3D Printing Free 3D printed fin can design for HPR

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Ben Martin

"That guy in the hall building a rocket"
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I am releasing the design file and 3D model for a fincan I design for high powered rockets. Everyone is free to use the design and change it to meet their needs. If you have any suggestions for improvements, feel free to post them in the replies.

Link to design file and 3D model:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3246140

fincan2.PNG
 
Nice design, care to share the settings you used for printing? Also, what 3" tubing is this can designed around?
I have not printed it yet, but it is designed for easy print ability. For the tube, it is designed for LOC/standard 3in tubes. I included the design file so that anyone can change the diameter. You could also scale up/down the print.
 
Very nice look. Please let us know the nozzle temp and print speeds that produce a good result
I plan on printing with PETG at 250C and speed of 80mm/s or slower. I know that it will print well due to the gentle angle and optimized walls. The print orientation should be upside down, wall count of 3/4, and an infill of around 50%.
 
Warning: It will take a very long time to print due to the size.

Larger nozzle with thicker layers. Also, design it to be only perimeters without infill...will print faster and be a lot stronger.

Looks like you could also print this with the leading edges of the fins toward the bed, eliminating the need for support.

I'd do 0.6mm nozzle, 0.5mm layer height, 0.6mm thickness. 0% infill, 20mm/s print speed, PETG @ 240C hot end, 70C bed.
 
Larger nozzle with thicker layers. Also, design it to be only perimeters without infill...will print faster and be a lot stronger.
You could print it solid, but the infill would be much better in terms of weight reduction and strength. Printing with larger nozzles would speed up the print time, but more sanding would be required and accurately would be reduced. Designing it to print only with perimeter is not feasible for airfoiled fincans.
 
Larger nozzle with thicker layers. Also, design it to be only perimeters without infill...will print faster and be a lot stronger.

Looks like you could also print this with the leading edges of the fins toward the bed, eliminating the need for support.

I'd do 0.6mm nozzle, 0.5mm layer height, 0.6mm thickness. 0% infill, 20mm/s print speed, PETG @ 240C hot end, 70C bed.
It was designed to be printed with the leading edges towards the bed. No support needed. The settings are all dependant on the material and the printer.
 
Question, when I pull the .obj model into Cura, the model only prints in 2.25" dia. What is the fin span so I can porperly scale this file? Also, can you generate an stl file?
 
Question, when I pull the .obj model into Cura, the model only prints in 2.25" dia. What is the fin span so I can porperly scale this file? Also, can you generate an stl file?
Try the FincanV2 file from Thingiverse. The original one I designed was lost in conversion somewhere in the design process, meaning that the tube diameter was accidentally set to 2.25in instead of 3.25. I completely remade the design for 3in and I'm attaching the fin dimensions.

Link: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3246140

upload_2018-11-30_21-4-43.png
 

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I took the long road for printing your design:

Amazon Basics PETG in Black
.4mm Nozzle
0.2mm Draft
Wall: 3
Top: 3
Bottom: 3
Infill: 50% Rectilinear (lines)
Nozzle: 240c
Bed: 80c
Speed: 39mm/s
Cooling: 50%
Adhesion: Brim (5mm/13lines)
Built as discussed in this thread; leading edge down, so no supports are needed.

Because of the finickiness of Amazon Basics PETG, I ran the speeds slow. How slow? At 9.5 hours in, I am at 21% of build...
 
I took the long road for printing your design:

Amazon Basics PETG in Black
.4mm Nozzle
0.2mm Draft
Wall: 3
Top: 3
Bottom: 3
Infill: 50% Rectilinear (lines)
Nozzle: 240c
Bed: 80c
Speed: 39mm/s
Cooling: 50%
Adhesion: Brim (5mm/13lines)
Built as discussed in this thread; leading edge down, so no supports are needed.

Because of the finickiness of Amazon Basics PETG, I ran the speeds slow. How slow? At 9.5 hours in, I am at 21% of build...
Now THAT'S a long print. Hope for the best!
 
IMG_9331.JPG Still going, 33:50 at 74% of build... Once the printing stops (sometime tomorrow morning) my wife has instructions on how to shut down the printer and stow the filament for mw while I am at work.

IMG_9335.JPG

IMG_9332.JPG
 
View attachment 368123 Still going, 33:50 at 74% of build... Once the printing stops (sometime tomorrow morning) my wife has instructions on how to shut down the printer and stow the filament for mw while I am at work.

View attachment 368127

View attachment 368124
A bit on the stringy side (PETG) but it looks good so far. Let me know how well it fits on tubes and if it has any apparent fin flex so that I can improve upon the design. If I knew you had that large of a printer I could have designed it with a bigger fin span.
 
My settings could be adjusted differently to lesson the amount of stringing, but I have had nothing but issues with this PETG to start with, so this exercise started out as a way to use up this spool. Once used up, I can open a fresh spool of Hatchbox PETG. I will probably print this can again, using settings similar to Dan Pattel's recommendation.

I am at work, so my wife (who is home) is keeping me up to date on the print progress: 43:46 at 95% of build as of 5AM CST.

Edit: Print completed at 45:16 o_O
 
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Oh! The stringing pictured above does not even begin to tell the story... I could almost give this can a perm there is so much string!
 
Mine came out perfect with Hatchbox white PETG.

I have find our how to prevent stringing - don't use SLIC3R. I used CURA and Simplify3D and no or much less strings.
 
Care to share your settings? I used Cura for my slicer program. I will be using Hatchbox PETG in Orange the next time I print this can.
 
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My print was extremely stringy. It took #100 sandpaper to ge the strings removed... a little primer & paint, and it will fly. I fit mine over the only 3" airframe I had available (filament wound glass from Rocketry Warehouse) and the can was extremely loose fit. I am not sure how it would work on Loc tubing per design.
 
My print was extremely stringy. It took #100 sandpaper to ge the strings removed... a little primer & paint, and it will fly. I fit mine over the only 3" airframe I had available (filament wound glass from Rocketry Warehouse) and the can was extremely loose fit. I am not sure how it would work on Loc tubing per design.
What's the OD of your tube and the measured OD of your print? I'll fix the file so that it prints tighter and can be sanded to a perfect fit.
 
Oh! No issue, as I am sure I could fit a mailing tube. Being a 3D print, these are probably better suited for paper tube anyway. It was just that filament fiberglass was all I had on hand to try it out on.

For that matter, a lighter 3-fin might be acceptable as well, possibly with a slightly longer root end (?)
 
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