Brush Cup

It's a cup that holds your water and brushes while painting, designed for model and miniature painters. 

Features:

• 11 Brush slots (in 5 sizes)
• Ridges and ribs to help clean brushes faster
• Handle is secured with filament, allowing for different colors without AMS
• Bottom of cup has grooves to prevent warping

Printing Instructions:

1. Use the 3MF file unless you want to configure things yourself
2. Print the handle on its side! This is to ensure strength, and the filament holes are larger to compensate. 
3. No supports! Don't do it! You don't want micro-supports in the filament holes on the cup or the grooves.
4. I recommend using a bit of spray on 3DLAC glue for this and most prints.

Assembly Instructions:

1. Use a nozzle cleaning tool or similar to press through the holes to ensure no plastic blocks filament being fed through. You may need to file or scrape a bit, depending on your printer and results. 
2. Pop the handle in place. 
3. Feed filament through the holes while pressing the inside of the handle toward the cup. (May not be required, but helped with several of mine).
4. Clip off ends of filament, if desired use a lighter to restore the color of the clipped ends.
5. Test the cup with water. If water leaks out, no worries- seal the inside (and outside if you want) with water-based varnish. If you're a model painter I'm confident you have some lying around. If not, I recommend Vallejo satin or matte varnish thinned with water. Don't be a goose and use varnish without thinning it. 

Additional Notes:

• I recommend using the 3MF profile as I've painted the seams and added a bit more elephant foot compensation. 
• I've included 2 versions of the cup, 1 with text and 1 without. ‘With text says ’contrapaul.design', a website I own but haven't yet set up :)
• I've printed paint cups in PETG, PLA, and ABS, and can't say that a specific material is best for ensuring that it is watertight. I've tried 2 and 3 walls, ironing, and different infill. 
• The last 4 I printed are all watertight off the printer- with 2 different matte PETG spools and a matte PLA. 2 walls, 15% gyroid infill, 4 bottom layers, 5 top. That's lucky, but I will be sealing all of them anyway- it doesn't take long and ensures safety later. 
• Try fuzzy skin on the outside of the cup- it looks cool! See my extra ‘make’ photo for a fuzzy skin version with metal blue PETG.

Some time ago I made a first version of this, and revised it a bit- then left it alone for many months. Counting those 2, this went through 6 printed iterations to reach a version I'm happy releasing. My desk is covered in brush cups.