geodragon

tolerance test toy

geodragon is a tolerance test toy of a simple geometric dragon with print-in-place hinges and joints. The whole model is one single piece and needs no supports and no assembly; the whole dragon comes off the build plate in one piece. I was inspired to make it after the popularity from my previous model, miniman.

The geodragon fits perfectly on the A1 mini and so can be printed on all Bambu Lab printers (as of Jan. 2024).

Each part has a 0.2mm clearance in which the body parts should not fuse together. If your printer and material is tuned well, your parts will print with minimal to no fusing and the hinges and articulation points can all move freely without falling apart.

The tail features ball-and-socket joints, while the rest of the model uses gate hinges and ‘disc’ joints. The mouth opens up too!

Four profiles are provided:

• X1/P1/A1:
  • Standard Tolerance, needs a well tuned printer and material profile
  • Extra Tolerance, easier to print overall, with looser joints
• A1 mini:
  • Standard Tolerance, needs a well tuned printer and material profile
  • Extra Tolerance, easier to print overall, with looser joints

For those dragon lovers, the geodragon is a wyvern, with two legs and two wings, based on this popular graphic shared online.

Some notes I've found while testing:

• PLA Matte is best at not fusing, PLA Basic was more likely to fuse
• The tail ball-and-socket joints are the most difficult part, if the printer isn't tuned well they can break when trying to turn them
• This is all done with 0.4mm nozzle, 0.2mm nozzles will do much better
• The mouth may need a small pointed tool to open, like tweezers
• Bambu Lab, Sunlu, and Polymaker filament were used to test this without issues!

Good luck printing!