dbrent
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2011
- Messages
- 158
- Reaction score
- 105
I am in the process of working up a fin can in Sketchup that has trapezoidal fins (5 deg sweep on leading and trailing edges) AND a diamond shaped airfoil. I'm not really seeing how this can be printed in one piece but I'm just learning so I could be wrong.
The diamond shaped airfoil is probably fine because the wedge is a very shallow angle and the leading (top) edge obviously won't be a problem but I'm thinking the 5 degree trailing trapezoidal fin edge will be a problem since the edge would be up off of the print bed at a 5 degree angle. Is this an example where supports would be used? How do I know how many and how far apart they would need to be? What do they look like?
I'm waaaaaay out over my skis on this but I thought it would be a fun project to learn with. My printer won't be here for about 3 weeks anyway so I have some time to learn a little bit about the design phase.
The diamond shaped airfoil is probably fine because the wedge is a very shallow angle and the leading (top) edge obviously won't be a problem but I'm thinking the 5 degree trailing trapezoidal fin edge will be a problem since the edge would be up off of the print bed at a 5 degree angle. Is this an example where supports would be used? How do I know how many and how far apart they would need to be? What do they look like?
I'm waaaaaay out over my skis on this but I thought it would be a fun project to learn with. My printer won't be here for about 3 weeks anyway so I have some time to learn a little bit about the design phase.