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  1. #1

    how to make fish like buoyancy in 3d printed fish models?

    Anyone know of a way to make a 3d print float like a living fish? I want my 3d printed skeleton fish to float like a living fish does. you know, floating but submerged halfway to the bottom of the tank? Heck, different buoyancy levels for different skeleton fish would be super neat.Any Ideas? I'm new here so any ideas or help I can get would be great. thnx!

  2. #2
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
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    8,818
    find a filament that floats and add weights.
    different weight = different depth :-)

    As to what plastic floats - no idea, never tested.

    I am pretty sure, pla, petg and abs do not float.

    https://bitfab.io/blog/3d-printing-materials-densities/

    According to this, the only filament that might float is polypropylene. As it's the only one with a density less than water.

    The other approach woud be to print in white pla and glue very small pieces of expanded polysterene to the fish.
    Last edited by curious aardvark; 11-29-2021 at 02:46 PM.

  3. #3
    Technologist
    Join Date
    Apr 2021
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    186
    Alternative idea - If there's space for infill, then adjusting the infill percentage will change the density. E.g., 100% infill should sink, but 50% might be enough to float. You could also tweak infill throughout the model to determine how it floats.

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