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Show HN: PLAttice, for assembling structures much larger than the 3D printer bed
Struts, nodes, and pins are reversibly assembled into fully 3D printed lattices, trusses, and tree-like structures spanning up to a few meters. I used the system to build a stand for an overhead table lamp which supports a ~1 m cantilevered arm using a tensioned floor-to-ceiling column. If you want to give it a try, find the *.stl files at the bottom of the page; figure ~1 kg of PLA and ~1 day of print time per meter of box truss; pay attention to print orientation; plz respect the license; and definitely print the pin trimming jig.
- brad0 1y agoShowing my age here, but this reminds me of knex. You would get different models but you could make whatever you wanted out of the parts. It was a great creative toy back in the day. I just took a look online and they’re still selling kits. I’m partial to the Ferris wheel. https://www.basicfun.com/knex/ https://www.basicfun.com/knex/
- zakqwy 1y agoKnex is great! I had a small set growing up, but never one of the big dynamic ones. Did you ever come across Capsela? Another fun modular building kit. The floaty set was awesome.
- tonyarkles 1y agoCapsela was really cool! In the end I feel like Lego with the Technics and Mindstorms stuff caught up but for a while Capsela was some of the coolest stuff you could get for making mechanical/electrical systems.
- derwiki 1y agoSomehow Capsela did a better job of teaching me gear ratios than LEGO bricks
- mysterydip 1y agoI've been wanting something like this! I have a box I wanted to print but need it larger than my bed. Will give this a go, thanks!
- zakqwy 1y agoLet me know how it goes!!