindyMiller 2]

Hi Greg

 

Thank you - that makes complete sense.

 

Chris