Quasar Compartment

Howdy, my favourite people!

I sat down and started sketching an idea for a cube with a hinged lid, contemplating how I was going to manage the obvious overhang issues that involves.  Square changed to rhombus, things got tilted on angles, and then sides started disappearing, becoming a triangular prism and finally a tetrahedron.  How had I not explored that before, I wondered?! 

Of course, the next step was to take that nice, simple idea and overcomplicate the tetrahedron with a hinged panel that prints open and flat, so fit inset detail and texture.  Oh, and (optional) magnets, too!

It's still a tetrahedron, though, and a sci-fi-esque one at that, and would probably look at home sitting next to a Catalyst Capsule...

Printing Tips

This is an articulated model, so you'll want to make sure your has a nice neat first layer and that there aren't any print artifacts like stringing or overextrusion that might bind moving parts together.  

Also, the outside of the "lid" is printed face down, so that's even more reason to make sure the first layer is nice :)

The model prints in an open configuration, base down like so:

Print Dimensions

The Quasar Compartment fits in a 72mm x 85mm bounding box on the print bed, but lies kind of diagonally through that boundary and that includes the length of the open lid.

The print is 35mm tall.

Optional Magnets

As usual, this one's intended for 6x3mm cylindrical magnets, but they aren't necessary.  Satisfying, not completely necessary :)

File Locations

You'll find this one on dropbox under 720 Quasar Compartment

Link to dropbox post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/31697592

Further Thoughts

The process behind this one really highlights what I love about designing for printing. Sometimes when I fire up the CAD tools I'll have a clear idea of the end point I'm heading towards, and other times it's all a bit of a mystery that may or may not go somewhere.  

For this one, it was a little of both - a concept developed on paper* and then explored in the modelling stage without a really clear idea what might happen.  Rotating latches came and went. and parts of lids become parts of main bodies and vice versa as printability and aesthetics dictated.  

It's just always a fun process, no matter how it turns out!

xoxo

Sven.