Banana Katana Remix — thicker blade + connecting block

Modified blade to be thicker

With the original blade model, the blade pieces kept breaking whenever I swish-flicked it open because of how thin the walls were, both in PLA and PETG.

So I increased the width of the walls of the blade pieces. This means the blade isn't quite as long as the original when it's extended, but the length is still pretty substantial, plus now the blade doesn't break when I flick it open! (at least for now, with some careful flicking). Now this katanana is no longer a single-use sword! 😆

I included 2 versions of the thickened blade: 0.79 mm width and 0.92 mm width (walls). My printer was able to print-in-place the 0.92 mm width version without any problems. I included a slightly less thick version if it helps with printing-in-place and/or for a theoretically slightly longer blade! I also included versions of both that have the blade pieces separated.

Some printer settings that I set for possibly more strength for this piece:

• Increased the extrusion width to 1 mm for perimeters/external perimeters and default extrusion width (PrusaSlicer default for those 3 are 0.45 mm). This is so the walls are printed in 1 thick perimeter instead of 2 thinner perimeters. You may need to lower the print speed if you do this.
• Set the seam position to random. I originally had it set to rear so that it would minimize where the seam could be seen, but the connected seam along the entire blade was a weak point.
  • Because I set seam position to random, I didn't like the zits. But PrusaSlicer has a recently added setting called a Scarf, where it helps to remove the seam joins, so I turned that on and zits no more!

Modified connecting block to be slightly larger

Additionally, the original connecting block was too loose, more so on the main banana handle piece than the end piece, so I increased the size just the slightest. This means that the fit on the end piece is now much much tighter, so I had to really force the piece in. The connecting block is definitely not coming out of the end piece ever again, but it doesn't need to anyway since the end piece acts more like a plug. On the other hand, the entire end piece now fits and stays on the main handle better and is still removable (though I may want to put a single layer of tape on that end to be an even tighter fit 🤔).

Edit:
I forgot that the original remix (and possible actual original) didn't seat the outside handle piece flat on the print bed (it's slightly askew), so I had used PrusaSlicer's Place on Face feature to place it correctly. If your slicer doesn't have that feature, I added an extra file that fixes that!

Credits

Thank you to:

• PrintyPonky for the remixed model (I used their version for the rest of the pieces)
• soap_warrior for the original banana katana design
• Toast for the banana display stand design

Enjoy! :) 🍌