Lens for a headlights

All about 3D printing of the RC tanks.
Printers, materials, slicing, printing...
Post Reply
50koruny
Site Admin
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2022 12:55 am

Lens for a headlights

Post by 50koruny »

A tip for making a good-looking lens for larger headlights (for example, the headlight on Cromwell turret).

I imitate the inner structure of the headlight lens using vertical infill.
I use alligned rectilinear infill.
Its name also depends on your slicer.It may be called something else.
Basically, it's an infill that does the infill in one direction only, with straight aligned lines.
I use only one layer for the bottom of the lens.I use 4 layers for the top.These layers are concentric, not rectilinear.
Only one perimeter, for a good looking result.

Top solid layers: 4
Bottom solid layers: 1
Perimetes: 1

Fill pattern: Alligned rectilinear
Internal fill angle: 90°
Fill density: 20-25%
Top fill pattern: Concentric
Bottom fill pattern: Concentric

This is how it looks from the inside:
1.jpg
1.jpg (185.43 KiB) Viewed 7582 times
And from the outside:
2.jpg
2.jpg (169.46 KiB) Viewed 7582 times
I use PMMA material for printing lenses (real prexiglass), but it's not exactly easy to work with.

For a truly transparent result, a low speed must be maintained.
I use a speed of only 10mm/s.
Bed temperature 110°C

About the nozzle temperature - it's not that simple.
It's usually in the 250-260° range, but glossy and transparent material only prints in the right range of about 2°.
To find the right temperature, you need to start at 250°, slowly extrude a piece of plastic and observe it.
Gradually add 1-2° of temperature each time and test extruding.
Continue testing until the extruded plastic begins to look like glass.

For example - the printer I print PMMA on uses a temperature of 258°C.
255°C or 261°C do not look good on this printer in any case.

As I say - this ideal temperature has a very small range so you need to find out exactly what this temperature should be for your printer by testing.
If you don't do this, you will only get white, milky parts.They won't look like glass.

And of course - the PMMA has to be perfectly dry.If it's even a little bit wet, it won't be any good.

Anyway, when you get this done, your lenses will look good and most importantly - they will be made of real plexiglass.
They look real and have great heat resistance.

Post Reply