Oversized model

[Peter13]

I am planning to design and print a couple of model bridges to span a dry rock river bed in a Japanese garden (Total length 610 - 1145 mm or 24 - 45 inches). These will need to be longer than the print bed in my Creator Pro so I will need to print the model in "chunks" and attach them together to create the whole model. Any tips on the best way to do this would be appreciated. A few specific questions I have are:

- What is the maximum length of an object I can print diagonally on the print bed (Creator Pro 2016 model)?
- Am I better off designing the model as a whole and splitting it in the CAD program or designing the "chunks" separately?
- What is the best adhesive to connect the pieces of the bridge bed? (As far as I know there won't be any small people crossing the bridge so the maximum vertical stress on the bridge bed will be raindrops.)

Thanks in advance for any help on this.

Peter

[airscapes]

I really like heat set insert for putting part together. You will need to design it for 3d printing and in pieces with the method of joinery you choose. Just like wood there are many methods to join parts.. dovetail comes to mind .. Depending on the filament you can use epoxy, CA, Acetone etc.. material specific.
Check you printers documentation for max build volume
Good luck!

[curious aardvark]

flashprint is great for cutting things into chunks.

I'd keep it simple, run 2mm cylindrical channels through the whole bridge. Then, no matter where you cut it, you'll have holes that line up that you can glue 1.75mm filament into as a joining guide.

[Peter13]

flashprint is great for cutting things into chunks.

I'd keep it simple, run 2mm cylindrical channels through the whole bridge. Then, no matter where you cut it, you'll have holes that line up that you can glue 1.75mm filament into as a joining guide.

Thanks to both of you for the advice. I have been using Simplify 3D, but the cutting tool in Flashprint is terrific. As the bridge deck is curved it will be tricky to get cylindrical channels through it evenly, but I'll give it a shot.

[curious aardvark]

guess it depends what design program you are using.
In openscad I'd make a very large torus and use a section with the same curvature as the bridge to make the channels.

I think most whysiwig design packages let you curve things, so probably much easier :-)
If you can curve the bridge, you should be able to curve a long thin cylinder to the same degree. Then just remove it from the bridge.

[Peter13]

Curious, I have finished tweeting my model and experimented with the cutting tool in flashprint, but can't find a way to print one of the chunks at a time. FP insists on including the entire model in the print file even if parts of it are off the platform? Will the parts I don't want to print be ignored if they are off the platform?

[curious aardvark]

Best option is to export the individual parts as seperate stl's - what i normally do.

That way you just load the one you're printing :-)
Plus you only need to cut it once.