Deceptively simple...This filter grille is to go over the rear case fan on my PC, which is now reversed to pull instead of the usual push configuration. Normally, I'd just put a cheap magnetic filter grill there and be done with it. The weird part is... and I don't know what the case designer was thinking... this grill is 120mm x 140mm with slotted screw holes.
![Huh? ???](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xhuh.gif.pagespeed.ic.6Nvt7O8a11.png)
But the space between the MB IO header/shield and the side of the case right there is only 130mm, so there's no way in hell you could actually put a 140mm fan in there...
![WTF? :wtf:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/wtf2.gif.pagespeed.ce.pxLiY5pjs4.gif)
Maybe that's why the stoopit case was on 70% off sale when I bought it... it really is a stoopit case.
So that's why I decided to try and print something custom up real quick; but the "real quick" bit turned out to be a bit more work than expected. This simple filter screen was quite difficult to produce, as there appears to be some limit to the number of polys the free version of Frustion360 will handle; or maybe it's a deliberate RAM access limitation...
![Confused :-//](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/confused0024.gif.pagespeed.ce.5xOqKkq0Co.gif)
Bottom line is I couldn't deal with the whole design due to the huge number of tiny holes; I had to make 1/4 of it to be able to make the pattern and manipulate anything. Any revisions I needed to make, even a simple press/pull, I had to go back to the 1/4 design and make mods there, as if I tried to do it with the whole object it would just hang.
I'm guessing this is a deliberate limitation in the free version that I just didn't understand in one of the "we're taking this away from you now" updates they send every few weeks now. I let it try for over an hour to render one time and it never, ever used more than aboot 8 gig of RAM total (out of 32GB) in ResMon, instead of the usual ballooning RAM usage during the render then back down to a sane level once the render completed. Weird also, it seemed to hammer the fuck out of only two cores... and only rarely did it use another two cores... but again, no progress, and only when it "hung". I really do think it's an artificial limit baked into the "free" version.
But I did learn a lot with this deceptively simple design. The syntax of the pattern tool is effing infuriatingly dynamic; what the dialog boxes mean changes with how it thinks you've clicked and dragged, and while you'd think that selecting "spacing mode" would make the spacing fixed and increase the number of iterations, it does not for some reason.
![Huh? ???](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xhuh.gif.pagespeed.ic.6Nvt7O8a11.png)
I also finally figured out how to get the damned
Search function to come up when I want it, not just when it feels like being available... and figured out how to get it to do the MIRROR and JOIN function in the same operation, which everybody with a tutorial does so effing fast you can't even see WTF they're doing.
![Banging Head |O](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/bangheadonwall.gif.pagespeed.ce.8iLbFYV4Bc.gif)
Currently printing a 2nd copy as the screen area is literally 1 layer thick, and I needed to do a little releveling to get the squish right in one quadrant.
Current Settings: PLA, 215°C/60°C, 0.28LH, no adhesion, no supports, bridging mode enabled, CONCENTRIC top/bottom pattern, part rotated to place longer side in the X-axis so that it presents better to the layer cooling fan.
Separating the part from the OVERTURE print surface has taken some creative thinking due to the thin screen layer; last one came off intact by squirting alcohol all over the inside of the part as soon as printing completed, while the bed was still hot. The quick cooling seems to make a big difference.
![ThumbsUp :-+](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/icon_smile_thumbsup.gif.pagespeed.ce._JElyJQqdB.gif)
We'll see if that works again or if it was just a fluke.
![Confused :-//](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/confused0024.gif.pagespeed.ce.5xOqKkq0Co.gif)
mnem
![](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/test-equipment-anonymous-(tea)-group-therapy-thread/?action=dlattach;attach=900426;image)