✨(Patreon Exclusive) Christmas Capybara Straw Toppers (Patreon)

Part 4 - Straw Toppers! 🥤

I had been thinking for a while now since I made the rainbow ones that the toppers I've been making only served as an accessory and didn't really protect the straws themselves. A friend of mine who likes to buy different toppers suggested I make ones that could cover the straw and recently someone in a 3D printing group also mentioned something similar so it got me thinking on how to make these multifunctional.

I know there's already protector models out there that use TPU to make the strip flexible similar to the silicone ones you can buy but not everybody who prints straw toppers has TPU laying around or wants to be using TPU in the first place so I wanted to make something similar in function that could be done in PLA .

I've been seeing a lot of these hype chains recently which gave me the idea to use a chain link instead - these can be done in PLA, don't require glue and most importantly can be printed in place with no supports. Great right?

However I understand not everybody wants or needs this function so going forward I'll include 3 versions in my topper files.

8mm charm + cap attachment with chain

10.5mm charm + cap attachment with chain

Topper protector with chain (Stanley straws only)

The cap attachment is intended to be printed separately and plugged into the 8mm or 10.5mm charms and then used as a topper afterwards (see images above). There are three sizes for cap attachments, ones that fit 8mm straws, ones that fit 10mm straws to be used for Stanley cups and ones that fit slightly oversized 10mm straws. Now I can't guarantee the 8mm and oversized 10mm will be a snug fit as these can vary wildly in sizing (even 0.1mm makes a difference in fit) but the rings on the Stanley ones should fit snug on the straw to prevent them flying off too easily yet leaving the cap piece slightly looser to be removed easily. This is why the topper protector versions with the chains already attached only come in the Stanley size for now.

Of course the toppers can still function as charms without the cap attachment as they always have so it's more of a preference thing if you want to add these or not. They will be reusable across ALL of my topper models (including the Halloween ones but excluding the rainbows) in future so you'd only need to ever print 1. Or 2 if you lose the first one. 😆

Again, it's a 5 colour design so you can choose whether you want to print with the pause or just use the 4 colour design instead. All plates have been labelled in the 3MF for you. Some testers did note without a sticky plate that the chain can be tricky to print - I'd suggest ensuring your print plate is squeaky clean or use a Cooltack/Cryogrip plate if you have one. If that's not an option, you could try enabling a brim and slowing the print down by 50% at least until the chain section has completed printing.

Paid members can download these models from the download post or from the below link:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/141467724/

I think we can guess what's coming next in part 5...and I'm so excited to show you as I have not just one, but TWO designs in the bundle. 🤩