Small Printer Clearance Test

cults3d

I wanted a quick way to remind myself what clearance to use in my designs. I know there are many of this type model on Thingiverse, but not only did I want to do my own, I also wanted it to be small and portable. I even modeled in a storage area for the control road :) The holes start in the lower right hand corner with the hole the exact size of the control rod. As you work your way up the model, each set of holes are increased in size by 0.1mm. I purposely didn't model the ones digit in the text, so that it can be used regardless of the size of the control rod. Currently, the control rod is based on 3mm, but you can scale this up 200% (both parts and in all three axis) for a 6mm rod. The text just barely prints at full size, but it does print and it is readable, especially if you pause the print and swap filament to a contrasting color for the final two layers. If you do scale this up, the text will become more legible. I was having trouble with the bottom of the control rod flaring out, ruining the accuracy and no amount of rafts, brims or fiddling fixed it. In the end, I modeled in a special base for the control rod. There will be a small gap between the riser and the control rod proper. Simply slice the lower portion of the control rod off with a razor knife and the rod should be accurate.