I have been using magnets to hold down my various materials since I got the . There are plenty of topics from users who came up with solutions for this, and in addition to magnets, I’m a huge fan of the honeycomb bed hold down pins. Examples:
I had been covering my magnets with tape so that I had something to grab onto to pull off, but sometimes the magnets snapped to each other making it difficult to separate. Also, if the magnet stuck directly to the bed, it was challenging to get them off. I probably could have used a thicker tape, but never got around to changing it. Along comes a 3D printer to my workshop, and decided to print a custom solution. Please keep in mind that this is my first attempt at using Fusion 360 to design something I would actually print off the 3D printer. Everything up until now has been downloaded from Thingiverse or similar.
I went through a couple of prototypes, and ended up with the following. The logo was added purely for aesthetics in case I take pictures or create how-to projects in the future.
I mounted the Neodymium Disc Magnets 1.26" x 1/8" from Amazon in the 3D printed parts and created a cover using scrap cherry to keep the magnets secure. No Glue is necessary. The hole in the bottom is there to not just reduce the amount of plastic, but to be able to push the magnet out of the mold if necessary. I designed the parts to have a lip to easily be able to pull the magnet off the material or bed. The round ones will be used specifically for holding parts down, while the square one could theoretically be used to mark the edges of materials for multiple prints.
****. with the changes gf made to the software, I don’t recommend using these if the laser gantry will pass over them. Print jobs may fail. These worked great before these updates, and now it doesn’t.
That’s an improvement I can get behind. Makes the round ones look so…round. (And isn’t it lucky that I just dusted off the M2 to run a project yesterday…I’m all set up to whip out a few…barring imminent computer failure.)
Not really. I’ll print the plastic parts, you would need to get the magnets and lasercut the tops. Your color choices right now are Black, White, Blue, or Green. I’ll also need to know if you want the round, square, or both. We can figure out how to get them to you once they are printed. I’m headed out on vacation starting tomorrow, so it might be a week or so before I can get to printing them.
I’m trying to print these on my Lulzbot Tax, using Cura as my slicer…and when I import the STLs, there is no scaling. They come in as microscopic, and the system has no idea what size they should be.
Any chance of uploading new STLs with the scale set appropriately? :-/
I uploaded updated versions that I made here: 'Corrected' square GF Magnet hold-downs
I only did the square ones, as I had started similar ones a while back and liked the wooden inlays that were used here, so I included those.
@pubultrastar, I tried to figure out what scaling issue was in your original file but I couldn’t figure it out. No matter what tool I used to open it, they either went to 0.0001% or 1000% as others have reported.
The original file was created in Fusion 360, and then imported into simplify3d, and then 3D printed on my Dremel. I’m not sure where the files are getting messed up but I never had to change the scaling they just imported correctly. Like I said I will look when I get home tonight or tomorrow, and see if I can save the file again.
Not sure how to fix the STL file, so until I figure that out, I have uploaded the gcode that was the output from Simplify3D, and that may work for you. Otherwise, I think that it’s something to do with converting from inches to mm, but still looking.
I got my magnet holders from @pubultrastar (thanks again so much!) and made tops for them with my personal logo engraved on the surface, then infilled with paint. They work great!:
. There are plenty of topics from users who came up with solutions for this, and in addition to magnets, I’m a huge fan of the honeycomb bed hold down pins. Examples:
to keep the magnets secure. No Glue is necessary. The hole in the bottom is there to not just reduce the amount of plastic, but to be able to push the magnet out of the mold if necessary. I designed the parts to have a lip to easily be able to pull the magnet off the material or bed. The round ones will be used specifically for holding parts down, while the square one could theoretically be used to mark the edges of materials for multiple prints.
Gonna make sure my wood is flat… real flat.
