Floating Benchy by p1mrx
www.thingiverse.com
This PrusaSlicer project cuts the original 3DBenchy.stl into parts, using 100% infill density for the aft hull and 10% lightning infill elsewhere. The resulting model floats upright when printed in PLA. This version is under 9 grams, but some of my previous test prints were over 12 grams and just barely floated, so there are many solutions to this problem. I used PrusaSlicer 2.6 because its "center of gravity" visualization is somewhat useful. The "Public Domain" license only applies to the slicer profile, as I didn't create the model.

  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    10 months ago

    Technically speaking….

    They’re both floating. One’s just… upside down,

    This is actually cool, but can the project be applied to other models?

    • p1mrx@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      4·
      10 months ago

      The technique can be applied to other models: Use PrusaSlicer’s ‘cut’ feature to break the model into parts, and tweak the settings (mainly infill and perimeters) to give each part the desired density.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        yeah… but I wanna hit a button and see it go…

        (I mean, I do understand how incredibly hard and difficult that could be. which is kind of why I asked. I’d be very curious about how you implemented that process.)

        • p1mrx@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
          3·
          10 months ago

          It’s not rocket surgery. Boats need more weight at the bottom than the top. If you put it in water and it leans, shift some weight in the other direction.

          PrusaSlicer has a ‘center of gravity’ indicator that removes at least some of the guesswork.

    • p1mrx@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      3·
      10 months ago

      You can see in the photo that the wall is just above the waterline. It stays in that orientation until you disturb it enough to spill water over the edge, at which point it capsizes.