Curved Chunky Alphabet

🎶A-B-C-D-E-F-G . . .🎶

Send a message, print a sign, or make a statement with large initials. The possibilities are endless with this "Curved Chunky Alphabet"! They are fun to play with for the young and young-at-heart. Print the set and then try to resist the urge to spell various words!

Curved Chunky Digits & Symbols also available! See separate post.

After printing my LOVE Letters, I was challenged to create every letter of the alphabet. Will they all stand upright after printing? Can I print them all on one edge rather than lying flat? Can I avoid using supports?

This was a fun challenge and a good exercise for thinking about supports and best printing angles.
Anyone new to 3D printing will find these to be an interesting way to learn.

All letters have a matching curve on the front. They are 100 mm tall at 100% scale, however all of the ones I printed and photographed are 50 mm tall (50% scale). Everything can be printed without supports if printed on the flat back side. I printed most of them standing up or on a side so that the layer lines would be on the face of the letters. However, a few letters (C, G, S) were rather messy with supports, so I opted to print those on the flat back.

Some photos include models from the Digits & Symbols set.

Notes about Letters

Most letters printed in an obvious way without support or with a little bit of support and are able to stand upright on their own. Some letters have overhangs that bridge fine at 50% scale, but would likely need supports if larger. Use these letters as a learning experience with your slicer! Some letters have particular issues and I included a few notes below.

The following letters printed well on their side: B, D, E, F, P. Although, the D with the modified base (for better standing upright) prints well standing up. See photos at end for examples of both.

It is possible to print C, G, and S with supports (and they may be good test models for soluble supports), however they were difficult to remove and the rounded edges were quite rough, so I opted to print these three on their back. See 3D Printing Settings below for details.

Letters F, J, and P do not stand up on their own after printing and one of my goals was to make a full set of letters that could. Each of these letters have extra versions included in the set. The ones labeled "Modified Base" have a platform on the bottom to help them stand upright. The "v2" models have narrower platforms, and I added these later. The F and P with the platforms print well on the side and the J with the platforms print well standing up. In the photos, the J without the platform was printed on its back like the C, G, and S.

The Q has three versions included in the set. The "Original" Q is the only letter that has a part that goes below the baseline. This would not balance well, so I included a "Rotated" version that should stand up on it's own. I did not print this one. Instead, for standing letters, my family preferred the "Modified O" that I designed as an alternate Q.

Print T upside down.

The Z needs to print flat on its back or standing upright with supports. Note that printing on its side will NOT work. The top horizontal part of the Z is shorter than the base horizontal part. I realized this after trying to print the Z on its side and the top part does not touch the plate. A little support didn't work for me either. See photo of Z printed standing up with support.

Also see my Kids & Toys Collection.

My LOVE Letters are the same shape as the L, O, V, E from this set originally designed 180 mm tall.

Most letters are exactly 100 mm tall. Some rounded letters are slightly taller. Letters are approximately 39 mm thick and have various widths. The alphabet shown in the photos was printed at 50% scale.

I printed upright letters with 0.2 mm layer height, 4 perimeters, 4 top layers, 3 bottom layers, and 15% infill.

For the letters that I printed on their flat back (C, G, S), I used a modifier to change the layer height to 0.12 mm (rather than 0.2) and the number of perimeters to 6 after the first 9 mm (out of 19.44 mm height at 50% scale).

Not for commercial use. No derivatives. See © link.

Curved Chunky Digits & Symbols also available! See separate post.