3D printed 16g beetle jelly holder

JKim

JKim

Mecynorrhina
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Just for fun!!

I 3D-printed beetle jelly holder. It works fine! Beetles can hold onto it tight, beetle jelly also tightly (but easily removable) held on there.

This design is based on those commercially available jelly holders made out of thin (soft) plastic in brown color.

The color of print is light green, because I printed out with "glow in the dark" filament, and it really does glow  :lol: :lol:

I made two versions. One with jelly holder hole, other one with just a dish like curved hole, where you can place jelly (out of jelly cup) or piece of fruits and home-made jellies.

 
Great idea! I assume it was cheaper than commercial holders as well (if you don't consider the cost of the 3D printer)? 

What species of beetle is pictured?

 
Honestly, I'm unsure whether this will be cost-effective.. Well, I guess it will be a lot cheaper than buying one or couple from Japan, and ship it into the US. Should be A LOT cheaper. Since no one really sells this kind of jelly holder in the U.S. regularly, yea.. I guess we can assume this is cheaper option.

There is a local library in my city where they accept 3D print requests (of less than 8 hours to produce) just for a dollar. I've been considering to purchase a decent and affordable 3D printer to do some hobby works done at my home... Maybe I will produce some more later on if I end up getting it...

The beetle in the picture is Strategus antaeus, female, I collected couple days ago.

 
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Super neat and useful! You have a model file you'd be willing to share? I totally understand if not, but I also have a library with a 3D printer I'd like to take advantage of.

 
Very cool! Just keep in mind that the striations in FDM 3D prints can be highly-collective breeding grounds for bacteria.

 
aspenentomology said:
Could you sand it down to get rid of the ridges?
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You definitely could, or even use vapor smoothing for materials like ABS. A lot of FDM materials, however, will remain porous and not be considered food-safe for reasons of bacterial potential.

For food-safe filaments, I'm not sure if sanding them completely smooth to eliminate the striations would negatively affect the beetles ability to grip the surface.

It's a really cool idea, either way, and I don't know if the same bacterial concerns would matter when it comes to inverts.

 
PowerHobo said:
Very cool! Just keep in mind that the striations in FDM 3D prints can be highly-collective breeding grounds for bacteria.
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@PowerHobo I HAD NO CLUE!! thanks for the info. Well, I guess I can make more and replace it by then. And I don't exactly know what the material of it is, but I'm guessing it is PLA. I saw some people uses vapor of acetone to slightly melt the surface and then dry it out to make it all smooth. Is that what you meant, when you said the following? vapor smoothing?:

PowerHobo said:
 You definitely could, or even use vapor smoothing for materials like ABS. A lot of FDM materials, however, will remain porous and not be considered food-safe for reasons of bacterial potential.

 For food-safe filaments, I'm not sure if sanding them completely smooth to eliminate the striations would negatively affect the beetles ability to grip the surface.

It's a really cool idea, either way, and I don't know if the same bacterial concerns would matter when it comes to inverts.
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@PowerHobo Also, I actually made grooves there about every quarter inch apart. It's just difficult to see it because of the color. I think it should be okay even with the surface being extremely smooth. Attached below is what I drew.

Untitled-1.jpg

 
JKim said:
@PowerHobo  I saw some people uses vapor of acetone to slightly melt the surface and then dry it out to make it all smooth. Is that what you meant, when you said the following? vapor smoothing?
Click to expand...
Correct! Acetone vapor smoothing can be really helpful with ABS parts. Unfortunately, with PLA (and quite a few others like PETG) the only real option for smoothing is sanding.

 
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