Printing a phone case vertically

[DidierKlein 729]

Hi all,

I'm asking myself a question.

I know that the Z resolution is much better than the X and Y resolution so i was wondering if you print a phone case, is it a good idea to print it vertically instead of having it laying flat on the bed?

For my prints the look of the surface in contact with the bed is shiny but the lines appear quite visibly, so my guess is that it would look much better if printed vertically.

Has anyone tried this? Will it stick to the bed?

 

[xeno 108]

You can do it, but you really have to make sure it sticks well to the bed,

this was one of the first prints I did a few years ago

 

 

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

I would also say, try it. You certainly need a brim or raft.

Recently, I've made a print with free-standing walls of 0.8mm thickness (just flat walls, no edges, no bends). It worked.

You may have to keep vibrations in mind. They may affect the print quality higher up in the print. It's certainly an issue with an UM1, maybe less with an UM2 (due to the difference in stepper driving).

 

[DidierKlein 729]

I guess that using a low speed like 30mm/s is mandatory for this kind of print. I will probably give it a try (maybe this afternoon). I just have to find a nice case for a galaxy S4 for my wife... should maybe wait until i receive my pink filament from colorfabb ^^

 

[gr5 2,172]

I printed this case for my galaxy S4. I like the case but these ballistic cases are kind of large for my pocket:

https://www.youmagine.com/designs/galaxy-s4-ballistic-case

 

[SandervG 1,521]

what does your bottom surface look like? It can be completely perfectly smooth.

Perhaps you can fine tune the bed leveling just a little bit more?

And indeed the Z is more accurate then X and Y, but I don't think you will gain much because a phone cover doesn't have a lot of details in X and Y, and the overhangs will be quite difficult when printing it standing up..

My suggestion would be to focus on getting your bottom perfect, and print it flat.

Plus you would not only not have to create a work around for this print, you will benefit from this perfect bed leveling every print! hooray!!

 

[DidierKlein 729]

You're right Sanders.

Yesterday i downloaded a case for an S4 very simple with juste the holes for the camera and different outputs.

When i laid it vertically in Cura i saw the overhangs i would have and the massive supports i would need for this to print.

So i laid it on the bed. It's a first try but the bottom is not smooth as my bed levelling isn't very accurate. I'll work on this when i have time i just needed a quick case for the S4 for my wife because she has a strange habit of making her phone fall very often ^^

 

[j_b 0]

Besides correct bed leveling and Z-offset, you can try the following to make the bottom layer smooth:

Make the first layer thicker (I believe 0.3 is default in Cura)

Print it very slowly (20-25 mm/s)

Use a higher temperature for the bottom layer

Use a higher flowrate for the bottom layer (105%)

Some of these can be set in the normal settings, other can be set with the "Tweak at Z" plugin in Cura.

 

[gr5 2,172]

Everything JB says is great except the 105% flow rate. On a UM Original that's good advice but on the UM2 that is more likely to cause "skips". If the pressure gets too high in the nozzle the feeder current is low enough that it is designed to skip backwards a bit. The problem is you then get zero extrusion for maybe 20mm of travel which leaves an ugly spot.

Of course 5% of .3mm is only .15mm or about 1/8 the thickness of paper so getting leveling perfect is very important here and flow can be a way of correcting bad leveling (but only on the first layer - after first layer you definitely want flow at 100%).

 

[DidierKlein 729]

Thanks for the tips i will try this for the next case i make, maybe i'll try the one you posted. The one i found on thingiverse is okay but she already break a little part (phone made an attempt to fly already :mrgreen: )