Anyone have a 3-D printer?

[ActiveAngel]

Yeah. The whole point of the thread was to find something that wasn’t pvc pipes. Lol.

Cool beans then! 3D Printing can definitely provide tons of non-PVC pipe options.

That said, as a design method, there are a lot of downsides to 3D Printing. I think this piece would work much better if you can injection mold it. This could allow a smooth surface (if desired), rigid structure, make it easy to clean with chemicals, and easy to clean by scrubbing. And provide easy options to use a material that is non-reactive and with a high density. This material could still be PVC (in non-pipe form) or another plastic.

Ooo... Another option in place of injection molding! You could melt down and recycle your own HDPE at home and press it into molds. It’s actually quite easy and cheap. I’d first have to check the properties of HDPE with Saltwater... but I think it might be fine. You would at least want to stick to either virgin material or a food-safe HDPE though.

 

[Adam]

Cool beans then! 3D Printing can definitely provide tons of non-PVC pipe options.

That said, as a design method, there are a lot of downsides to 3D Printing. I think this piece would work much better if you can injection mold it. This could allow a smooth surface (if desired), rigid structure, make it easy to clean with chemicals, and easy to clean by scrubbing. And provide easy options to use a material that is non-reactive and with a high density. This material could still be PVC (in non-pipe form) or another plastic.

Ooo... Another option in place of injection molding! You could melt down and recycle your own HDPE at home and press it into molds. It’s actually quite easy and cheap. I’d first have to check the properties of HDPE with Saltwater... but I think it might be fine. You would at least want to stick to either virgin material or a food-safe HDPE though.

I believe HPDE is fine for saltwater. There are quite a few things made from it in the marine industry. Bait tanks, holding tanks, cutting boards...
The one down fall with it is. HDPE floats.

I'm not adverse to PVC but the sheer number I'm going to need is a lot of work to do at home and have them cut to the same height while having all the notch cuts line up correctly.

 

[ActiveAngel]

I'm not adverse to PVC but the sheer number I'm going to need is a lot of work to do at home and have them cut to the same height while having all the notch cuts line up correctly.

Ah, bummer, you’re totally right that HDPE floats.

as for PVC, how many do you need? 1000... 10,000? I think if you use some PVC snippers and a bandsaw with the proper size blade and a brick/wood/metal-block as a stopper; then I imagine you could churn out 1 every 10 seconds while still being safe and keeping errors to under 1mm (maybe even 0.1mm By the end of the run).

 

[Adam]

Ah, bummer, you’re totally right that HDPE floats.

as for PVC, how many do you need? 1000... 10,000? I think if you use some PVC snippers and a bandsaw with the proper size blade and a brick/wood/metal-block as a stopper; then I imagine you could churn out 1 every 10 seconds while still being safe and keeping errors to under 1mm (maybe even 0.1mm By the end of the run).

Table saw? Yes. Bandsaw, I no gots.
I figure I'm gonna need 250ish.

I could see cutting a single small slot on one end to use in a jig. Then run a deeper slot and turn the jig 90° to finish the cross.

Hey @aestheticlibra You up for black PVC?

 

[ichthyoid]

That's exactly what I'm looking for. But I'd want them to be 3" tall - maybe even 4".

Super Glue 2 or 3 together

 

[Shawn]

Table saw? Yes. Bandsaw, I no gots.
I figure I'm gonna need 250ish.

I could see cutting a single small slot on one end to use in a jig. Then run a deeper slot and turn the jig 90° to finish the cross.

Hey @aestheticlibra You up for black PVC?

I could totally go for black pvc. Ultimately I was just looking for something other than white.

Something that would be really cool - green fluorescent acrylic....

 

[ZapataInc]

I could totally go for black pvc. Ultimately I was just looking for something other than white.

Something that would be really cool - green fluorescent acrylic....

I think that last part was for you @tonytran509

 

[tonytran509]

I think that last part was for you @tonytran509

HAHHA DID SOMEONE CALL FOR ME LOL.... flourescent green rods are too expensive at that size... like what 3/4"?? there are certain things that are cheap in the acrylic world and some are just burning your soul.... anything round, cylinder, tubes.... specially solid rods are expensive... then you adding color lol

 

[tonytran509]

Or orrrrr i can make you a whole custom rack and look what they called “swaggg” lol

 

[sharktopus_prime]

Or orrrrr i can make you a whole custom rack and look what they called “swaggg” lol
View attachment 17866

Wow, those are pretty sweet looking. Will a set of those cost a kidney or just a finger?

Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Cook]

I got the PETG figured out. Took a while in between other things. @aestheticlibra, what color were you looking for?

 

[Shawn]

I was looking for black. Did you try them? Do they work well?

 

[Cook]

They fit tightly to the egg crate. Takes some effort to seat them. I'll take a pic later, I have a hungry eel terrorizing his tank mates.

 

[Shawn]

They fit tightly to the egg crate. Takes some effort to seat them. I'll take a pic later, I have a hungry eel terrorizing his tank mates.

I’d love to buy 32ish. Black. Let me know?

 

[NanCrab]

They fit tightly to the egg crate. Takes some effort to seat them. I'll take a pic later, I have a hungry eel terrorizing his tank mates.

How much are they? I could use some for my sump shelf.

 

[Cook]

I’d love to buy 32ish. Black. Let me know?

Here are a couple of pics. I switched slicing programs, so I need to make sure the legs still fit well.

 

[Cook]

How much are they? I could use some for my sump shelf.

Price is up for discussion. This was @aestheticlibra's idea and the part design uses creative commons licensing, so time and materials only. Somewhere around $1.50 for 4? Could be less. With the current print settings it's 8 hours of print time for 25 on my delta printer. I do also have black PETG.

 

[NanCrab]

That's a great price. If you come up with so.ething doffere t PM me, I really dont want to use the PVC more because it seems like a pia. You will be at the meeting next week?

 

[Shawn]

Price is up for discussion. This was @aestheticlibra's idea and the part design uses creative commons licensing, so time and materials only. Somewhere around $1.50 for 4? Could be less. With the current print settings it's 8 hours of print time for 25 on my delta printer. I do also have black PETG.

For that price they could be any color you wanted. Hahaha. I’d love to get quite a few of those!!

 

[NanCrab]

For that price they could be any color you wanted. Hahaha. I’d love to get quite a few of those!!

Right?! Amazing!