Are you sure you won't blow away sand everywhere with cooling fan?
I know pausing print to put magnet/nuts in the middle of the print so sand should be as doable maybe little bit more messy let us know how it turns out
That’s fair, not sure. I’ve heard of others trying this but not much documentation. My thought was to leave a gap between the top of the sand and the next layer so that the fan doesn’t blow the sand too hard.
Yes. Don't use sand.
Lead or Tungsten shot are both dense and large enough that you can clean up spills *completely*. Coins are also popular.
I prefer to design a void, and also a cup that fits in that void. Print the cup first, then fill *it* outside the printer; glue or epoxy the filler in so it's a solid piece, then insert the filled cup into your final print.
I should have added this, but "rare earth" or neodymium magnets are relatively dense. I've used them to make pieces magnetic and then discovered that they were pleasantly weighted on their own. The real benefit is that when printing, the magnets hold themselves down to the build plate.
People really need to stop thinking about using sand or just using it. It is actually coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Have fun cleaning whatever your cooling fan blows away.
I have tried the following:
-stick on wheel weights
-plaster (added after printing)
-BBs
-1/4” steel balls
The wheel weights are my favorite, although they are a bit pricey. Drop a negative volume into PrusaSlicer and a print pause point. Plaster is super cheap for large hollow items but I wouldn’t want to pour it near a printer. BBs were actually kinda difficult to pour without them going everywhere so I don’t recommend them. The larger balls (slingshot ammo) were easier. You can add epoxy to keep them from rattling.
I wouldn’t use sand anywhere near a printer. It only takes a little bit of grit to destroy the rods and bearings.
I've tried filling a print up with sand, used 10% infill. It ended up being a big mess, I don't recommend it :( Sand, if not held together by a matrix, makes your print into a maraca.
I tried a sand + glue slurry, but it's difficult to get it evenly and cleanly into the infill without dirtying the perimeters. The slightest contamination of the perimeters would leave an unsightly line defect when you restart the print. I've even tried using a large syringe to inject the sand slurry into the infill, but the syringe just got stuck due to the sand clumping up near the nozzle. Also, if you get too much of that sand slurry inside a cell and it overflows by a little bit, your printer nozzle will hit the mound and cause a layer shift.
Just get some lead weights. 😭
I have put sand in the bottom of a dice tower I built and like everyone is saying sand gets everywhere from the cooling fan. Pretty much had to stand over the print for roughly the next inch with my mini vacuum cleaning the build plate and everything.
I’ve done it. I’ve put crushed stone with particle size 0-5mm. I made the sand wet during printing, and had no issues with it blowing out or making a mess. I made a pocket in the design and stopped the print before the bridging of the pocket and added the sand. The infill does not matter in this case, but since you ask, I used 15% gyroid.
Have you tried printing it solid / high infill yet ? You’d be surprised how much heftier a 100% solid piece feels compared to the standard 2 wall 15% infill settings that many use.
Slicer should provide the filament use estimate which is effectively your print weight for comparison
Don't do that, that will mess your printer with sand everywhere. You may found pictures with the reddit search from unhappy guys who tried that. The hotend fans will blow the sand everywhere.
I did just that with a charging station for a set of valve index controllers!
I printed the model without a bottom. Honeycomb infill. After it had finished i filled it with sand and glued on a rubber base
I’d use [Liquid Gravity](https://www.amazon.com/DELUXE-MATERIALS-Liquid-Gravity-DLMBD38/dp/B0047YORDQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=P63UD86BSJAE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vVzT9-PX7eX4QIys87-oQ8rS9Gczk9dzDKZ1H7WAAZeC7FuDgFnS0CjsOP-z0YqEg5Hf5TG-9N5zt6suagM0g9q9MpbPCNv2eHB94xlv0yZ95epJaPEJcStmne-Q9g1Sojfy0TzzResww0r5w8vklQ1xBcxz4OPscwJ66pMT9uaG-cy5yGOT4DptAHTT1izbdLBWFI80zW7MuJ0WhzsoEypEBWPTOq_FmU1oNseAuea_tkpL9Z0FfmlCmUrsRHl4rJ4ZqFqXorDJDSQWYXJxIDZi1H1WPFilCaOnsyuLlf8.7CFZpAIozDtgHtcPlV08tWPtzpojkxbTx4XLOxs8QwQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=liquid+gravity&qid=1713962030&sprefix=Liquid+gra%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1). Easy to pour into small cavities, not easily blown about by the fans.
So yes a client ask for a holder for his vape so I made a base with a tube down the middle to hold the vape and Hollow around that for the sand and a separate plate for the bottom that I superglue togather it's been 6 month and it's still going strong. The sand was added after. It has even had a few falls of a dresser without breaking
Yeah seemed like the cheapest solution, and I don’t need much weight. Just so the whole caddy doesn’t move if I bump it or pull my phone out of at an odd angle.
Are you sure you won't blow away sand everywhere with cooling fan? I know pausing print to put magnet/nuts in the middle of the print so sand should be as doable maybe little bit more messy let us know how it turns out
That’s fair, not sure. I’ve heard of others trying this but not much documentation. My thought was to leave a gap between the top of the sand and the next layer so that the fan doesn’t blow the sand too hard.
You could try BBs or something if you're worried about the sand being blown by the fan.
Or maybe try to go one layer without fan
Depending on material, you could just have the fan off for a bit and program that into the slicer. Definitely potentially messy though.
How about a hollow print with a hole to be used afterwards to fill the model's cavity with sand/plaster. Then plug the hole.
This is what I've done in the past, works well and no mess
Cheap but easy to end up with sand all over your printer and grinding into all your motion equipment.
Yes. Don't use sand. Lead or Tungsten shot are both dense and large enough that you can clean up spills *completely*. Coins are also popular. I prefer to design a void, and also a cup that fits in that void. Print the cup first, then fill *it* outside the printer; glue or epoxy the filler in so it's a solid piece, then insert the filled cup into your final print.
I've used pennies many times. They are really available and uniform size, but I really like your method.
I should have added this, but "rare earth" or neodymium magnets are relatively dense. I've used them to make pieces magnetic and then discovered that they were pleasantly weighted on their own. The real benefit is that when printing, the magnets hold themselves down to the build plate.
Bismuth is nearly as heavy as lead but non toxic and you can get it in shot form as is used in California compliant bird shells
People really need to stop thinking about using sand or just using it. It is actually coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Have fun cleaning whatever your cooling fan blows away.
I have tried the following: -stick on wheel weights -plaster (added after printing) -BBs -1/4” steel balls The wheel weights are my favorite, although they are a bit pricey. Drop a negative volume into PrusaSlicer and a print pause point. Plaster is super cheap for large hollow items but I wouldn’t want to pour it near a printer. BBs were actually kinda difficult to pour without them going everywhere so I don’t recommend them. The larger balls (slingshot ammo) were easier. You can add epoxy to keep them from rattling. I wouldn’t use sand anywhere near a printer. It only takes a little bit of grit to destroy the rods and bearings.
Stop by your favorite tire center and ask for old/used weights. Mine will give me as many as I ask for.
I've tried filling a print up with sand, used 10% infill. It ended up being a big mess, I don't recommend it :( Sand, if not held together by a matrix, makes your print into a maraca. I tried a sand + glue slurry, but it's difficult to get it evenly and cleanly into the infill without dirtying the perimeters. The slightest contamination of the perimeters would leave an unsightly line defect when you restart the print. I've even tried using a large syringe to inject the sand slurry into the infill, but the syringe just got stuck due to the sand clumping up near the nozzle. Also, if you get too much of that sand slurry inside a cell and it overflows by a little bit, your printer nozzle will hit the mound and cause a layer shift. Just get some lead weights. 😭
I have put sand in the bottom of a dice tower I built and like everyone is saying sand gets everywhere from the cooling fan. Pretty much had to stand over the print for roughly the next inch with my mini vacuum cleaning the build plate and everything.
I’ve done it. I’ve put crushed stone with particle size 0-5mm. I made the sand wet during printing, and had no issues with it blowing out or making a mess. I made a pocket in the design and stopped the print before the bridging of the pocket and added the sand. The infill does not matter in this case, but since you ask, I used 15% gyroid.
use kinetic sand if you don't want to ruin your printer. or ball bearing. or tire weights.
Have you tried printing it solid / high infill yet ? You’d be surprised how much heftier a 100% solid piece feels compared to the standard 2 wall 15% infill settings that many use. Slicer should provide the filament use estimate which is effectively your print weight for comparison
Print it with a void in the base an access hole like a piggy bank has in the bottom. tip it upside down and fill with epoxy and fishing lead weights.
I did this once with #8 lead shot. Small enough to nicely fill in between the infill. Not cheap though.
Sand sounds like a nightmare, I usually use old metal hardware that I’ve pulled from old/discarded furniture etc.
Don't do that, that will mess your printer with sand everywhere. You may found pictures with the reddit search from unhappy guys who tried that. The hotend fans will blow the sand everywhere.
I did just that with a charging station for a set of valve index controllers! I printed the model without a bottom. Honeycomb infill. After it had finished i filled it with sand and glued on a rubber base
I have printed in two parts, filled with sand, then glued together. Not exactly what you are looking for, but just wanted to propose that as an option
I’d use [Liquid Gravity](https://www.amazon.com/DELUXE-MATERIALS-Liquid-Gravity-DLMBD38/dp/B0047YORDQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=P63UD86BSJAE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vVzT9-PX7eX4QIys87-oQ8rS9Gczk9dzDKZ1H7WAAZeC7FuDgFnS0CjsOP-z0YqEg5Hf5TG-9N5zt6suagM0g9q9MpbPCNv2eHB94xlv0yZ95epJaPEJcStmne-Q9g1Sojfy0TzzResww0r5w8vklQ1xBcxz4OPscwJ66pMT9uaG-cy5yGOT4DptAHTT1izbdLBWFI80zW7MuJ0WhzsoEypEBWPTOq_FmU1oNseAuea_tkpL9Z0FfmlCmUrsRHl4rJ4ZqFqXorDJDSQWYXJxIDZi1H1WPFilCaOnsyuLlf8.7CFZpAIozDtgHtcPlV08tWPtzpojkxbTx4XLOxs8QwQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=liquid+gravity&qid=1713962030&sprefix=Liquid+gra%2Caps%2C92&sr=8-1). Easy to pour into small cavities, not easily blown about by the fans.
So yes a client ask for a holder for his vape so I made a base with a tube down the middle to hold the vape and Hollow around that for the sand and a separate plate for the bottom that I superglue togather it's been 6 month and it's still going strong. The sand was added after. It has even had a few falls of a dresser without breaking
Seen people do it with metal weights, sand should work, you'll just need more of it
Yeah seemed like the cheapest solution, and I don’t need much weight. Just so the whole caddy doesn’t move if I bump it or pull my phone out of at an odd angle.