I am working on a project that involves models that have towers or axles that are relatively skinny (≈5-10mm). The towers/axles are perfectly strong (they do not break after being printed), and they stay standing (which is vertical) & attached to whatever part of the model they are attached to while printing, but afterwards they snap off very easily. I use Cura 5.7.2 (although this scenario is obviously relevant to any slicer), and I am not sure what the best solution would be. I have tried solutions such as 100% Infill Density or increasing the Wall Count so that the model is completely solid (therefore giving more material to help hold it together), but that did not seem to help. I’m sure I’m not the only person to ever want to print gears with axles or towers (is 10mm really that skinny for a tower anyway?), so I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions? Thanks!
Axles should be printed lying down for maximum strength. Yes, that means they won’t be perfectly cylindrical, but you can use sandpaper to shape them afterward.
A higher temperature should improve bonding between layers…
Thank you for that information. I have considered that (I haven’t actually done it yet, but I plan to), and hopefully it will work. Hopefully this will help for my axles, but what about the towers? I could just print the tower separately from the platform it would normally be on (the one it snaps off of) and then snap it in (sort of like a non-cylindrical axle), although this would obviously be much more work when redesigning the model, since it would be more than just extending a cylinder like the axles. I’m also wondering (and I’m not an engineer or physicist, so maybe it wouldn’t help anyway) if there are any settings in Cura that would help, such as changing the Infill Density, Wall Count, Speed, etc. that would improve the bonding? Either way, thanks for the suggestions, I will post any results!
Strength between layer lines will always be a lot weaker than strength along layer lines. When I’m dealing with an axle that needs a lot of strength, I’ll typically use a steel rod rather than a 3D-printed axle.