Yet Another Coaster

cults3d

I decided to take on the challenge of designing some coasters. As someone who regularly enjoys cold drinks, I've noticed that water condensation often forms around my glass and drips everywhere. Since PLA isn't well-suited to absorb this excess moisture, I realized I needed a design that relies on capillary action to pull the water away from the glass and into the coaster. To achieve this, my design includes space beneath the surface to collect the condensate. I experimented with various patterns, including concentric rings and circles, but these designs weren't ideal for paper cups due to their thin paper rim at the bottom. This could cause the cup to become stuck or even topple over. Next, I fired up Structure Synth to create a new pattern that avoids this issue while still leveraging capillary action effectively. The resulting design is visually appealing and serves its purpose well. Notably, it's also the first 3D print I've seen using Structure Synth for a functional application rather than producing abstract art pieces. To produce the two-tone drink pad with an inner tray, I added M600 to my G-code to trigger a filament change starting at the 4.2mm layer. As evident in the blue-white photograph, this model exhibits impressive results when paired with temperature-sensitive filaments. When placing a hot drink on it, the color transitions from blue to white. In this instance, I used Amolen filament, which printed flawlessly onto my usual Amazon Basics white surface every time. I also created a version featuring TPU (flexible filament) for the inner tray. This design produces a more pleasing sound when placing a drink on the tray, but it may lead to structural breakdown due to moisture absorption. Additionally, the print's stringiness resulted in a subpar appearance. The outer tray boasts a 0.1mm tolerance that suits my printer perfectly. If you experience difficulties getting the inner tray to fit within the outer one, I recommend scaling the X and Y axes of the outer tray slightly to widen the clearance. For example, if you need 0.2mm clearance, use a scale factor of 1.0013 for both X and Y axes.