Fishbowl Cat Bottle Water Dish

thingiverse

This is a customized water dish I designed specifically for my feline friends. Despite filling their previous water dishes twice a day, it still wasn't enough; they would occasionally leave the empty dish unattended. I decided that if I was going to design a new one, it should be compatible with a refillable water bottle. After searching on Thingiverse, I couldn't find a suitable design, so I opted to create my own instead of modifying an existing one. My design takes the shape of a fish, reminiscent of a popular snack cracker. The tail provides additional support for the water bottle, ensuring it remains upright and stable. The bowl's rim is designed to prevent accidental tipping over, making it more secure than ever. Although determined cats can be unpredictable, I haven't encountered any issues with my design so far. The dish's bowl itself has ample space for holding water even without the bottle attachment, which might just prompt me to create an identical design without the bottle feature in the near future. **Printer Settings** * Printer Brand: MakerGear * Printer: M2 * Rafts: No * Supports: No * Resolution: I printed with a 0.2 Layer Height For this specific project, it is imperative to use food-safe PLA to ensure the well-being of both your pets and the quality of the print. Constant contact with water means you want to be absolutely certain you're not using any hazardous materials. Keep in mind that a build width or length of about 23cm is required for this dish. If requested, I may consider creating another version suitable for smaller printers, but due to its necessity for water-tightness, it will never fit within a 100mm print bed. Optimal layer heights can range from 0.1 to 0.2 mm. However, the bottle's screw might not function properly at higher resolutions. To avoid any unnecessary prints, supports and rafts are unnecessary; using neither is actually recommended due to potential mess. The crucial aspect of maintaining water tightness necessitates solid layers. You may need up to three or four bottom solid layers for this purpose. For optimal results, consider 3 or 4 shell/side layers based on your printer and settings. Finally, you should print at least four top solid layers, with a minimum of three acceptable as well. **Post-Printing** If part of the fin curls up and detaches from the build platform, it's not detrimental to the dish's functionality. A heat gun or hair dryer can easily correct this issue. It is quite straightforward and requires no precision, ensuring an easy fix. Cleaning this dish presents some difficulties due to its textured surface. Cleaning the bowl calls for a hard bristled brush like the ones used for scrubbing pots and pans, assuming you use only water regularly. The dish rarely needs deep cleaning as long as regular changes are made. Algae growth into or within the plastic poses a risk of severe bacterial contamination in wet environments like kitchens and basements near aquariums with high humidity from algae. If issues occur, it is recommended that this be cleaned and sanitized properly immediately before continuing to reuse. Leaking Bottles If the bottle starts leaking due to a low quality print or defective O-rings at the attachment point where you twist to tighten then secure your bottles of soda, cleaning the plastic surface carefully with acetone will resolve this quickly. Simply replace those with proper seals like an Oring (ring), it can easily fit onto both male threaded plastic parts without requiring excessive tightening. Design and Usage For the actual designing, I utilized Sketchup - a software renowned for its ease-of-use that happens to be completely free of charge as long as your use of it doesn't cross over into commercial activities, at least based on what they say.