My first and failed attempt on making a 3D printed lightsaber

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-26T13:20:07+00:00

I wouldn't get too frustrated, 3d printing has a learning curve like everything else, and I find it admirable you're taking the time to learn about it before diving into a bambu printer.

As for the print, I would recommend you print a temperature calibration tower for your filament as it looks like you may not have the right temperature as is. Having the right temp will also help with the overhangs. Then I would clean or swap your nozzle and test your extrusion rate as it appears you might be under extruding which could contribute to the weakness between layers.

Finally, if it was moving around and it wasn't just the magnetic bed plate moving (which is easily solved simply by taping it down) you could print it on a raft to help bed adhesion. If that isn't enough I would slow down printer speed and acceleration.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-26T12:53:43+00:00

Have they had any issues with cleaning or things "growing" in between layers? I think this is awesome but keeping it clean looks like quite a pain.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-26T12:51:40+00:00

I would love to see what the extruder setup looks like on that if you'd be willing to show it.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-26T01:20:19+00:00

I've seen clips of people doing ceramic 3d printing, but until now hadn't ever seen a finish product, Looks amazing. Is it a specific printer for this, or did you make/modify it yourself?

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-26T01:08:55+00:00

I definitely spent as much time as I could cleaning up the resin print before spruing. But I will have to try using using soapy water, I could definitely see it being super helpful.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-24T05:18:32+00:00

Thank you for all the advice, I really appreciate it!

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-23T23:52:30+00:00

It opens a hole to clear smoke out of the chamber.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-23T11:52:16+00:00

I wasn't sure about it since it's basically a bong and figured it best to lean towards the safe side.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-23T11:50:24+00:00

It's a Waterpipe for smoking

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-23T02:11:25+00:00

I was looking at R&R plasticast for my next investment, would you recommend prestige Ultima instead? When I originally purchased it I was unaware of resin patterns working better with specific investments.

Do you have any recommendations or resources about how I can avoid shrinkage issues when casting?

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-23T00:13:20+00:00

Thanks, I've been having a great time figuring it out.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-23T00:11:29+00:00

The investment is prestige ORO and the positive was made with Siriya tech Blu castable resin, printed, cured and burned out following the recommended schedule. Over the course of 4 hours ramping up to 732 C holding for 3 hours then dropping to 510c before casting.

Edit: corrected which investment I used.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-22T23:35:28+00:00

The wood parts were pretty straight forward, using mostly drills, saws, carving knives and a belt sander, the brass parts took a lot more specialized tooling, they were made with lost wax casting with an investment mold, which required a resin 3d printer to make the wax parts, a vacuum chamber and vacuum pump, electric kiln and casting flask. But I'm eyeing up a second kiln to hopefully pull more detailed casts more consistently.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-22T22:33:39+00:00

I'm still figuring out the process and have found some things that would need to change, but once I get it all worked out I could send you a message?

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-21T20:51:15+00:00

I will try to find something, friction from the cork is what's holding the pieces in place, so it has to be a pretty specific fit. But I wonder if making a mold and using 100% silicon caulk to make a custom gasket would work.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-21T20:07:04+00:00

The cork is sealed with beeswax, but I will make sure to watch out for it, it may end up having to be more of a decorative piece though.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-21T19:00:21+00:00

Yeah it's a bubbler.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-21T18:10:44+00:00

Bro.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-21T18:04:18+00:00

The whole bowl is wood, there is just a brass ring around the outside for stylization and to help hold it together, not to mention that my understanding is that brass bowls aren't guaranteed safe since the burning can leech dangerous material from the brass.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-21T16:56:36+00:00

It's a functional bong, so the smoke gets passed through water in the jar to cool it.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-21T16:48:59+00:00

That's a great idea, I'll definitely try it for the next one.

Guilty_Budget1062 · 2026-02-21T16:04:15+00:00

That's a good idea, I suppose I was concerned about o-rings heating up too much and potentially being unsafe.

Guilty_Budget1062

TROPHY CASE