You could cut off the ends in the slicer and then stand upright and print without supports.
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This is also an interesting idea. I’m hoping to not run this particular print again, but if I do I’ll try it out.
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The new sequel on the right. It’s a little larger. I have these both heat welded and sanded. The heat welding doesn’t seem like it’s great; the small one failed on me already and had to be redone. I’ll need to pick up some proper epoxy this weekend. I’m also planning to spray these but don’t have any primer yet.
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Honest question. Not trying to rain on anyone’s parade. However, what does one of these things cost what with the filament and the power and the welding and the sanding and the actual machine and the time (tempus fugit) compared to just purchasing one?
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I like building things and working with my hands so there is some leisure to it…
I’m planning to move on to counterweights and for me the novelty would be trying shapes that either aren’t on the market, or at that scale might be cheaper to print my own. I would assume there would be less post-processing.
For my part I’ve been doing all this with free equipment and stuff I already had, so the cost has been remarkably low…
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I mean for Keith being a free machine his time and maybe 20 cents per kilowatt hour give or take…
All in for mine 200 for the machine and arts and 20 in filament.
If I break it down for just the part and set my time as worth 20 an hour it’s about 5 bucks in time and materials to print this (setting 5years for the printers life and 10 hours a week of printing for depreciation of the machine)
A roller from around square is 25 for a large for delrin plus shipping.
Over a 5 year span you could make your money back or sell stuff for a profit but it’s also a hobby like any other hobby there’s a cost mostly time.
Admitedly there is also the headache of troubleshooting the thing but I enjoy the tinkering part
I’ll note there are a few calculators for figuring out you price per part online. Goes you an idea if it’s worth printing something or just using the Bezos machine
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I can print one of these for maybe 10 cents total costs including filament and electricity. In a few minutes I could get it set up in the CPU to print without sanding, glueing, or any post processing.
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Ooh. Can I have this magic?
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Yeah if you can print it without the time sink of processing then it’s 10-40 cents of materials. Which is pretty neat a bit more depending on how you value the machine over time and cost of your machine.
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Sounds legit.
Slice off the end a tiny bit and scale up 2%. Stand upright. Total cost = 16 cents. I’ll try to print it tomorrow. Printer tied up printing yo-yos right now. 15% Gyroid infill. You could also play around with variable infill to make the ends heavier. Strength shoudnt be an issue in this orientation with this little thing. Prints in 45 minutes on the Bambu.
PS. It just occurred to me that a knuckle roller printed in TPU might be very cool.
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one worry is that since the layers are coplanar to the neck of the knucklebones, it might be weak there
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With 3 walls and 15 % infill I think it’ll be fine. Is there really any stress on a knuckle roller?
I’ll test it tomorrow.
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My time is exponentially more valuable than the machine time.
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I will try this to make an XL tomorrow (target length 75mm, today’s was 68mm).
BTW TPU means something different to me working in the GenAI space 
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I think TPU might be the best material for these. It’s way stronger than most others at resisting stress along layer lines and it’d be soft and grippy.
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I certainly don’t have any and don’t know if my printer can print it. I will find out…
Edit: it apparently can.
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You can print it. I’ve got some loaded up in my S1 right now. I just printed myself a phone case. I don’t have much experience with TPU though and sometimes the bottom half of unsupported spheres can be a challenge. I’ll run some tests tomorrow.
I need a new knuckle bone anyways….
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Direct drive vs Bowden tube makes a big difference for tpu from what I’ve ready along with dual gear extrusion.
I think yours has an all metal hotend so you don’t have to worry about cooking ptfe like I did lol.
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I forgot the CR-6 was Bowden. Its still possible probably with some tinkering and the the right material.
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