Please check out the new
Bigfoot version!
[Updates: see below]
This is a quite extensively optimized dust collector for standard vacuum cleaners suitable for small 3D printers. It adheres to the wall and leaves your hands free for drilling holes. There are a couple of related devices on Thingiverse but for me they did not really work well. Either the connection to the vacuum hose was too close to the wall, or they did not adhere firmly on rough walls, or they were simply too large for my printer. So I designed one from scratch. It fits vacuum tubes with 35 mm outer diameter which are quite common in Europe, particularly for wet/dry utility vacuum cleaners. Please let me know if you need different dimensions. If time allows I will try to provide a suitable version.
This dust collector has a few rather unique characteristics:
1. It has extremely good adhesion even on rough and uneven walls. This is achieved by following design features:
- A thin "skirt" surrounding the device which reduces leakage. It is a little bit flexible, thus adapting to shallow bumps and dents. It may be a bit fragile, though, so please comment on this.
- A large effective adhesion area, i.e., almost the entire footprint area contributes to the vacuum region.
- A separated vacuum pocket at the back which prevents the device from being easily detached by normal and tilt forces, e.g. when the vacuum hose is under mechanical tension. This pocket is connected to the main vacuum chamber via small bypass channels such that dust does not accumulate there.
2. It is easy to print. No support structures are needed. PLA is a good choice. Just print it in "upright" orientation (see stl file).
3. It is suitable even for very small 3D printers. The size in any direction does not exceed 100 mm.
4. It keeps a distance between vacuum hose and wall, hence it is suited for vacuum cleaners with a larger fitting piece behind the connector tube ("thickening", see first photo). Yet the hose is kept almost parallel to the wall which avoids large tilting torques.
5. Airflow cross section is optimized, there are no major constrictions where the air must be "squeezed through".
6. It is lightweight and only needs ~ 34 g of material.
7. Well, I tried to give it an attractive design, although this is certainly a matter of taste. It somehow reminds me of a hovercraft vehicle :-) Actually, if you think about it, there are indeed some very related design criteria!
Please comment and share your experiences!
UPDATE 2018/03/10: Added file "AdvDustCollector_35mm_tightFit.stl". If the outer diameter of the vacuum connection tube is exactly 35mm (not 35.5mm as in my case) this will fit better.
UPDATE 2018/11/27: Added link to new
Bigfoot version of this thing (thing 3237813).
Some hints:
The only critical part during printing is the topmost region of the thin skirt which needs some time for cooling. Using a minimum of ~ 10 - 15 s layer time (in slicer settings) worked fine and hardly affects the total duration. 20% filling is recommended. I used a 0.4 mm nozzle and 0.2 mm layer thickness.
If you need a slightly different diameter of the vacuum connection (by 1 - 3 mm or so) you can simply scale the thing along the xy-directions (or in all directions if space allows).
Physicator
