This is a fun Christmas tree ornament that would also make a fun suncatcher if it's printed with transparent filament. It's reminiscent of a cross, a star (it actually has 8 points), classical western architecture, and more. Using my settings, it's a nice weight at 100% and extremely light at 75% and smaller.
Not for commercial use. Please see license agreement.
EASY PRINT If you use my settings, you shouldn't have any problems getting this to print. If you print this with your printer's default settings, you'll get a paperweight with a mushy top.
RESIZING At 100%, the ornament is a nice size for larger trees – especially for the base of the tree where you'd expect larger ornaments. However, you can scale this down to 50% and still get nice prints. At that size, the ornament looks good on miniature trees. I haven't tried printing it larger than 100%.
PRINT TIME With my settings, it will take about 4.5 hours to print at 100% scale. At 50%, it takes a little over an hour.
COLOR-CHANGE PLA I used TTYT3D's quick color change PLA. If you print one ornament with it at 100% with it, you'll get a subtle color change. For a more dramatic change, like in the size comparison photo, print several ornaments at once. To go all the way from gold to blue, you'll need the estimated print weight to be at least 75 grams (4 ornaments at 100%).
HOW DO YOU HANG IT? I've concealed attachment points one the back of one of the points of the star. Just tie a piece of coat thread to them to create a loop.
PRINT SETTINGS You'll generally want to print this at the lower end of your PLA's temperature range. I print TTYT3D PLA at 180 degrees, which is well below their recommended temperature. Maybe my printer just runs hot, but that temp prints more accurately with less stringing.
Thickness
- Layer thickness: .15mm
- Wall thickness: 0.4mm and choose the “alternate extra wall” option so it alternates between 0.4 and 0.8mm walls with each layer (if you're using Cura – other slicers may not have this option). The alternate extra wall seems to prevent gaps in the print while minimizing the overall weight of the ornament. If you print below 75% scale, I suggest printing at 0.4mm without the alternate extra wall. I would also print without the alternate extra layer if you're using transparent filament.
- Top/bottom thickness: 2 layers
- Initial bottom thickness: 3 layers
Infill This doesn't need any infill. Seriously.
Speed You'll want to use slow printer settings to that the print is accurate and to reduce the pull on the thin arms of the topper.
- Overall: 60mm/s
- Outer wall: 40mm/s
- Inner wall: 50mm/s
- Travel Speed: 100mm/sec
Build Plate Adhesion I printed with just a skirt and it worked well every time. If you have difficulty getting the details of the first layer to adhere to your bed, try adding a raft.
Supports I added supports to get the outer points of the ornament to print better, but you can do without them. The supports I added made little difference in print time or the amount of filament used. I found that adding supports on the side with the attachment points (for strings) was problematic (attachment points broke before supports separated) and unnecessary (model printed fine without the supports). So, I added a support blocker to that corner. Support settings:
- Placement: touching Buildplate
- Overhang: 69 degrees
- Pattern: Lines
- Density: 12%
- Enable Support Brim: Yes
- Brim Width: 4mm
Common Problems
- Uneven print: Reduce print speed or try scaling the print up in the Z dimension only. Scaling disproportionately may impact how the ornament hangs.
- Mushy print: Reduce print temp, increase cooling, or print more than one ornament at a time.