Noah Burk

Thank you! An 8020 rack would be awesome, then I could customize everything to my liking and in the future I might go down that path, but for now this was the most cost effective option. I use gridfinity in a pull out drawer in my desk and I love it, I would've used it in the organizer but I just had to pile stuff in there to make the apartment look clean for some visitors, I'm sure I will circle back in the future and better organize the organizer 🤣

I took a quick peak at a screw type I use frequently from McMaster-Carr, Socket Head Cap Screw with a material of 18-8SS and there isn't any major cost differences. Looking at lengths like 1" that have the same package quantity the difference is $1.56, which is a little more expensive but negligible when compared to the total cost of most projects.

During my time doing design in the automotive industry we stocked course thread screws so #10-24 was the norm. Since starting at Pipeline and working on projects that span more industries I noticed the same thing, #10-32 seemed to be the norm, but I never really questioned why. Its funny to me that for what ever reason that size dictates a fine thread even when the need for a fine thread isn't present. I've never ran into a supply issue with either but I haven't been in the industry very long. I haven't looking into the cost difference between course and fine threads with matching materials and lengths, but that could could also be a driver. Of course supply has an effect on the cost, but cost is the thing you see first hand. I will do some research and post another comment!

Recently I embarked on a mission to turn the small closet in my apartment into a little printer den. This location will help keep the noise as low as possible, if you’re looking into buying a Bambu machine you should know they are not quiet, but that is part of the price you pay for speed. My pervious set up featured a printer a friend let me borrow that was much quieter and was able to sit on the floor next to my desk without causing too much distraction. This change also gives me some extra floor space, puts the printer in a more ergonomic position, and offers storage underneath the printer mainly for tools. The days of laying on the floor trying to swap hot nozzles and contorting in all sorts of funny positions when trying to make other tuning adjustments are over. Here is a picture of the outcome. Along the way I made some great mistakes that I thought I would share. When trying to find the best sized cube organizer I measured the closet dimensions at around chest height. Failing to realize that there is trim around the bottom. I also failed to take into consideration assembly and bought an organizer that had to be assembled in the closet, it couldn’t be assembled outside then moved into it. After reviewing the assembly instructions, I realized that a typical assembly wouldn’t be the easiest. The two red arrows in the image above represent the position and direction of some long lag screws, two in the front and two toward the back of the organizer. I could have done some assembly gymnastics and used those screws but one of the reasons I picked the printer I did was for speed, so I opted to whip up a quick bracket design that wouldn’t require gymnastics and printed out four. Printing took under 20 minutes and design took approximately 5 minutes. The bracket can be seen in the image below, featuring other random stuff that has found a home in the organizer, I did say mainly tools! I just happened to have some left-over furniture risers sitting around that could be placed under the organizer to boost it off the floor 2 inches, clearing the trim. Got lucky there otherwise it was back to CAD. After I got the organizer assembled, I totally lucked out and had some clearance between the bottom of the top shelf and the top of the printer, not much but clearance is clearance. (Printer images featuring my low cost painters tape seal for the front door, that is a project for another day) After getting the printer on the organizer I noticed a bit of wobble, not so much that it was at risk of falling but enough to make me worry about its effect on print quality. Naturally I design another thing to fix that, the models can be found here, the concept it simple two angled faces ride against each other, one side has a indent to slightly capture a nut, the other a slot for a screw. As you tighten the screw the angled faces slip and the width grows. Placing these on the left and right side of the organizer took care of the wobble. This could be incorporated into a printed designs where you need adjustment but don’t want to keep printing or buying shims to dial in the position. The link below is to a short video showing how it works. https://www.loom.com/share/abccb46116b9484e8a8891af947ae83d?sid=510efe15-f30c-4ff0-8747-e75dcd1c9522 This made for a fun Sunday project, that took a little longer than expected, I probably had around 4 hours invested but the outcome was well worth it to me, and even more worthwhile to my girlfriend who probably wishes I had different hobbies. So, remember fellow builders, always measure the critical dimensions, be observant when you are approaching a project, and review the datasheets for things before you purchase them especially if assembly is required.

@manandwala I agree, nylon is great for fixtures! At Pipeline we have some Markforged printers and they are bad to the bone, but they are expensive to use. Something like an Ender 3 can print nylon with some fairly simple upgrades. Here is a link to an article about all metal hot-ends. You may need an all-metal hot end depending on the print temperature of the nylon you want to use. I have used Taulman 910 in the past, it works well, but all nylons are really hygroscopic so you will likely need to dry them very well before printing and keep them in a sealed box when not using it. I just tried to print with that Taulman 910 about 2 weeks ago after it was sitting in my closet for months. Dried it for 7+ hours and it still had moisture trapped within it.

Here are some YouTube channels that I found informative! https://www.youtube.com/@NathanBuildsRobots https://www.youtube.com/@AuroraTech I agree with Mark, low entry cost is the best way to start hands down. I've also heard a lot of people recommend buying a printer kit and assembling it yourself, this will give you better insight when troubleshooting quality problems that will happen over time.

Hello Manandwala! I recently took a trip down the rabbit hole that is the 3D printer market myself, and you are very correct there are many many options. I was lucky and got the chance to start by borrowing a friend's old printer that was collecting dust. I used this printer on and off for about a year, and then recently I purchased a Bambu P1S, and I have only good things to say about it so far! There are a lot of factors when it comes to picking the printer that is the best for you. If you answer some of the following questions that will help me narrow down my recommendations. Do you know what you mainly want to print? ( Could be action figures or functional mechanical parts) What materials do you want to print with? (PLA is standard and will get the job done for most things, ABS and ASA are stronger but should have filters close by.) Do you have a rough budget? Have you done any research into FFF vs SLA printers? And do you know what technology you want?

Awesome solution! Have you explored using something like dowels, magnets, or stand offs to assemble multiple ~12” pieces in a semi permanent fashion? Then you could used printed parts for the test units, possibly making the testing phase more cost efficient before diving in to another manufacturing process like injection modeling, etc. If you are using SolidWork for the design I could create a short video showing one way to do it! Let me know if you would like me to do that! Another option could be using a belt printer, I know Creality makes one, they allow for very long prints like life-sized swords.