This article targets an advanced audience who are already familiar with the 3D printing. In this article I will try to collect some information I haven’t found written down in a single place yet. In particular, a lot of the information is seemingly only available in the form of YouTube videos that take a long time to get to the point.
If you are new to 3D printing and/or CAD for 3D printing, this is not the right article for you. Come back when you have done a bit of printing/design and want to learn advanced tricks to save on print time and material usage.
Basics of vase mode
With that out of the way what is this about? Vase mode is a printing mode where the printer prints a spiral path, with no seams. This is fast, avoids the visual blemishes of the seam but also has some downsides:
Only a single perimeter. This potentially means weaker parts.
No disconnected areas (per layer), you have to print with a single path.
No internal geometry. No infill. No top layers.
No supports.
Typically, it gets used for vases and pots. Thus, the name. Here is a crude example (I’m not an aesthetics focused designer, so imagine something prettier than this. If it fits and functions, it ships in my book):
Of note here is that the model itself isn’t hollow, but the slicer will make it hollow for you (since it only prints a single perimeter). In PrusaSlicer this setting is found at “Print Settings” → “Layers and perimeters” → “Vertical shells” → “Spiral vase”. OrcaSlicer etc should have the same or similar setting as well somewhere else. I have no idea about Cura.
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