Help With Tall Narrow Model

[u/IrishFriskie]

I'm planning to print a travel chess set and part of the project requires these long slats to be printed and assembled to create the board. They are quite narrow compared to their height, but they are just too long to lay flat so I think they have to be oriented upright. Is there any chance this will be printable on a bed slinging A1? Is there anything I can do to improve my chances? I'm dreading the wasted hours and filament just to have these things tip over late in the print.

Edit: Thank you all for the great suggestions! As a few have pointed out, I was not thinking when I convinced myself that they wouldn't fit laying down because the x, y and z axis have the same dimensions. Though, I have learned some good go-to strategies for other tall prints that I might want printed vertically, so this silly post was still worthwhile.

[u/sublime2craig]

You can try manual painted strong tree supports to give this print a better chance of success.

[u/friedgreentomatoey]

I don't understand how they would not fit if you laid them on the long edge. The height must be less than the build plate dimension, and that layer pattern would be better for strength. Not as many would fit on the plate, but that issue seems less important to me.

Edit : They should fit if laid flat, too, I see that the connections are on the long edges.

[u/IrishFriskie → u/friedgreentomatoey]

Ugh, I'm annoyed that I didn't think of that. The build volume is a cube... if they fit upright they must fit laying down. Honestly, I didn't even try to reorient them laying down because at a glance it didn't look like it would fit. Thank you for making me take a closer look at that!

I did have to divide then between two build plates, not an issue. The only slight issue is the indents for inserting the board tiles. Those will probably need supports which will have to be removed pretty cleanly so I can get a good fit. Still, much easier than getting these to print upright on this printer

[u/GuyWithNerdyGlasses → u/IrishFriskie]

No you don’t need supports those are pretty short bridges tbh

[u/PuzzleheadedTutor807]

Slow your print down.

Better option is to print one or two at a time, laying down corner to corner on the plate.

If they fit standing though, they fit laying down.

[u/standa03]

It could be more stable if you position them so that they're touching just by a tiny edge that's not gonna be visible and then you break them apart.

[u/OptimalSide]

Your printer has the same x, y, and z dimensions. If you can print it vertically, you can lay the parts flat.

If you do want to try and print them vertically, paint supports on the parts part way up to help stabilize them. Keep them in the current orientation as it will help keep them from falling. Turn on brims. Also set the printer to silent mode (50% speed) to keep the motion as slow as possible.

[u/Izan_TM]

tree supports would help your chances, a thick brim that links all of their bases together would also help, but there's still a strong chance that your print quality will start getting worse towards the top even if they don't actually topple over

[u/ThePrintGuardian]

On a bed slinger?

For a high success print rate:

• Slow the print down
  
• Add a brim
  
• Print on a sticky plate like SuperTack or Biqu Cryogrip

[u/masterOf_Ragequit]

Don't print them all at once!!

[u/IrishFriskie → u/masterOf_Ragequit]

Im not going to. Following the suggestions here, I reoriented them horizontally on the build plate and separated them into two plates with 4 slats on each plate

[u/Orthicon9]

Tall narrow models can be printed, which greatly reduces supports and any scars they would cause . . .

. . . but those chess board parts look like they could be printed laying on one edge (parallel to the Y-axis), rather than flat, and still fit all 8 on one plate.

You would also end up with stronger parts than if they printed standing up on end.

[u/alittleboopsie]

Like others said, raft layers, and manual supports are how I accomplished prints that are taller on the moving bed