Hi, I am planning to make a set of very small items of maybe a centimeter by a centimeter. Lets say I have 10 variations I want to print at the same time? What is the most convenient for the printers to deliver that? Would it be useful to attach them to a frame like model kits do? Can I keep all variations into one 3d file or would you recommend placing one variation per file and ordering one each separately? Thanks!
Yes Yes and Yes Combine them all into one file as some materials have a start up cost, that would be charged for every part if individually. For small parts it's good to join them much like a model kit, with small pieces attaching them together so that pieces don't get lost. Model kits do this because that's how they come out of the injection molding press.
Of course there's a reason we charge a startup-fee: an operator has to fetch your model from the tray, clean it, identify it and add it to the correct order. Extreme example: you could print hundreds of tiny cubes for only $25. Obviously this would generate way too much work for us to be a sustainable business model in the long term. So yes, the suggestion of grouping them into a 'model kit' (and so reducing our amount of work) is a great suggestion Cheers, Bart
Hi Bart, I knew there where startupcost involved. No objection at all. I meant I did not consider it in regards to sending multiple small orders instead of one big one. And to keep the person handling my prints I'll attach it to something when possible. Thanks!
Any recommendations for the minimum size for the joining sprue? Or do we just use a round of minimum thickness fo the material. Is it permissible to put a pinch point where it joins the bit we want to make it easy to cut off with minimum damage like the do in plastic kits? Tom
Hey there, You will need to keep the thinnest parts to the design rules. Because no one really knows the design intention except for you, if a connecting part is too thin and liable to snap easy, it may be perceived as being to weak. When you actually wanted it to be thin and snap easy I have used sidecutters to trim of parts like this to get a clean finish in both polymers and stainless steel. Hope this helps Duann
Well I made my model connected by sprues - 24 off a small part joined by a snort 0.7mm rod in WSF- total volumes still only 5 cm3. These was a slight problem producing it though - "Unfortunately the connections between the seperate parts (see attached) are too thin and keep breaking. We do assume that these parts were intended for diss-manteling but we would like you confirm if this was your intention before that we ship these out." Now they contacted the customer about this, it would have been nice if they had CC me in, and he told them this was OK. I was wondering if there is (or could be in future) some way to attach a note to the production department to say this was OK? - might save delays in future. Tom
Recently I received some puzzle parts from another 3D printing company. The parts were enclosed in a mesh cube, which had been printed around them. I didn't specify that in my STL file, it had been added by the printer operators. I hear that Shapeways does this as well (but they do remove the cube afterwards - though this was way more fun than not getting the cube!) so they do have a way of containing many small parts if you don't model a sprue. Here's a video of the 3D printed packaging.
That's interesting - and fascinating to get the cube ! Do Shapeways do this? would that be a better way for me to print multiple items?
Funny. I suggested something similar times ago : https://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=msg&goto=6568 A mesh instead of a shell is more efficient in terms of material used and easiness to open. But compared to my suggestion, Shapeways would have to clean the model anyways. I'd like to see an option like this too (shell or mesh).
The mesh thing is already possible. Shapeways just doesn't ship it to you, but I know that they do put this kind of mesh around models with many parts.
Is there any chance we could have a definitive answer from someone at Shapeways on this? even if it's not the permanent definitive answer !
Well I got my first set of models I put on sprues today - without any of the sprues ! Not sure whether these were remove pre or post production though. Tom
My thinking is that sprues aren't required in the printing process -- at least from the video's I've watched on it. Keeping the parts together in your design is the only reason I could see for that. I'm curious what the actual answer is! Sprues or no sprues. Anyone out there use sprues?