Floral Charm (Vase Mode)

This is a small flower charm that prints in vase mode, with or without a loop for attaching to jewelry etc. 

Continuing my obsession with "what sorts of things can I make in vase mode," I've figured out you can make charms and bezels by including a loop as part of the bottom layers. This is the first one I've liked enough to want to share. (I've also been experimenting some with PETG resin blanks. I think there's some potential, although the heat of curing does make the bottom bowl up a bit.)

The loop hole has a diameter of 2mm, which I have found to be a good size for compatibility with jump rings. Without the loop, you can just glue it to things, e.g. a stud earring. The main version of the flower has a 2.58cm max diameter, while the itty bitty version has a 1.55cm max diameter.

I might also sell this as part of a bundle later, but for now it's just for my club subscribers.

Variations included:

• flower charm without loop (0.8mm bottom layers)
• flower charm with loop, with variations for 0.6mm, 0.8mm, 1mm, and 1.2mm bottom layers
• itty bitty flower charm (0.8mm bottom layers), which works with a 0.4mm nozzle but I hope to test with a smaller nozzle soon
• itty bitty flower charm with loop (0.8 bottom layers)
• 2x and 3x sizes (loopless) with 0.8mm bottom layers, for resizing purposes

The rule of thumb for resizing these is you can make the bottom layers you're printing greater than what the model is designed for but not less, as this will mess up the slicing.

If you're concerned about durability, you'll probably want to have a thicker bottom and loop if you're printing with PLA, and PETG will be a better bet overall.

How to print:

• PLA or PETG; I think it looks nicest in translucent colors.
• Spiral vase mode
• The number of bottom layers is important here, although I've provided some options; make sure your total amount of bottom layers matches the model in question. (0.6mm to 1.2mm, with 0.8mm as the default.)
  • (In PrusaSlicer: Print Settings > Layers and Perimeters > Horizontal shells > Bottom. Note that if you're printing at 0.1mm layer height with a 0.2mm first layer, the automatic calculations for thickness may be off by 0.1mm.)
• Ultimately these are pretty simple to print, but I've got suggestions if you want to get more involved with your slicing:
  • These have been tested with a 0.4mm nozzle at 0.1 and 0.2mm layer height, but feel free to experiment
  • You may need to slow things down for the itty bitty ones to print well, especially with PETG.
  • I recommend increasing your perimeter-infill overlap to 35% for better results with spiral vase prints. A little under-extrusion right where the bottom layers meet the start of the spiral path can fail the structural integrity of your print pretty easily, so I like to over-correct for it just in case.
  • Top infill pattern, bottom infill pattern, and infill pattern: for opaque filaments you may want to change up the top infill pattern for appearance, and for translucent, you may want to change up all of the above, if you want something other than the sort of grid-like appearance you get with alternating monotonic/rectilinear. This is where upping your perimeter-infill overlap may become more than just a precaution, because the interesting solid infill patterns don't always fill the space perfectly. (In PrusaSlicer: Print Settings > Infill > Infill)
    • In PrusaSlicer, you can only set top infill and bottom infill patterns. (I'm fairly certain I've been able to modify the in-between solid bottom layer patterns in the past, but I think at some point Prusa tightened their ‘help users not mess stuff up’ screws because it is not letting me. Will update if I figure out a good alternative.)

Other:

If you're new-ish to making jewelry, the easiest way to connect the looped version to something is with one or two jump rings (those simple little metal loops) to connect the loop to whatever it's being connected to, depending on the orientation. The loop-less versions can be glued, if you want to make a stud earring or decorate something else with these. (You can, of course, also change your mind about one of the looped ones and simply cut off the loop.)

Filaments shown in photos: Atomic Filament Rose Gold Metallic Translucent PLA, Atomic Filament Tropical Sea Iridescent Translucent PLA, MatterHackers Magenta PLA

New to vase mode or still learning?

• Spiral vase mode takes the outside wall of a solid, continuous model and calculates a continuous single spiraling path to print to the top. Usually this is after a few standard solid layers at the bottom.
• In PrusaSlicer, this is the “Spiral vase” option you can check off in Print Settings > Layers and Perimeters > Vertical shells. It will automatically change several of your settings to be compatible with the mode.
• In Cura slicer: Special Modes > Spiralize Outer Contour
• To get a good vase mode print, you'll want to refine a couple more settings. You want to print slow and steady, and toward the higher end of your filament's temperature range. IMO you should test settings for each filament, as well as for different layer heights, to determine a temperature, extrusion %, and speed (if the speed hasn't been slowed down automatically) to get a nice, clean vase mode print with that filament. With PETG, I've had the best results printing at a higher temperature for strength, and turning the fan off or keeping it as low as possible. Sometimes you will see bumps when printing in PLA, and can fix this by lowering the extrusion rate; if you still get bumps, see below:
  • If you're still getting bumps: especially if you're on a more basic machine like an Ender 3, it may be a matter of computing and RAM, and your printer having tiny moments where it pauses. Fixes include using a faster microSD, being hardwired to the printer if you usually use OctoPrint, or upgrading your firmware (this is what worked for me) with options including arc calculation (marlin 2.0 and on), disallowing the printer from writing to the SD card, and turning off the power failure recovery mode. (The latter is very useful but may cause those little pauses with a big file.)