For best results, a build sheet for a 3D printer’s print bed should be handled and stored by the edges only. To help make that easier, [Whity] created the Expandable Steel Sheet Holder system that can store sheets efficiently without touching their main surfaces, and has a clever mechanism for ejecting them at the push of a button.
The design is 3D printable and made to be screwed to the bottom of a shelf, which is great for space saving. It can also be extended to accommodate as many sheets as one wishes, and there’s a clever method for doing that.
Once the first unit is fastened to a shelf, adding additional units later is as simple as screwing them to the previous one with a few M3 bolts, thanks to captive nuts in the previously-mounted unit. It’s a thoughtful feature that makes it easy to expand after the fact. Since build sheets come in a variety of different textures and surfaces for different purposes, one’s collection does tends to grow.
Interested, but want it to fit some other manufacturer’s sheets? The design looks easy to modify, but before you do that, check out the many remixes and you’re likely to find what you’re looking for. After all, flexible magnetic build sheets are useful in both resin and filament-based 3D printing.
Nice build, but I would prefer a lever that secures the build plate when stored and a spring that ejects it when said build plate is released. See
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinon_FZ-506-8584.jpg for what I have in mind.
I remember CD and cassette storage solutions that had a spring in the back and a lip in the front to hold the case in place. To retrieve a case you only had to lift it a little and it popped out.
I am not going to put my build plate under a constant warping pressure from a spring. Actually I’m not too keen on holding them by the edges to have them droop in the middle.
Hard pass from me. Neat idea but I need the support in the middle.
This is spring steel, it attached by the force of magnets to the PCB.. how would this warp?
It won’t
You can mount it vertically.
Cheese
or you could just use your thumb and finger to pull one out since they’re like… right there.
Where’s the ingenuity in that 😂
You don’t even need a 3D printer for that. Angle grinder with chainsaw disk could do the job in like 1 minute.
When picking one from the pile just isn’t good enough :D
I printed a modified version of this and removed the top and bottom layers.
Lets repurpose a large format camera negative switcher thingy.
You know the expensive, rare, snik-snik ones that will really piss off the film people.
What are those called?
seems like just another solution to a problem that didn’t exist in the first place.
I printed this out a few years ago (before covid) and I love it. I have it mounted vertically and is nice to know they’re snugly secure yet accessible
“For best results, a build sheet for a 3D printer’s print bed should be handled and stored by the edges only.”
Here’s a question that immediately comes to mind: WHY?
If it’s fingerprint oils, how about just occasionally cleaning with 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol?
dish soap is superior to IPA
And never getting it dirty in the first place is better than dish soap, but IPA is plenty good enough unless the plate is soiled with tons of glue stick or something
First of all I still don’t understand what this product is used for and how to use it. Too bad there are no more pictures or videos.
Second, I never understood that saying about not touching the bed with your hands. Even though I’m really careful and try, I still always have to touch the surface even a little to remove prints or print residues like brim, supports or purge lines, etc. So how can you do all this without touching the bed at all??
Looks like folks making a big deal about touching/cleaning the build plate. Is there something wrong with wiping down with IPA after every print to make sure it’s clean and ready? Like, can you clean it too much?
I’ve had this installed in my Black LACK Stack Hack for about a year. Works great. Two notes:
1) This is the LACK adapter I used. Also works great. https://www.printables.com/model/62344-lack-enclosure-tabletop-adapter-for-expandable-ste
2) If you’re left handed, you can install the assembly upside down so the buttons are where you want them. No issues.