As you know, I started designing custom 3D-printed shoes for myself. This is a follow-up.

So, I spent some time modeling a basic, thin-walled shoe. Nothing fancy, just a quick something to test the fit and do my first TPU print - although I’ll probably start with test pieces before printing this doozie.

One shoe fits on the bed of our Prusa Mk4 - barely.

It’s a 17-hour print. Yikes! I think I’ll probably do this over the next week-end, otherwise my colleagues will kill me.

The support is mostly inside the toe box and promises to be a real b*tch to remove:

TPU supports

The shoe is very close-fitting, but I’ve left 2mm all around inside: if I mess up, or if the TPU shrinks like I think it will, it has a chance to remain wearable. If it doesn’t, I’ll simply put a sock on.

Right shoe model

Stay tuned 🙂

  • Uninvited GuestEnglish
    7·
    3 days ago

    Rather than print it flat, is there an angle you could print it at that would allow for eliminating most/all of the interior supports? E.g. toe angled down, heel angled up.

    I’ve never printed TPU for such a long duration. Do you have it printing directly from the filament dryer?

    • ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.orgOPEnglish
      31·
      3 days ago

      Rather than print it flat, is there an angle you could print it at that would allow for eliminating most/all of the interior supports? E.g. toe angled down, heel angled up.

      Ooh that’s a GREAT idea! I plain didn’t think about that but it totally makes sense. Thanks! I’ll goof around with that tonight in the slicer to see what’s the minimal resource utilization I can achieve. Hell, I might even be able to squeeze both shoes in there.

      I’ve never printed TPU for such a long duration. Do you have it printing directly from the filament dryer?

      Yes. My plan is to load the brand-new roll in the dryer on Thursday and set it to dry at 70C overnight, print a bunch of test parts on Friday, then if they pass muster, start the big print on Saturday morning.