I think I found a counterexample to the common wisdom that more walls always create a stronger part.

The pictured S shape is 1.5mm thick, so printing with 2 walls leaves no room for infill. My testing wasn’t very rigorous, but it seems that the hybrid structure of walls + rectilinear infill is 10-20% more rigid than walls alone. The infill adds strength by cris-crossing between adjacent layers.

I think it’s fine to include a concentric top/bottom layer, but multiple identical layers weaken the part. I also tried 0 walls (infill only) and that was garbage.

    • p1mrx@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      7 months ago

      Lock some calipers (with a rod sticking out) to 1.5mm shorter than the part height, compress it down onto a kitchen scale until the rod is just touching the platform, and record the weight.

      That’s just the first procedure that came to mind. I will try to think of a way to do a hook strength test today.

    • p1mrx@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      7 months ago

      I just tested this hook by hanging a 5 gallon bucket and gradually adding water. PLA 1 wall = 1710 g, 2 wall = 1178 g. The thing is, a 1.5 mm hook fails by straightening rather than snapping, so rigidity is more important than strength.

      Edit: I also tried PETG: 1 wall = 1441 g, 2wall <998 g (failed to hold the empty bucket)

      So the 1 wall hooks can support >40% more weight before straightening enough that the bucket slips off. That’s more significant that I expected.