Dodecahedron that prints without support - Experiment

thingiverse

This project is an experiment in printing that aims to push the boundaries of what's possible without support. I discovered that certain polyhedra can be printed without supports if cut correctly, thanks to their dihedral angles being less than 45 degrees from vertical. As a test, I designed and printed this open-frame dodecahedron in two parts, successfully gluing them together without any additional support structures. The results confirm my hypothesis: it's indeed possible to print complex shapes without supports. However, there's room for improvement. The minimum frame thickness needs to be optimized, as some edges were too thin and exhibited minor sagging during the printing process. Additionally, I need to find a more reliable method of joining the two halves together, considering that superglue requires flat surfaces and the raw print often has significant gaps due to edge sagging and angle issues.