Thin Walls... testing the limits
Over the last few weeks I’ve been playing with all sorts of settings and software to try to really get to grips with what they really mean. I got frustrated by doing large prints so I designed a couple of objects along the way that allowed me to see results quickly. The square and diamond are simple 25x25 parts that allowed me to check on solid surfaces (shells and surface layers at 0, 45, and 90 degrees.
But what was really starting to frustrate me was printing objects with thin walls (containers). Walls that were really thin were not printed, quite thin walls ok, and thick walls were no problem… it was the ones in between that were proving difficult.
So I designed a “Walltester” with walls from 0.1 to 2.0mm in 0.1 increments and also 2.5 and 3.0mm for good measure. This allowed me to see…
The smallest wall size that is processed
Walls that print as a single line
Walls that print as 2 lines side by side
Walls that print as 2 lines with a gap
Walls that print as multiple lines
Walls that print as multiple lines with zig zag infill
The full details of my testing can be seen on the Bits from Bytes forum http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/forum/post/thin-walls-testing-limits You can also download the “walltester” which is on the BfB wiki http://wiki.bitsfrombytes.com/index.php/Test_Parts
I don’t think my testing was totally scientific or the results were conclusive but I certainly enjoyed finding out what was possible and gained a better insight into the capabilities of the various software packages… and also what I can and can’t do with my shiny new RapMan.

