A Small Boat with a Big Purpose
What is a ‘Benchy’?
Benchy is a small model of a boat made by Swedish technology reseller, Creative Tools. It is a calibration model designed to be printed quickly, and without support, to highlight the problems your printer may have under extreme circumstances. From Creative Tools on their Thingiverse page for the model, “(Benchy) is a 3D model designed by us at Creative Tools specifically for testing and benchmarking 3D printers. It is a small recognisable object that you can download for free, make and share.” On their page for the model, they encourage users to print the small boat and document their results as well as settings used for printing the model. They offer a multitude of social media sites to share the results of your own Benchy. You can find the Thingiverse page for the model at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:763622The name given to the small boat, Benchy, stands for “benchmark”. The boat model was designed with torture testing in mind, as it includes challenging geometric features such as bridges, overhangs, small text and steep angles. The idea behind printing a Benchy boat is to be able to figure out exactly what your printer’s weakest point is. As it is known, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” In the case of 3D printers, this is also true.
Why You Should Print a Benchy
By printing out a Benchy boat, you may be able to realize areas of improvement your 3D printer needs. For example, after you print out a Benchy on your own 3D printer, you may realize there are areas of inadequate part cooling, under-extrusion, stringing, etc. Lots of people use a Benchy to test new filament colors, new materials, or new settings using that filament. Furthermore, a Benchy can also highlight problems that may occur during print setup, such as layer delamination, command errors or the filament itself.
If you would like to learn of all the kinds of problems that can occur before or during printing, you can check out the Print Quality Troubleshooting Guide by Simplify3D here: https://www.simplify3d.com/support/print-quality-troubleshooting/
There is no wrong way to print out a Benchy, so get printing and test your printer!
References:
The 3D Benchy ‘torture test’ that pushes 3D printers to the limit. (2020, July 10). 3D Printing Industry. https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/3d-benchy-torture-test-pushes-3d-printers-limit-103662/
Print quality guide. (2019, June 21). Professional 3D Printing Software | Simplify3D. https://www.simplify3d.com/support/print-quality-troubleshooting/
Thingiverse.com. (n.d.). #3DBenchy - The Jolly 3D printing torture-test by CreativeTools.se by CreativeTools. Thingiverse - Digital Designs for Physical Objects. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:763622
What does a chain is as strong as its weakest link mean? (2017, March 21). Writing Explained. https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/a-chain-is-as-strong-as-its-weakest-link
