Kinda proud of this one--I'm modelling a PRR ND caboose, which is a bit unusual (besides being a bobber) in that the floor extends about a foot further than the roof on both ends. To accommodate this, the tops of the ladders have a 90 degree bend to connect to the roof. It's distinctive enough and obvious enough that it has to be modeled.
First thought was soldered wire, but either my equipment or my skill level (probably the latter) was not up to it, so I turned to the printer. But how to get that bend?
PLA is thermo-plastic, so I printed it flat and then heated the critical parts of the print with an electric wood burning tool, basically a soldering iron with a flat tip, that I had acquired in a previous life, and formed the ends around a 1/4" dowel. Because the section was so small (1.5mm square) I was able to do it using my fingers with out raising any blisters.
Perhaps others may find the process useful. Any conic section could be shaped this way as long as it was not too thick and it could eliminate messy supports in the print.
The first photo is the part as printed, the second is after bending. The two transverse straps are only .5 mm and there just to encourage buildplate adhesion. The top of the intermediate one marks the beginning of the curves.
OK, that's a good reason.
