Vertical Gridfinity snap lock side panels #ThangsBambuContest

Remix of Zack Freedman's Gridfinity system and Bambu Lab's P1P frame files.

So I tried to combine the functionality of the Bambu Lab pegboard modplate with the looks of the pixel modplate and the versatility of the Gridfinity system. I changed the gridfinity baseplates and boxes to use a removable snap lock mechanism that I made, which allows you to just snap parts on and off whenever you like. To use it, there’s a snap lock pin that slots, spins, and locks into the back of whatever vertical mount gridfinity device you want to mount to your printer (demo link at the bottom of description). I have included step files for the entire printer assembly with the side panels, along with the step files for the vertical gridfinity snap lock, base plate, and blank container plates, so feel free to remix everything to suit your needs :D (Edit: I realised that the Thangs preview of the files is a bit wacky, there’s weird geometry on everything that makes them look...plush. I don’t know why this is happening, maybe I messed up surface materials in CAD, maybe Thangs doesn't like 3mf files, but the files all actually have flat surfaces where the warped geometry is, trust me bro, download them or look at the step file previews [they seem to be fine for some reason] to see)

There's two different snap locks, one of them (the default one) is stronger, and needs more force to pull out. The other is weaker, with thinner walls, to hopefully make removal a bit easier. If you do actually make stuff using the vertical gridfinity system, try to use as few snap locks as possible to securely hold the weight of your model, since they can be somewhat hard to remove later (the normal snap lock takes around 4.5kg of lateral force to remove). When removing accessories, place a hand on the printer side panel to support it and stop it from flexing too much and damaging the printer, then just pull the accessory away. I’ve found that trying to remove it at an angle (almost like trying to open it like a book, or snapping a KitKat, if you get what I mean) makes it a little bit easier. The vertical gridfinity system is still compatible with the magnets and screws of the normal gridfinity stuff too - if you need a more secure mounting, you can use M3 screws and if you want something easily removable, you can use magnets instead.

I think I've also attached some really rough sample attachments that use the vertical gridfinity system, including a spool holder, a box, a poop chute, a blank plate that you can print in different colours and attach with magnets (to make something like a pixel modplate, render attached) and a gridfinity bridge thing (for putting gridfinity on your gridfinity and going mad with power >:D [render attached, but preview for this is bugged, you kind of have to download it to see it]) I had some other ideas for attachments too, such as a Lego plate attachment, small tool drawers, snap on hinges for a front acrylic panel, and potentially a plate that has LED lights in it (could be connected to the printer to act as a status light?) but i've completely run out of time to make those happen and i'm typing this at 11:51pm on the final day of the competition so sorry for bad english and barely coherent grammar… (Edit: Turns out the contest ends at 11:59 ET…hate time zones, I still actually have like 6 hours ;w;)

I don’t know if anyone has made something like this before, if someone has, I couldn’t find it in the endless sea of different gridfinity accessories. I really hope all of this is useful to someone, somewhere, someday - seeing more vertically mounted gridfinity models would be really cool. I don’t have a P1P to actually test this model on, so I don’t know if the side panels actually fit well…I’m just going to hope they do. Honestly, all of this could probably be done with the Bambu Lab pegboard modplate too, but where’s the fun in that? :D

Here's a demo of the snap lock system if you're interested: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GxS4Vdr_xEjKxWiMezuIPfnC3Ek3e8J1/view?usp=sharing

More info: The gridfinity system is 42mm x 42mm per unit, so if you want to make something that uses a grid of these vertically mounted gridfinity plates, that’s how far apart the centre of each plate needs to be from each other. As for printing orientations, I printed all of the test models standing up (bottom flat side on bed) which worked well for me. The snap lock pins were printed with the flat side down (the flat U shaped side, not the rectangular-ish one). Note: if you print the locking container plates standing up, you might get a bit of a messy surface where the snap lock inserts - it is somewhat of a large bridge and difficult to get right if your printer is printing too hot or something. If this happens, get a pair of needle nose pliers, and just start pulling droopy strings of filament out. This worked pretty well for me. As stated above, I don’t actually have a P1P to test these models on, so I don’t know the best way to print the side panels, but since the gridfinity system makes the side panels a lot thicker, maybe printing them standing up would be good. Either that, or lying down, gridfinity side facing upwards, with a whole lot of supports. All of the normal attachment points for the Bambu Lab modplates are still here and still work, but if the side plates still feel a bit flimsy, I'd recommend going over the seams with either superglue, epoxy resin, or preferably a soldering iron, to fuse them together and give them a bit more strength. The most updated step file for the entire frame isn't shown in any of the previews, but it should be in the downloadable zip file. It's the one that ends in v23. The Gridfinity on Gridfinity holder's object is bugged, so you can't see the object in the preview (there's pictures and a render attached tho). A working version should also be in the zip file.

#ThangsBambuContest