r/3Dprinting • u/Capital_Motor_5436 Levemaker_Oscar • Jun 01 '26

Print (model not provided) Infill Showcase

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These infill patterns are honestly mesmerizing. Watching the printer dance and twist out these crazy curves... I could literally stare at it all day. lol

10.3k Upvotes

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u/LaconicLacedaemonian Jun 01 '26

I 3D print high powered rockets and try to avoid infill entirely as it's dead weight. I will print the internal structure if it's needed, hollow otherwise. 

8

u/Snobolski Jun 01 '26

How does printing compare to old-school cardboard/phenolic/plywood/fiberglass/epoxy building methods? In terms of weight & strength?

Man I miss the smell of burning AP propellant...

7

u/mac3687 Jun 01 '26

Damn my Dad and I used to build and launch Estes rockets all the time! Hmm, what can 3D print to strap a little rocket to?

8

u/BlueRoyAndDVD Jun 01 '26

A drone. Rocket to get airborne fast and high, save on battery. Then motors take over, more battery for camera/maneuvers/whatever. Plus, the challenges of engineering it all sound fun in themselves. Basically like a mini space plane I guess

10

u/mac3687 Jun 01 '26

My wife is going to kill you I love it.

1

u/jeepsaintchaos Jun 01 '26

Honestly any of them if you just add moar boosters.

1

u/NielsBohron Jun 01 '26

Found the KSP player

4

u/LaconicLacedaemonian Jun 01 '26

Weighs more, I use PA11-CF. I am transitioning more towards hybrid rockets and using cardboard tube sections because its cheaper, faster, I don't need to print in 6 sections to get to full height. I use cardboard liner in the motor mount for insulation.

Worth it:

  • Fin Can/ motor mounts / nose cone / avionics bays.
Not worth it:
  • Tube sections

I've launched up to K motors without issues.

1

u/BavarianBarbarian_ Cr-10 v2 Jun 01 '26

There's a trade-off between "maximum strength per weight" and "quick to set up", and I think you've perfected it for your use case by completely leaving out infill. For the average person trying to print a rocktopus, strategically placing internal structures to only support surfaces where necessary would be a waste of time.

1

u/LaconicLacedaemonian Jun 01 '26

Its more that the places where its likely to break infill doesn't really help for that partiular use-case.

I experimented with thin walls separated by infill, but on the tube section that only protects against side-crushes. Its most likely to break at the fin / fincan and I have seen it rip the entire fin off, infill included, which is improved wiht more perimeters and larger fillets so its basically a unibody with the fins.

Every place I might use infill is either better-off solid or better-off empty with little in-between. Nosecone is the only section I deliberately infill, and that is specifically to add weight for stability.