3D printed waveguides

[augerpro]

Prints from my new Ender 3 Pro are pretty good. Everything is reasonably smooth, the contrast makes the layers pop more than they really are:

[augerpro]

Here is the Bliesma T25B on two waveguides with simple filtering applied, 0 and 40 degrees (which I find to be a quick and dirty proxy for power response or early reflections). Hopefully this is a cleaner display of the performance we're talking about.

[jhollander]

That oval guide is awesome. I want one, ah 2, but that's another project.

[dlr]

Impressive. Very impressive.

dlr

[augerpro]

BTW since the Bliesma designs went so well, I didn't have to spend a ton of money. If I can reach my gofundme goal of $750 I'll buy the 3/4" Scanspeak d2104/7120-00 and 1" Scanspeak r2904/7000-05 and start working waveguides for those. I did a circular waveguide for the 1" Scanspeak ring radiator for the Monkey Box project and it came out well so I'm hoping it will be easy to do more variants. A big 8" waveguide to go deep might be a nice match!

[dkalsi]

Super awesome! Can you share how you are mounding the tweeters to the waveguide? A picture from the back perhaps.

Can you also share what infill / support / density settings you are using to print the waveguides?

[Mike220]

How long did the guide take to print on your ender 3? I have a ender 3 that I just upgraded the board to the silent new one. So far its been a pretty good machine as long as your level the bed perfectly and keep checking it! I was able to do a mdf baffle with waveguide inset into it but my cad program is limited and hard to modify anything. (Vcarve pro).

[augerpro]

I'll put my printer settings up this week. Maybe even just share the gcodes since the Ender 3 is pretty common. Print is probably 30-something hours.

There is a pic in this thread of how the tweeter is attached. Basically just a little bar with two holes on the end so screws can go through and screw into the waveguide. Just a simple clamp.

[Mike220]

Yeh 30 hours is a long time. I hate checking on my machine for that long. I cant trust any of them for that long if they mess up it will just randomly do it!

[augerpro]

I've updated my website to include the Bliesma T25B and newest versions for SB26 and SB21.

[augerpro]

19mm Revelator in da house!



A number of you wanted to know my slicer settings, but now that I've redesigned the phase shield and started printing face-up, there really isn't anything special. Layer height: .12mm, top and bottom layers: 4, perimeter shells: 4, max fan speed for bridging, random start points on perimeter. The main thing is to generate supports under the throat so that interface to the tweeter is round and flat. Filament brand makes a difference. I had a tough time removing Hatchbox supports from the phase shield, while eSun PLA+ supports come off with less effort and more cleanly.

[TN Allen]

They will be useful, even important perhaps in some areas of manufacturing in the future. However, it is unlikely subtractive machining and manufacturing will be replaced by 3D printing. A WG that requires hours to print, can be molded in seconds, of course the cost of manufacturing the mold is comparitively high, and must produce sufficient quantities to recoup the initial cost.

[ergo]

This method of molding could suit small scale Waveguide production quite well. Perhaps the backside that attached to tweeter would need a bit extra work and cleanup but the horn part would come out pretty clean based on Alexandre's experiments in the video.

https://youtu.be/OZNXWHWMmbI

[TN Allen]

Other than vacuum forming, Dave Pellegrine produced WGs shaping plastic in a similar way. I looked quickly for a link to posts regarding his work, but found nothing. I'm sure there are several posts though. His method required little tooling and many people found his guides performed well. They were more attractive, in my opinion, than 3D printed guides, and required no CAD design.

Perhaps someone knows if he is still producing these, and can provide contact information.

[augerpro]

Very cool video Ergo! I know there are a lot of hobbyist vacuum formers available. I was thinking some sort of casting should be relatively easy these days. Say start with having a waveguide CNCed in aluminum and making a mold from that. Or I wonder if I could mirror the waveguide in F360 and actually go directly to making a mold?