Holy Grail Chain Maille

prusaprinters

<p>Most 3D printed fabrics print-in-place and don't have a great way to piece them together. Some you print as individual links that you have to assemble. These 13mm hexagonal tiles, however, are held together with small “dog-bone” connectors that can either be printed in place, or snapped together after-the-fact. And it has no tiny “column” that are fragile and difficult to print.</p><p>I've provided files for a single tile (with dog-bones), a 2x2 array and also a 4x5 array. The pitch of the tiles in the X direction is 13.8mm and the pitch in the Y direction is 11.95mm. So with some clever manipulation with your slicer, you should be able to place tiles (or groups of tiles) next to each other to create larger print-in-place patterns.</p><p><strong>Printing</strong><br>This is designed for 0.2mm layers. I printed mine in PLA, but PETG, ABS or ASA should be a bit more forgiving when snapping the dog-bones in place. Note, the clearances are pretty tight (0.15mm) and the first layer has to go down dead-even with no elephant's foot. Recommended for printers with mesh bed leveling.</p><p><strong>Assembly</strong><br>First, place your tiles (or tile patches) face down on a table the the pockets facing up. If you are starting with an unconnected dog bone, tilt the knob-end downward into the pocket and then use something like the end of a small Allen wrench to press it into place. It is a snug fit and it takes a bit of practice to get it in without mangling it. Note that the fat side of the knob-end should be facing down.</p><p>If one end of the dog-bone is already connected to another tile, tilt that tile up so that the other knob-end is angled downward into the pocket of the target tile. Again, use the end of a small Allen wrench to press it into place.&nbsp;</p><p>You will probably break a few of the dog-bones as you get the hang of it, so print a few extra, or just steal some of the unused ones from around the outer perimeter.</p>