Dave's 3D Printing Challenge - Chainlink Ball

thingiverse

This is my challenge to the 3D printing community - to print this object if possible. I was inspired by the Spherical Chainlink Knot (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2593855). In that object, links are fused and the item is one solid piece. I wondered whether it's possible to create a version where links are unconnected, and whether this object could then be 3D printed. I only have an FDM printer so it's obviously more challenging for me than it would be with SLS, which would make simple work of it. So I created this parametric OpenSCAD script to recreate the Spherical Chainlink Knot. Along the way, I also created a parametric dodecahedron generator (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3409507). This script adds more toruses (chain links) but these are centered on the midpoints of the edges of the dodecahedron rather than the vertexes. The angle of rotation of the links is different, they're at right angles to the vertex links, which means they link through the vertex links to form a continuous ball of interconnected chain links. I've uploaded two versions of the script, with only one difference being that it rotates the ball so the flat face is on the bottom and then cuts a cylinder from the bottom to form a flat face for printing if desired. Begin parametric - you can also alter torus_diameter and torus_thickness to fuse links together again. In a future update, I might make some additions to the script to make chain links oval like regular chain links rather than circular. Please let me know if anyone succeeds in 3D printing this object by posting a Make on this page. I have been able to print Spherical Chainlink Knot, the fused-link version, using supports and without need for a base but so far I haven't succeeded in printing this moving-link version.