A few reasons. First, foaming filaments, especially PLAs, are very, very, very stringy -- you can't really cut off the feed by stopping the extruder, because the small remnant in the heating head will continue to absorb heat and expand out of the head. So having a single continuous path is almost required for decent quality. Second, minimum weight (both for a given strength, and absolutely) is achieved at a single wall; and vase mode is designed to exactly meet both of those constraints.
Interesting and useful article, but:
> If you are new to 3D printing and/or CAD for 3D printing, this is not the right article for you.
I feel like I would have been fine with this article about a week into my 3d printing journey.
There are some great vase mode designs for gridfinity boxes that minimize filament usage and maximize print speed.
https://www.printables.com/model/324102-vase-mode-parametric...
A lot of these tricks are used to print UAV / RC wings with internal structure, often out of foaming filaments to reduce weight.
Why not use normal printing techniques with low or no infill? Or just design the parts with internal cavities
A few reasons. First, foaming filaments, especially PLAs, are very, very, very stringy -- you can't really cut off the feed by stopping the extruder, because the small remnant in the heating head will continue to absorb heat and expand out of the head. So having a single continuous path is almost required for decent quality. Second, minimum weight (both for a given strength, and absolutely) is achieved at a single wall; and vase mode is designed to exactly meet both of those constraints.
Vase mode has been around for quite some time and a very popular way to print quickly.