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Mar 2016
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regada07
Mar '16

Hey I am a middle school tech teacher who is having my students customize phone cases to sell for a fundraiser at out school. I have been downloading blank phone templates to test them out before we begin customizing them but I am having a few problems. First off, we are only printing in HIPS because we get it super cheap and it hardly ever fails. The problem is that it seems to expand slightly when it cools. This is a no good because none of the phone templates we are downloading seem to fit the phones… If I just knew how much to scale up a print before making it, I feel like we could probably make the cases fit. What do you guys think? I am still a bit of a printing novice and would love some advice. We are printing with Lulzbot Minis and a Taz 5 if that info helps. Thanks!

  • created

    Mar '16

  • last reply

    Apr '16
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stopaginn
Apr '16

I’ve never experienced an expansion issue with HIPS. Typically, HIPS contracts as it cools causing warping. Unfortunately, there is no exact percentage that you could use as the shape, infill, and surface adherence to the bed affect the final cooled shape. A couple of suggestions, adjust the infill, try reducing it. As layers are placed the previous layers are cooling, so, more material will cause more retraction. Remove surface material from the model so that less material can affect the shape as it cools. Another, thing is the environment. Stabilize the humidity exposure to your filement. The filement will absorb moisture and cause instability.