My first 3D Print project. Is this reasonable to 3D Print?

3D Fabrication
#1

I am working on my first 3D printing project. It’s a snap enclosure to hold an electronic device I created. I have never 3D printed anything and this is my first CAD drawing I’m hoping to 3D print. I designed my enclosure with Autodesk Fusion 360.

Would anyone be willing to take a look and let me know if this looks reasonable to 3D print?

Here’s a link to the Fusion 360 enclosure on the Fusion 360 Teams website.

Enclosure Bottom (Link to Fusion 360 webiste)

Enclosure Top

Overall size when top & bottom are snapped together is: 96 mm (Wide) x 106 mm (Length) x 29mm (High)

Any insights would be much appreciated!

Sandy

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With electronics:

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#2

Looks like your images didn’t upload correctly.

#3

Sorry about that. I’m still trying to learn forum posting syntax. I just added images into the post. The “Enclosure Bottom” and “Enclosure Top” are links to the Fusion 360 website that let’s you actually view the drawing and manipulate it to view from all angles.

#4

Yes and no. The bottom part (the bowl shape) you should be able to print with the bottom of the bowl down on the 3D print surface and it should be pretty good. Some of the holes in the sides will require support, which means they’ll be some clean up after the fact with an xacto knife

The Lid looks like it will print OKish providing you put the face of it down onto the bed surface, and the tabs may or may not print correctly. The sunken part for the buttons may have some issues printing, you will definitely need some support in that area, and you will need some cleanup, the surface finish may not be what you want.

#5

I see from your design that ventilation must be a complete non-issue.

#6

@David_A_Tucker No, you are correct, I do need to add ventilation. I plan to add some ventilation slots in the top & sides. I have a few things left to add. Ventilation as well as some keyholes in the back for mounting the enclosure. Thanks for the insight on ventilation.

1 Like
#7

Fillets. You’re going to need fillets.

If you did not include a skosh of allowance the lips won’t mesh. Tapering and rounded edges are a huge help.

3 Likes
#8

The tabs and walls look pretty stout to me, one or the other needs to flex, and you probably need a tab or screw in upper right corner area.

#9

@rlisbona - Thanks Randy! You hit on one of the things I was wondering about. I was/am unsure on just how much flex I can expect from the 3D printed plastic for the tabs to flex and snap into place. I’ll take another look at that. Thanks for your perspective!

#10

Thank You Brian. I did not include any clearance around the joining lips of the top & bottom. Good point. The wall thickness of the enclosure is 3.5mm. Each joining lip is about 1.75 mm. I think I should be able to do an offset extrude/cut around the perimeter. You have any input on how much tolerance should be added to the lip joint? Would adding a .3 mm gap be enough? I have no experience how accurate 3D printing can be and how much tolerance I need to add in.

#11

Fillets are a necessity. Even with 100% fill the walls will separate with 3.5 mm thickness. (I assume you’re using ABS)

I want to say 0.1 mm. I’ll check in a few minutes.

20:1 taper works really well for a friction fit and may be a good choice for the lip.

That’s worked well for me.

#12

It looks like I typically use an opening gap of 0.2 mm with a taper to no gap.