Small 3d print with A:M

[Fuchur]

Hi everybody,

I think everybody knows that and it just recently drove me nuts again... this small little stand for keyboards which break and a totally fine keyboard is just no longer pleasant to be used and you would need to throw it away which is totally wasteful if you ask me...

So I bought a thousands of dollar 3d printer and printed something out to get over tha...
Not really... it has been used in many, many instances like that over the last 7 years or so and I think it should be fine today especially if you count in the fun I had with it .

Here is the result and the broke part in an very macro version which does exactly what it should :).
I am currently not printing on my SLP machine but my FDM machine, because it uses isopropanol (one of the best sanatisers) and while it produces much smoother results, most parts are not that durable with it anyway, which in this case is what I was aiming for. So even so it is pretty small, it printed nice enough even with 300 micro layerheight (I could go smaller to about 100 microns, but that isn't really making it better for the purpose, just longer to print and harder to get a good result out).

More can be seen here:
https://www.patchwork3d.de/blog-5-en/keyboard-stands-like-to-break-1105

[Michael Brennan]

Great use for a 3d Printer, Nice to see people repurposing and fixing things instead of just disposing. 

[Vance G]

I print ABS on my 3D printer (most inexpensive FDM printers print PLA), and it is quite durable and has a high melting point, meaning stuff I print does not fall apart even in a hot car.  My wife was dubious about the 3D printer when I got it (she banished it to the garage), but it won her over as I've printed parts to fix a variety of household issues.  I normally don't use A:M to design parts.  You can get a free license as a hobbyist for Autodesk Fusion 360, which is made for designing parts.  And I also designed a replacement keyboard stand for my keyboard at work a couple of years ago after the piece disappeared over a long weekend!

[Fuchur]

I currently own 3x 3d printers... one for PLA (Makerbot 2), one of ABS and PLA with two print heads, heated plate and so on (Makerbot 2x) and one is a resin printer (Elegoo Mars) but I constantly find myself going back to the PLA machine because it really is the most reliable and easy to use one... I just put it on, press print and in 95% it just does what it should do at the first try... in my experience PLA is pretty much on par with the ABS for most purposes while being less stinky, easier to handle and has a lot less shrinking and is much more predictable when cooling down. The only thing is, that it is a little less flexible. (depends on the case if that is good or bad)

I do not see why I should Autodesk for the modeling. A:M does what I need very nicely and I really do not like Autodesk interfaces (or their business behaviour...)

But I would say: Whatever suits you best to use your 3d printer: Just use it.

Best regards
*Fuchur*