Lego Compatible Tree - Fruit Tree

Last crawled date: 4 years, 2 months ago

Here we have 2 more Lego compatible trees I made for you lego enthusiasts who need a variety of trees in your lego builds! It's really the same tree but there are two ways to print it. I believe this type of tree is known as a "fruit tree".
The first method, pictured on the right, is similar in design to my
pine tree" : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3782071. This includes a base with "steps" going up the main body allowing all the branch disks to fit and be evenly spaced. The disks are labeled L1 thru L9 (bottom branch is L1 and top is L9). I used a drop of glue to hold them in place as the branches may shift while moving the tree around in your lego build. This is the quicker method but as with any project you should have your printer settings dialed in to help with part fitment.
The second method, pictured on the left, is made in 3 sections. The base and two identical halves all glued together. Again, same looking tree but with an additional "plate" as pictured in the original tree (center pic). This method took longer to print because of the direction the branches are printed. It doesn't look as good in my opinion, but it does have less assembly. Stringing may be an issue if you don't have your temps or other printer settings right. I glued one side to the base first, then applied glue and aligned the second half. This base has one step in it to aid in alignment of both halves of the tree. I used supports for each half and they were not easy to take out. I'm assuming this is because of the direction of the print (parallel to the support structure). I tried it without supports but in either scenario I had to use a dremel and burring tool to clean up the channel for the base.
Both methods were printed at .2mm. For dimensional parts, slow your print speed down. I did not print any faster than 40mm/s. This is very important as the steps in the base have small increments and the fitment relies on this. The branches may need a little wiggle and push as they slide down the base...but they do fit! Installation tip: use a small deep socket to aid in pushing on the branch disks. This will help avoid snapping the disks in half.
Enjoy more happy trees and feel free to leave comments. If you have ideas for other types of trees or plants please leave a suggestion and I will see what I can do.