Overhang Torture Test - Pillar from Hell

thingiverse

Did you ever wonder what a 3D Printer's worst nightmare looks like? Here's the Pillar from Hell, a relatively quick overhang torture test that's sure to put any printer through its paces. I noticed that the standard "flat" overhang used in many tests can be a little too easy for some printers, so I added a rounded edge and tiny spikes to make it even more challenging. The octagonal shape was a deliberate choice - the cooling system can affect how well an overhang is printed, and this design allows me to test multiple orientations with a single model. Furthermore, I realized that some overhang tests can wobble during printing due to their unsupported curves. With each step of this test independent, every overhang is tested alone, making it easier to identify any issues. To make comparison between two Pillar from Hell models easy, I added a little arrow on the base - defaulting to print "away from you," but feel free to rotate it however you like. Sadly, there's no space to write the angle, so for reference: the pillar starts with a 40-degree angle (easy enough for any printer) and ends at 85 degrees (nearly impossible), in 5-degree steps. If you don't want to print the entire pillar, you can simply sink it down in your slicer or stop the print at a precise height. For reference: * The base is 6 mm tall * Every step is 5 mm tall * The tip is 6 mm tall and starts at 56 mm The entire pillars weigh around 9 g (or less) and take from 1 hour to 2 hours to print. I tried to save as much plastic and time as possible, so you can find three STL files based on your layer width - optimized for 0.40, 0.45, and 0.48 mm layer widths (the most commonly used with a 0.4 nozzle). If you use other layer widths, just let me know in the comments! Even if your printer fails some tests, the final model still looks pretty cool!