So I have a bit of an obsession with making things as small as possible (google TinyPi Pro) and its all too easy to get down a rabbit hole of zooming in like crazy on the CAD and before you know it you have details that are 0.5mm and beyond the capabilities of 'normal' 3d printers.

I had assumed that was the case here too, my early test prints came out as rough as a badgers bottom!!! The MJF prints that i have been getting are beautiful quality but can mount up the cost if your trying to tweak a design.

I have just splashed out on a new 3d printer, so I thought lets test this puppy, and cranked the quality all the way up to 11 (actually 0.08mm) and tried to print a case....

not the best start!!! some of the finer details on the case back and all those cutouts on the front mean there isnt really that much plastic actually touching the bed from that first layer. so it started to come away, and the front of the case actually pinged off, all a disaster!!

So after a regroup, I tried on normal quality settings, and added a brim to increase the contact point, and bingo bango we have a winner!!

the quality is actually fine. I have tried to design things so that they would be easy to transition to injection molding if a big crowdfunding campaign were to happen, so the way the case splits down the middle and the openings for the ports are all nicely on a top edge of each case half, so FDM manages that fine!

The result is an eye popping case which actually doesnt quite feel as premium as the MJF printed case, but is very very usable

Now, i wonder if i can FDM print that keyboard...🤔