3D Printed Frag Plugs
- Thread starter johanasu
- Start date
MBC2012
life gets better daily
I think its a great idea. Seeing how filament is sold by the KG to the public for under $30, I'd say you could make a ton of these with a 2.2 pound reel of filament. A quick search for frag plug prices you'll find up to $10 for 20-50 plugs depending on size and shape.
If you could join 2 of them together, for a future "break up / frag" I think you could be onto something. Imagine a figure 8....Make the connection a lil thinner than the rest of the frag top for a easy snip.
If you could join 2 of them together, for a future "break up / frag" I think you could be onto something. Imagine a figure 8....Make the connection a lil thinner than the rest of the frag top for a easy snip.
tcamos
Reef, Crustacean, Puffers
The benefit of this is custom plugs. I personally don't like plugs, I like disks. But imagine being able to 3D scan a rock then print the frag plug so it fits exactly on the rock where you want it. Or making different plugs based on the coral you are working with. SPS could fit down into a hole in the plug with no need for glue at all. Mushrooms which are notoriously hard to plug could have a unique plug where they are clipped in place.
Even if price was more for these it would be worth it.
Even if price was more for these it would be worth it.
This is a concept design for four plugs attached by small connections. Once a coral has overgrown the four plugs, they could easily be separated into four separate frags.
I could also print a custom rack that would match up with this quad plug, or I could modify the spacing of the plugs to match existing racks. The shape of the top of the plug could be circle, square, triangular, hexagonal etc
I could also print a custom rack that would match up with this quad plug, or I could modify the spacing of the plugs to match existing racks. The shape of the top of the plug could be circle, square, triangular, hexagonal etc
jporter
New member
I'm someone that hates frag plugs. I've been using Oceans Wonders coral frag rocks along with BRS natural coral frag mounts due to the resemblance of real rock. The discs and plugs look very un-natural to me. I spend lots of time clipping the edges to give them a rough appearance if I obtain frags on them. The lego pattern above would be cool, especially if you could roughen up the tops and edges. Maybe they could be connected via a small tab on the corners. Would be a great way to keep the plugs steady while on the rack and not knocked over by fish or snails. If you used the standard frag rack spacing people wouldn't need to search for new racks. Another idea would be to peg only the center plug, and span 5 or so flat bottomed frag rocks off it. Build some interesting humps and crevices (for separating) on the tops. The frag vendors might like something like this especially for chalices, and the flatter growing SPS/LPS. This is a really cool idea and I'm sure the students get a kick out of doing neat things like this in school. JP
Thanks for the feedback, I'll pass it on to my marine science students tomorrow morning. We just received our 3D printers and are still getting the hang of it.
I'm thinking of writing another grant for an additional printer and Digitizer (3D scanner) so we'll see if I have time to put it together in the next two weeks.
If you look at the original photo of actual prints, the tops are fairly rough already. By overlaying different shapes you could make more irregular patterns if the geometric plugs stand out too much. Also, I need to switch over to the purple filament and see how it matches up with coralline algae.
Is there a pretty standard spacing on frag racks?
Also, what if we made the plug have small bumps to make it catch better when you place it in your live rock?
I'm thinking of writing another grant for an additional printer and Digitizer (3D scanner) so we'll see if I have time to put it together in the next two weeks.
If you look at the original photo of actual prints, the tops are fairly rough already. By overlaying different shapes you could make more irregular patterns if the geometric plugs stand out too much. Also, I need to switch over to the purple filament and see how it matches up with coralline algae.
Is there a pretty standard spacing on frag racks?
Also, what if we made the plug have small bumps to make it catch better when you place it in your live rock?
The first picture had an indentation where gel superglue could be pooled to mount a frag. This hole could be made deeper to accommodate an SPS "foot" or I could put holes in the outer part of the frag top, which would again accommodate thin branches.
Just depends on the type of coral
Just depends on the type of coral
