After dealing with the wood hold down pins that always seem to break or slip at the most inopportune time, I created a 3D printed hold down pin that actually works all the time.
With the proper material and print orientation they should work just fine. I have several designs that I made for my work that have been used for months with no reduction in strength.
I made my hold down pins nearly 3 years ago (at the makerspace before I even bought my own laser) out of Baltic Birch and I’m still using the same set. I keep wondering what everyone else is cutting theirs out of. Now I don’t use my machine as much as some people, but still. Maybe everyone is using draftboard?
Mine are made of Amazon MDF, and I haven’t had a single one break yet. (9 months). And if they ever do, the wood only costs $2 for a 12x20 sheet, and that will make a LOT of pins.
I found that the “T” shaped pins tend to lose grip after a while and for some reason. I think they just get slick from the constant rubbing on the metal. Plus they only touch two sides of the hole, but whatever works best for you. I just know that I was frustrated with the pins not holding stubborn material so I came up with a solution that works for me on my Glowforge and scaled up, also works on my Nova 51.
I just used the T shaped pins that are in the Free Laser Designs category and made them out of the $2/board MDF that you can order from Amazon. To be fair, I am always super gentle with everything in proximity of my GF, but I haven’t broken any yet.