The Orthanc Tower: "Thicc" Edition (No supports!)

prusaprinters

July 28- A version of the tall wall tower without the text has been added. I feel like the tall wall version has essentially replaced the original short wall one so I won't bother with both anymore. Enjoy!Important UpdateUpdate July 15: Thanks to some helpful feedback, I learned there was a scale issue with my original “taller front wall” tower that meant it did not fit properly with the Shield. The issue was only with THAT tower though and everything else was compatible. I had forgotten to increase the size by 2% like the original tower when making the STL. The files were updated on June 25th to all be the same sizes. If you downloaded the files in the past and have not made them yet, please redownload them to be safe. If you already have a tower with the taller walls and have a mismatched shield, you can reprint the shield only. Reprinting the shield at 98% will get you a match for the incorrectly sized tower. I will add an updated STL on the Shield page. Correct tower size should be approx 194mm across (point to point) to fit the standard Shield.*The incorrect tower is approx 190mm across (point to point)- if this is yours, then you need a 98% shield. Update May 22: I have added a version with a taller wall at the front to try and keep dice from bouncing out. The STL is in the model files. I also will post an add-on shield today that you can print if you already made the tower and want to modify it instead of reprinting altogether.Shield here: https://www.printables.com/model/888617-the-one-shield                      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------When my husband got an invite to his first ever DND game, I knew it was time to tackle a dice tower! As you can see from the rest of my uploads, LOTR is a favourite and I knew this tower had to be THE ONE. Unfortunately, reviews pointed out that the original version was more decorative than functional- it could only fit small dice and the dice had a tendency to fly off the base so it would require some changes to work. Scroll through the photos to see the modifications (and then you can skip reading my long explanation!).To improve it's function, I made the tower itself wider while keeping the base the same size (to still allow XY resizing if needed). I also set the tower further back on the base and added a less direct path for the dice chute as an attempt to keep the dice from rocketing out of the tray. After printing this early version a couple times and experimenting, it became obvious that the flat overhangs were a major quality issue. Even when well supported they were not at all clean and the print always resulted in fully detached layer line strings in the corners and other areas. The need to remove supports (and face the reality that they barely helped), clean up all the loose lines and worst of all the constant internal debate before even starting the print of what parts really need support made for an unsatisfactory experience.So I made a couple more changes in hopes of also improving printability- and it actually worked! I cut all the “ledges” on an angle and they now print support-free and result in clean, connected edges. I also cut the underside of the “wings” at the very top to a slightly higher angle which made for a noticeably smoother underside. Additionally, I trimmed a small portion of the tallest tips as well since the last few mm were thin and would break away immediately when handling.  I originally expected that the bridge across the top of the door would still need supports but I did a test print of that portion alone without any and I am quite confident now that the entire tower will print without supports.  *Your slicer will likely still detect overhangs and suggest supports but I urge you to ignore it and go for it. If that makes you nervous, lowering your layer height (or try variable layer height?) will of course reduce the degree of overhang but will obviously take longer.  My tower shown was printed using a 0.2mm layer height, took about 12 hours and had tree supports only under the door to be safe. Everything else was unsupported. The tower is approx 250mm tall and the base is 195 wide and uses about 250g of filament. There are 3 different filaments that I just changed at different layers (main tower is granite, base is a dual black/white and a copper). A hilbert curve top surface was added to the dice tray to show off the dual extrusion filament and since I have added the logo and text to the tray it seemed good to show them off in the copper.Of course all of these changes have resulted in cosmetic differences to the tower's appearance so if you are a LOTR purist and require a skinny, photo accurate dice tower then this is not the one for you. However, if you want a printable, functional dice tower that is fun and still immediately recognizable, I got you covered. And bonus, it also works as a jewelry holder or 3D printed flower vase!