# Horizontally Printed (In Place) Hinge Design
**URL:** https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433
**Category:** 3D Printing
**Created:** [August 10, 2026, 12:25am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433 "2026-08-10T00:25:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Fawksey3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Fawksey3D)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2026, 12:25am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/1 "2026-08-10T00:25:59Z")
Following on from the sister thread. This presents a more challenging print design perhaps. In respect of the desire to print it horizontally.
Please feel free to share your thoughts.
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### Author:  [@Fawksey3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Fawksey3D)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2026, 12:22pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/2 "2026-08-10T12:22:45Z")
Going to give this a go. Perhaps try different colour / manufacturer PLA to see if it binds less.
On back
Hopefully just break easily.
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### Author:  [@Fawksey3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Fawksey3D)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 8:53am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/3 "2026-08-11T08:53:00Z")
First iterations = fail!
Parts obviously too small.
First failed to print on Snap U1. Second increased sized redesigned slightly printed but no movement.
Probably need to go bigger, but then the hinge is getting bigger that the object I’d be looking to use it on.
Thinking to go down to 0.2mm nozzle. Have one for the Bambu A1s.
Anybody got different nozzle sizes working on the SnapmakerU1. Will look that up on their discord..
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### Author:  [@DrKronos](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/DrKronos)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 11:55am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/4 "2026-08-11T11:55:26Z")
I wonder if you could bridge the middle part without any in-built supports at all. If you print it in PLA and really slow it down for that bit, I think it could work cleaner. Doesn’t look like it’s more than a centimeter or two to bridge and you won’t have any superfluous material in there that will seize it solid.
Also, the bottom built-in support may need to be a bit wider. You still have a very steep overhang on the start on the beige part, that probably doesn’t help.
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### Author:  [@Fawksey3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Fawksey3D)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 12:04pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/5 "2026-08-11T12:04:53Z")
@DrKronos
Thanks for the suggestion. Yes might get it to bridge. Perhaps I will just print a small part of that and see.
You’ve just sparked a thought in my mind! Thank You.
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### Author:  [@Fawksey3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Fawksey3D)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 12:41pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/6 "2026-08-11T12:41:27Z")
A weak bridge here might give enough support for print to complete but also a weak point for snap. The remaining nib can be sanded when part turns through 90 degrees (it’s actually 70 degrees in this form). Or perhaps left just to wear down.
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### Author:  [@DrKronos](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/DrKronos)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 3:14pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/7 "2026-08-11T15:14:00Z")
That might work, neat idea!
What occurred to me is that you could do a mix of both techniques, bridging and support. You just do pre-designed supports at intervals along the hinge and then bridge the gaps from support to support. That would let you have a lot less binding between the moving parts and still be able to make as long a hinge as you want.
The supports then could be as thin as a line width or two.
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### Author:  [@Fawksey3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Fawksey3D)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 6:39pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/8 "2026-08-11T18:39:31Z")
Fingers crossed.
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### Author:  [@Fawksey3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Fawksey3D)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 7:58pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/9 "2026-08-11T19:58:59Z")
These slicer software are very clever. Here its identifying the bridge and changing the print pattern accordingly (credit @DrKronos ) for the idea!
Whether or not I need to stop / cut off the pin so early perhaps trial and error - I didn’t want any potential sagging to connect.
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### Author:  [@Fawksey3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Fawksey3D)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/10 "2026-08-11T20:29:07Z")
Printed but won’t budge. Close but no cigar.
screw driver and hammer tomorrow! 💥
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### Author:  [@Oregonerd](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Oregonerd)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2026, 3:07am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/11 "2026-08-12T03:07:11Z")
I designed a puzzle shaped box with 4 interlocking corners that are each individual containers. Printing 4 separately they fit perfectly. Printing 4 together? I could not get them apart even with a hammer. And I used to be a pipe fitter. I hit hard! PLA.
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### Author:  [@3DFG](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/3DFG)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2026, 8:17pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/12 "2026-08-12T20:17:07Z")
It’s not the prettiest, but I’ve just done a test print on this version and it works OK. The minimal built in supports break off fine, leaving the hinge to rotate freely. The tapered hinge pin has surprisingly little play in the “barrel” as it still maintains a reasonable contact on the rounded edges.
Maybe it’s an idea to build on.
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### Author:  [@Fawksey3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Fawksey3D)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2026, 9:08pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/13 "2026-08-12T21:08:09Z")
Cool @Piercyc87 - Nice Job!
Got mine working as well with a slight mod on the interface.
As you say something to keep refining and work into a project somewhere.
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### Author:  [@Fawksey3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Fawksey3D)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2026, 9:12pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/14 "2026-08-12T21:12:32Z")
@3DFG I think what i like about your solution is the potential to include some teeth for set positions. Also I love a click!
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### Author:  [@3DFG](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/3DFG)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2026, 9:19pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/15 "2026-08-12T21:19:06Z")
@Fawksey3D - That’s a great idea, definitely one to try out!
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### Author:  [@Fawksey3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Fawksey3D)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2026, 9:22pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/16 "2026-08-12T21:22:38Z")
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### Author:  [@TigerMike](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/TigerMike)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2026, 3:03am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/17 "2026-08-13T03:03:18Z")
In the interest of sharing designs, here’s a print-in-place-hinge is did in early 2019. First, some context. At that time I was a few months new to Shapr3D and a couple months new to 3D printing. Quite the newbee indeed.
I had no idea what I was doing, merely experimenting. This design was for a game a design buddy of mine came up with. The hinged part holds a 1/4" wooden dowel and only needs to rotate 90°. The clearance at the hinge is .030" (.76mm).
I bought a Lulzbot TAZ6 3D printer equipped with a .05mm nozzle which is now a legacy printer. It came with a version of Cura which I used only a couple of times as I bought and used Simplify3D and never looked back. I recall using auto-supports and the part printed nicely. It was printed with Hatchbox PLA at a layer height of around .35mm. Quite course when looking at the finished parts.
The hinged pieces were pretty much stuck to the housing. Wiggling the hinge pieces finally broke loose and it actually worked quite well for a prototype assembly. It was not a smooth hinged movement given the design clearance, but it did move satisfactorily. Again, I had no idea what I was doing but it did the job. I’m sharing this as an alternate design for a print-in-place-hinge.
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### Author:  [@Fawksey3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Fawksey3D)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2026, 6:21pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/horizontally-printed-in-place-hinge-design/41433/18 "2026-08-15T18:21:36Z")
I think we got some good input on this thread and I certainly learned some stuff. Thanks to everybody that contributed.
Please feel free to add and I may circle back- but in keeping with my aim of keeping the 3d printing topic energised I going to start a new line of enquiry.