<p>Hey so theres a product we have been prototyping. 
We cant do FDM. The item has a ball valve. 
and the ball ~ 1.6-1.9mm 
I cant seem to prototype it. I have tried SLS, SLA, Polyjet. 
Anybody knows what could be wrong, or what should be the dimension i should be using?
I thought I would post this at engineering section, but since I have to prototype I thought its best if its in 3D Printing section</p>

<p>Edit:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/0neFf.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/0neFf.png" alt="Ball is 2mm in dia. clearance of 0.1mm is used "></a></p>

<p>Update: </p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Byftf.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Byftf.png" alt="Figure explains the direction of air"></a></p>

<p>So heres a figure showing the direction of air flow. </p>

<p>Update: 
Thanks both answers are helpful. though not a precise answer. Then again, there is no correct answer. 
Thanks a bunch. Lets see how the coming months are. :p</p>

[{'answer_id': 1075, 'author': 'tbm0115', 'author_id': 98, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/98', 'pm_score': 2, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>As mentioned above in the comments, this really isn\'t a good application of 3D Printing. At least, not with expectation that it functions. I\'d suggest using 3D printing to verify other dimensions and having the part machined traditionally. That ball and "seal" needs to be precision ground or honed to fit in order to stop air flow.</p>\n\n<p>My company has manufactured parts similar to this and the way to go was to produce a concave "cup" for the ball to settle into and hone the edges with a diamond slush using a ball end mill. That way, the ball settles into the cup and the pressure creates the seal.</p>\n\n<p><sup>Omitted due to update in OP\'s image</sup><s><strong>Update</strong>\nExcuse the poor SketchUp drawing, but this might help explain a potential design change:\n<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/PHCM4.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Deprecated image</a>\n</s></p>\n\n<p>Please see <a href="https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/1065/ball-valve-to-be-prototyped/1075#1081">DarthPixel\'s answer</a> for a good design choice.</p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 1081, 'author': 'darth pixel', 'author_id': 1211, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/1211', 'pm_score': 3, 'selected': True, 'text': '<p>Hey why to make it soooo sophisticated and poor?\nAir valve cannot be designed with 2 stiff elements - it will never work.</p>\n\n<p>Make the air your friend but not the enemy. Use old good rubber (silicone) "flake" instead. Especially when you have such small design.</p>\n\n<p>Take a look on the picture.</p>\n\n<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Sk4Lj.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Sk4Lj.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>\n\n<p>Here you have black element which is rubber or silicone. It\'s sticked on one side. When air goes from the pipe (goes up) then rubber is slack so the air can flow. When you suck then rubber seals the pipe.</p>\n\n<p><strong>[edit]</strong></p>\n\n<p>You can find such solution in for example bike pumps, inflatable matterss pumps also gas masks and so on. It\'s pretty fine for low pressure. </p>\n\n<p>Of course ball valves are also widely use but then such device has to have "rubber" ball nest so ball lies on the rubber ring to seal it. There has to be a spring to tight the ball to the ring. Without such spring turning the device upside down would cause the valve would not work at all.\nBall solutions are intended to higher pressure.</p>\n\n<p>Please note the spring which tights a ball creates kinda threshold on the pressure level which means that pressure has to exceed a spring force to reduce a pressure. This doesn\'t occure in rubber valve.</p>\n\n<p>I don\'t know what device you are trying to prototype but I\'m pretty sure a rubber valve will be just fine.</p>\n\n<p>Please also note that sealing surface is very low in ball valve solution but in rubber valve it can be almost unlimited so it can seal quite well even when the surface is not perfect.</p>\n'}]
['https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/1065', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/1586/']