3D Printing: How to 3D Print 5-pointed star object with no flat bottom and a hole in the middle?
Channel: Roel Van de Paar
Date: 2019-06-30

3D Printing: How to 3D Print 5-pointed star object that doesn't have flat bottom and hole in the middle?


The Question: I'm new to 3D Printing. I've created this star from Blender3d. As far as I
know, most printers require a flat bottom.
As you can see (blue line is Z-axis, red line is X-axis, green line Y-axis),
the star doesn't have any flat sides or points.

There's a hole in the middle of the star. 
Is there a printer (brand/model) that can print this object that doesn't have
any flat bottom or sides having a hole that goes through in the middle? Any
workarounds to print this object?

Solutions: Please watch the whole video to see all solutions, in order of how many people found them helpful

== This solution helped 6 people ==
Typical FDM desktop 3D printers might struggle with this model as it requires
you to either print large overhangs and use support structure (when printed
laying down), or lacks a natural flat bottom surface to get good print adhesion
(when printed upright). A couple of suggestions:
 1. Some FDM printers are great at printing support, and some even allow you
 to print dissolvable support structure. If you find one of these, you are
 home safe.
 2. You could split the model in two, print those parts separately, and then
 glue them together afterwards. This is quite common for complex models,
 and allows you to print your model on even basic FDM printers. Tom's
 answer illustrates this well.
There are naturally other 3D printer technologies too (SLA, resin etc.), but I
have no practical experience with these myself, and leave it up to others to
give you a good answer regarding these.

With thanks & praise to God, and with thanks to the many people who have made this project possible! | Content (except music & images) licensed under cc by-sa 3.0 | Music: www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music | Images: stocksnap.io/license & others | With thanks to user Tormod Haugene (askubuntu.com/users/115), user Tom van der Zanden (askubuntu.com/users/26), user tbm0115 (askubuntu.com/users/98), user junerockwell (askubuntu.com/users/197), and the Stack Exchange Network (3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/1325). Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Disclaimer: All information is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind. You are responsible for your own actions. Please contact me if anything is amiss at Roel D.OT VandePaar A.T gmail.com.