DIY 3D Printed Cup Holder Plans

[SharpeCat]

Here's the Overture PLA I'm using for reference. Seems like what you have is a notch above as the better stuff quotes lower shrinkage.

Here's the Overture PLA I'm using for reference. Seems like what you have is a notch above as the better stuff quotes lower shrinkage.

Just realized i misread that. Melting is printing temperature, not actual "will not warp or melt in car" temps.

Past few days i've been reminded that Arizona is a place on Earth, and that some of us may want to travel there one day. I'm back to ASA or ABS as only options, as even PETG will not cut it.

 

[SharpeCat]

I’ve been refining my settings and working on quality/hitting the books by the way. There is one thing I am getting in the mail this week that will let me test ASA/3mm filament. 3mm for stronger/bigger parts like the cup holders, and ASA is the other thing that can survive Arizona desert.

It’s going to take me a while, so for now let’s just say there is no definite ship date. I only have dates in mind to resume printing and I honestly cannot tell you when it will be “Mud Worthy”. That’s up to QC and I need more time before I’m ready to send some off to them!

If you’re bored you can peek my prints and progress on the 1:8th scale RC FJ40s from 3Dsets. I’m going to start assembly tonight on first test print (it’s a big kit). Takes 10 printers 2 days to make 1 kit but that’s all the non cup-holder talk for now: next update will be end of this week, with our first 3mm and ASA test prints.

I am making LC Scale Kits & Accessories for mud!

So i just realized i made this post in the wrong thread, and '71 FJ40 Meet Jiffy - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/71-fj40-meet-jiffy.1284810/#post-14478146 was unintentionally hijacked for 2 posts. My sincere apologies, was honest mistake. I have it bookmarked at the moment as i was...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[SharpeCat]

With that said, ASA may be the best as anyone can print it with any printer; this is a DIY thread after all. Not only is it easier to print, the fumes it gives off are less hazardous than ABS.



It is actually more water resistant as well as more UV resistant.

Also, there is a lightweight version that seems even more promising as well. It expands at certain temperatures, sort of like a very rigid foam; can be used to make RC airplanes actually.

 

[SharpeCat]

Got my first 3mm hotend testing now, so I can tap into my 3mm filaments (cheaper due to low demand); ASA test print coming up this week. I got high expectations for this one, as now only can it do the job of ABS for this purpose, but again, it can be printed by anyone with even the most basic printers (like my $160 hornet).

Although the real reason I’ve been delaying is because I still need to tweak it just a tiny bit for fitment. For now I will run test prints to ensure quality/tune the ASA/printer using it.

 

[SharpeCat]

Caught a big break today, and KVP sent me a healthy supply of Black ABS that i did not expect; i have not paid. I've only had 1 black roll to work with this entire time, and i was saving it til i figured out fitment; that's why the test holder in my car is purple. It's time to remake it in Black and Red (they also sent me a healthy supply of Voron Red ABS).

I've been using the purple one i printed earlier for a few weeks now and haven't looked back, even with non perfect fit. The fact that it holds all my drinks perfectly steady (the left cup holder) is pretty sweet.

ABS testing resumes this weekend with Voron Parts, and resuming cup holder ABS test prints next week. I will warm up by sticking the little parts and get that looking clean, before we attempt the big boy again. I have a lot of settings to look over.

Currently my two challenges are:

1. Sticking ABS on unenclosed machines is not easy. I am fairly certain though, that this can be done without needing upgrades/with what i currently have. The last 3 did stick, but it was a close call on one of the corners; but also the supports too hard to remove. The fact that it stuck is progress though, and i have a couple minor adjustments this time around to hopefully clean things up.

2. I still have work to do to make sure it fits well.

After we get past those 2 challenges, i will look into acetone vapor baths to give the cups a professional finish.

For now/the rest of the week though, i am going to focus on sticking 1 little ABS Voron part at a time.

 

[TeCKis300]

Funny thing. Got in my car this morning after about a week of letting my sister inlaw that's visiting drive the LX to do the tourist thing. It's been warmer with about 95 degree weather days...

My large water bottle didn't fit! Or it's now clearly press fit from what use to just drop into the larger cup-holder space. Had to do a double take to see if I had my usual water bottle.

So while PLA prints at 210*C (~410*F) nozzle temps, it's shrinking like crazy now with hotter interior temps. Maybe ~130F in the sun?

Looking forward to those prints @SharpeCat with more temp resistant materials.

 

[SharpeCat]

Funny thing. Got in my car this morning after about a week of letting my sister inlaw that's visiting drive the LX to do the tourist thing. It's been warmer with about 95 degree weather days...

My large water bottle didn't fit! Or it's now clearly press fit from what use to just drop into the larger cup-holder space. Had to do a double take to see if I had my usual water bottle.

So while PLA prints at 210*C (~410*F) nozzle temps, it's shrinking like crazy now with hotter interior temps. Maybe ~130F in the sun?

Looking forward to those prints @SharpeCat with more temp resistant materials.

Funny you mentioned that, I was actually thinking this past week about making them too big in PLA, then annealing/heat treating them/counting on the shrink to make it fit in the end. I decided against it because even annealing it won’t make it heat resistant enough; we are aiming for Arizona desert standards. That and trying to guess how big to make it and predict the shrink, our time is definitely better spent elsewhere; like just building some dang enclosures lol.

Glad to know the theory at least has some merit to it, at least the shrinking part is dependable lol.

And yes, I am learning the difference between glass-transition temperature and printing temperature as well. It’s the glass transition temperature that we care about for shrinking and warping over time.

@TeCKis300 oh and almost forgot! I’m going to need those dimensions of your water bottle. Or edit the file and send to me for print!

 

[CharlieS]

Funny thing. Got in my car this morning after about a week of letting my sister inlaw that's visiting drive the LX to do the tourist thing. It's been warmer with about 95 degree weather days...

My large water bottle didn't fit! Or it's now clearly press fit from what use to just drop into the larger cup-holder space. Had to do a double take to see if I had my usual water bottle.

So while PLA prints at 210*C (~410*F) nozzle temps, it's shrinking like crazy now with hotter interior temps. Maybe ~130F in the sun?

Looking forward to those prints @SharpeCat with more temp resistant materials.

I had this same issue with a PLA coffee cup adapter my son made for me. I went out to the rig one morning after a hot sunny day and didn't think much of it. My coffee cup didn't fit, and I thought that was odd. My immediate inclination was that my son had printed a smaller one to play a practical joke on me, then I realized that it must've shrunk. We've (he has) since tried to print ABS, but can't get it to work well, even though the printer is supposed to be capable of printing ABS.

I gave up and just bought a coffee cup that fits my holder.

 

[SharpeCat]

I had this same issue with a PLA coffee cup adapter my son made for me. I went out to the rig one morning after a hot sunny day and didn't think much of it. My coffee cup didn't fit, and I thought that was odd. My immediate inclination was that my son had printed a smaller one to play a practical joke on me, then I realized that it must've shrunk. We've (he has) since tried to print ABS, but can't get it to work well, even though the printer is supposed to be capable of printing ABS.

I gave up and just bought a coffee cup that fits my holder.

Not a bad idea for a practical joke lol. What printer are you guys using?

I’m going to be hitting the ABS hard this week after tuning and calibration, and will report what I find.

Are you guys using Cura or Prusa as a slicer? For ABS I like Cura, because they let you set not only first layer width, but also first layer flow. This is important for forcing a very thick first layer width; 1.5 to 2mm using 1 mm nozzle. The more “surface area” to adhere to, the better the chances of it sticking and for longer.

For this cup holder and any big print I highly recommend a bigger nozzle; I bought 20 from AliExpress for less than 10 bucks; .6, .8 and 1mms (also some 1.2 that I haven’t tried).

This was the previous/last attempt that actually stuck. I actually stuck all 4 that batch then ran out of ABS to play with. Since then I have not went back to fix the support settings, as you can see support is too thick to be that close to the print. I will also reduce the gap in between lines as I do not need it to stick. It’s all about that fat first layer then just make sure the AC vent isn’t directly hitting it.

It’s also super sturdy at thicker layers and I’m sure I can get away with less infill (like 5%) and even use only 1 wall. It’s the same as using 4-5 walls at normal layer width of .4mms using .4 nozzle. You can save material while adding strength and greatly reducing print speed, with big nozzles. Also, many thinks you can’t get good prints with big nozzles; just remember to keep layer height low and you’ll be just fine. Reference my shelf brackets made with 1mm nozzle, 1.5mm line width and .3 layer height; took 12 hours instead of almost 3 days to print and is stronger. If I didn’t print them in the wrong orientation they would’ve not broken on the initial tests. Many would not know it was printed on big nozzle and huge widths, if I didn’t tell them.

Anyways, will share all of my settings after a clean print is achieved. So far what I know for sure is high temp, like 110-120 for bed (max my printer will go) and 235-240 nozzle temp (max my printer will go). This should be same parameters for most printers out there (with ptfe in the hotend).

 

[SharpeCat]

It’s a beautiful sight. Gotta thank KVP for spotting me this as I was already behind on my filament bill from first order months ago, so the last thing I expected was more sent my way. I’ve made it my top priority this month to clear my remaining balance with them.

I plan on paying off this batch with selling ABS parts, and cup holders are back on the front burner for test prints! I’m also starting on the Voron Trident this week, after I print ABS parts for them over weekend.

Let me know if anyone needs any ABS lol. They also sent me black in standard PLA as well, 4 dozen rolls per color.

 

[TeCKis300]

@TeCKis300 oh and almost forgot! I’m going to need those dimensions of your water bottle. Or edit the file and send to me for print!

Water bottle measures out to be 90.5mm Larger cup holder hole was designed with a 94mm diameter.

Lots of shrinkage!

 

[SharpeCat]

Water bottle measures out to be 90.5mm Larger cup holder hole was designed with a 94mm diameter.

Lots of shrinkage!

Holy smokes, no kidding!

 

[LTSR]

watching to see what comes out of this, i carry a 36oz yeti and the bh3d one does not fit. i modified the bh3d cup holder to fit to see if i can get the yeti to fit but i ended up throwing it away. i purchased this for now, it's doing well after 6 months: Amazon product ASIN B0752DZ1SB -- it's a bit tall so it can tip over if you drive aggressively.

 

[greynolds]

Lots of shrinkage!

That's supposed to be a too cold thing, not a too hot thing...

 

[SharpeCat]

Revisiting the Voron project this week; this time a trident. I’ve been swamped and have not put as much time into the Vorons as I should.

Also the biggest obstacle now is I have a guest staying In the house, and it’s too hot to leave windows open, so I am holding off on ABS until enclosure and vent is installed on the Vorons.

Anyways, starting on page 1 of another 300 page manual today. It’s going to take some time but I have not given up on the Vorons for these cup holders.

 

[SharpeCat]

I didn’t want to get any hopes up this time as my 2.4 Voron is still unfinished; I sorta lost motivation/hit a couple walls. It’s still a jungle of a mess in terms of wiring; but wired correctly at least, I think.

I started on the trident last week and that’s going much better; as it came with its own cable management system (wire ducts).

Plan is to print wire ducts and copy the cabling management system from the green trident over to the 2.4; so we can have 2 vorons for cup holders.

Shenron - the Green Trident- is officially breathing/I am hoping to run first test print today. Remember the Vorons are being built specifically for this project.

I’m going to print one in original size in ABS after initial testing and enclosure.

Top priority soon will be figuring out what I need to do for a good snap fit.

 

[SharpeCat]

Shenron Officially crawling around.

After initial tests and tuning with PLA, I have enclosures standing by for ABS.

 

[g rant]

watching to see what comes out of this, i carry a 36oz yeti and the bh3d one does not fit. i modified the bh3d cup holder to fit to see if i can get the yeti to fit but i ended up throwing it away. i purchased this for now, it's doing well after 6 months: Amazon product ASIN B0752DZ1SB -- it's a bit tall so it can tip over if you drive aggressively.

Did you buy the $48 Cup Holder Inserts or the $75 Cup Holder? I recently got a 26oz yeti and since the stock doesn’t hold the bottle I bought the $75 one that says it fits the large nalgenes and hydroflasks

 

[LTSR]

Did you buy the $48 Cup Holder Inserts or the $75 Cup Holder? I recently got a 26oz yeti and since the stock doesn’t hold the bottle I bought the $75 one that says it fits the large nalgenes and hydroflasks

i purchased the $75 version. the yeti 36oz is slightly larger than nalgene and hydro flasks

 

[g rant]

i purchased the $75 version. the yeti 36oz is slightly larger than nalgene and hydro flasks

I gotcha. Thanks for the reply! Hoping my 26oz will fit… looks like the width is .4” narrower so