3D Printed Frag Plugs
- Thread starter johanasu
- Start date
tcamos
Reef, Crustacean, Puffers
The overall look is great. As for the holdfast I was thinking more like tabs.
Obviously my rendering is crude but it should give you some idea.
The top drawing is from top down and the second is from the side.
The mushroom would rest underneath the tabs which are just large enough to hold it and thin enough to flex for a thicker mushroom. Once it attaches they just snap off.
Obviously my rendering is crude but it should give you some idea.
The top drawing is from top down and the second is from the side.
The mushroom would rest underneath the tabs which are just large enough to hold it and thin enough to flex for a thicker mushroom. Once it attaches they just snap off.
According to the MSDS and Randy Holmes Farley (A chemical expert) PLA is made of a corn sugar. If it were to release anything at reef temperatures it would be equivalent to a VERY low dose of biopellets. Do you have any reference to it releasing "toxins" because that seems highly unlikely.
Mael
New member
on plugs, a slight taper to the stem, make it easier to get them snug in smaller holes in your rockwork and if you move frags around the rack a lot. round, square and hex shaped heads are my fave.
on the discs(round or square) I like thin and since they are being printed maybe make a grid or indentation system on the bottom to make them snap cleanly, and you could still use a saw to cut custom shapes out of it if need be.
For the ones that are four connected together just make sure the spacing between the four legs matches egg crate like the ecotech plugs.
as for PLA, last I read on it this is what stood out....
"Since PLA is made using a ring-opening condensation polymerization, the only contaminants that are released from melting PLA will likely be those in the bulk lactide solution. Since that's ultimately derived from corn or cane sugar in a water-based fermentation, you are highly unlikely to find any toxic vapors or ingredients in PLA, even during heating and molding."
on the discs(round or square) I like thin and since they are being printed maybe make a grid or indentation system on the bottom to make them snap cleanly, and you could still use a saw to cut custom shapes out of it if need be.
For the ones that are four connected together just make sure the spacing between the four legs matches egg crate like the ecotech plugs.
as for PLA, last I read on it this is what stood out....
"Since PLA is made using a ring-opening condensation polymerization, the only contaminants that are released from melting PLA will likely be those in the bulk lactide solution. Since that's ultimately derived from corn or cane sugar in a water-based fermentation, you are highly unlikely to find any toxic vapors or ingredients in PLA, even during heating and molding."
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It shouldn't be hard to taper the peg.
I will see about spacing of the pegs to match egg crate/frag racks.
Discs can be made VERY easily, in any shape. The thinner they are, the faster they print, would just need to see about flow blowing them around. We could also evenly space thin lines, 1mm thick, where the discs could be split pretty easily.
I will see about spacing of the pegs to match egg crate/frag racks.
Discs can be made VERY easily, in any shape. The thinner they are, the faster they print, would just need to see about flow blowing them around. We could also evenly space thin lines, 1mm thick, where the discs could be split pretty easily.
I guess as long as you're not breeding fish.
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/world-of-tech/uh-oh-3d-printers-are-bad-news-for-fish-1308275
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/world-of-tech/uh-oh-3d-printers-are-bad-news-for-fish-1308275
That article is pretty useless as it relates to this discussion, there are dozens of melted plastic filaments and it doesn't specify what they were experimenting with, and it doesn't say if the affect on hatchlings was statistically significant for the melted filament they used. We use plastic beads in biopellet reactors with similar chemical composition to PLA filament, so we cannot lump all plastic together, obviously. As I mentioned, PLA was cleared by Randy Holmes Farley who is a leading reef hobbyist and chemist.
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