The rectangular posts in my chain mail resemble Zomboe’s original design, but with dimensions computed directly from the bar (and, thus, thread) widths and thicknesses to ensure good fill and simple bridging:

They fit together well, but the angled post edges make the bridge threads longer than absolutely necessary along the outside edge of each link:

A bit of fiddling produces a squared-off version:

Which nest together like this:

Now all the bridge threads have the same length, which should produce better results.
The OpenSCAD source code for the link:
module BaseLink() {
render(convexity=2)
difference() {
translate([0,0,BaseHeight/2]) {
difference(convexity=2) {
intersection() { // outside shape
cube([BaseSide,BaseSide,BaseHeight],center=true);
rotate(45)
cube([BaseOutDiagonal,BaseOutDiagonal,BaseHeight],center=true);
}
intersection() { // inside shape
cube([(BaseSide - 2*BarWidth),
(BaseSide - 2*BarWidth),
(BaseHeight + 2*Protrusion)],
center=true);
rotate(45)
cube([BaseInDiagonal,
BaseInDiagonal,
(BaseHeight +2*Protrusion)],
center=true);
}
}
}
translate([0,0,(BaseHeight/2 + BarThick)])
cube([(BaseSide - 2*BarWidth - 2*BarWidth/sqrt(2)),
(2*BaseSide),
BaseHeight],
center=true);
translate([0,0,(BaseHeight - BaseHeight/2 - BarThick)])
cube([(2*BaseSide),
(BaseSide - 2*BarWidth - 2*BarWidth/sqrt(2)),
BaseHeight],
center=true);
}
}
Comments
One response to “Improved Chain Mail Link”
[…] the initial slicing parameter setup, I ran off several chain mail patches for fine tuning; they test platform adhesion, first layer thickness, bridging, and general […]