My mom has a 100 year old hair comb that she loves, but it's made of celluloid and that means its useful life is limited. This is my attempt to recreate the same shape and style of comb using 3d printing. To get the same shape as the model comb, all stl files will print flat and need to be heat formed in hot water. See https://www.instructables.com/id/Thermoforming-3D-Printed-PLA-for-Use-in-Prostethic/ (not mine, just a really nice set of basic instructions) for good, clear instructions on this method.

I made 2 styles, a straight comb and one with a gentle curve to the spine of the comb.

There are 6 STL files:

• hair comb, decorative.stl version 1 with straight bridge
• Curved comb.stl version 1 with curved bridge (seen in the photos)
• hair comb, dec v2.stl version 2 (better teeth) with straight bridge
• Curvedcombv2.stl version 2 with curved bridge
• curvecombsupport.stl adds a floating brace that needs supports to print. This stays on until the comb is formed, to help keep the teeth in order, then snaps off.
• Curved for sla.stl for SLA printing. DO NOT USE for filament prints. It will disintegrate.

Version 1 looked really good, but on my small printer's 6"x6" bed they print much too narrowly to work well due to the x and y taper which caused weak points where the fill wasn't complete. I lost about 1.5 cm of the teeth to this issue. On a wider or generally larger bed, where the comb can print at up to 8" wide, they might print just fine.

However, I went ahead and made an updated version of both (v2) with better teeth. I haven't done a test print yet, but I hope it doesn't lose as much or any usable length to the teeth this time.

Update 05-3-2020: printing test of v2, curved spine. added photo to show it printing flat.

Update 06-03-2020: Test of v2 printed at normal resolution/basic settings works great and seems to need minimal post processing beyond forming. Does not catch in my hair the way the initial model did.

Update 22-03-2020 Added a version of the curved comb that prints with a raised brace to make heatforming the comb teeth less unwieldy (enable supports for this version) Also added a vertical version with the heat-formed curves built in for SLA printing, in case anyone wants to try it out. Comment and let me know if you do!