"The Keep it Dry"

So I have bought beautiful diamond age material, but I have nothing to put it in which does it justice and keeps it dry. Currently zip lock bags and silica gel is just not doing it for me. Looked at buying a auto dry box but at $400 out of the question. I almost have a full sheet of 3mm Acrylic spare and a laser cutter at my disposal, hmmmmmmmmmmm I think as I do boring paper work at work.

Then the answer hits me into the 343rd page of a boring safety standard, the answer I ist think is dry cabinet (dry box etc) with refresh-able descant made out of acrylic to match my tantillus (got keep the Feng shui right eh?). Maybe with a small cheap hygrometer on it as well. Heck if it turns out to be a humidor I'll give it to my mate for his cigars. So to CAD I have gone. This is my mouse there are many like it, but this one is mine..................

However I figure I should ask people there roll/spool sizes/manufactures and I'll see if I can incorporate some of them into the design and then post files up on git for all.

Got spool sizes?

Can't really help with the spool thing since the stuff from china seems to come on different spools all the time. But I do have an idea for your dryer. I used to be a welder and we kept the welding rods in metal box with a 25watt light bulb in it. The bulb kept it just warm enough inside to keep the rods dry and should work with the filament too. Also I use a plastic tool box with all the packs of desiccant from all the bags of filament in the bottom (and just keep them out in the open too).

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Great post WWFP. I've not gotten any filament on spools yet and when I do it'll come from Diamond Age as well, so no help from me as far as sizes go.

I dig the light bulb idea.

I've been thinking about drying filament too and my best idea was to use large foil ziploc-style bags (or any type of bag with low moisture/vapor transmission rate) and create a 3D printed part(s) that could be attached to the bag and allow for low-friction, somewhat-sealed guiding of the filament in or out. I haven't thought it through at all really, but figured I'd mention it since you guys are on the subject. Dessicant packs could be tossed inside the foil bags to suck up any moisture that does get inside.

Right so I have managed to get a bit of CAD time in and here is what I have:

Option A: Spools and Rolls.

• Holds both rolls of material and spools.
• 3 Diamond age (D/A) rolls and 4 D/A spools.
• Measures 350 X 356 X 470mm.

Option B: Rolls only

• Holds spools only however you could stack things on top rails.
• 8 D/A Spools.
• Still 350 X 356mm but height gets pushed out to 550mm ish.
• Rolls can probably just be stacked on middle supports.
• Can fit another silica gel cartridge at back .

Both options sport:

• Magnetic catch via these style magnets [dx.com] .
• Printed handle and hinges, yet to test the idea however.
• Little shelves on door to stiffen the door up. Good for bits and pieces etc.
• Acrylic cartridge at back loaded probably with silica gel. Most likely cat litter stuff as I hear it is cheap. Should be able to dry out cartridge in oven/microwave when it is full of water.
• Little hygrometer on front door. I got one for $20NZD of a ebay style website. Apparently really popular with people breading reptiles. Cut out is 34mm.

So the question is, what are peoples thoughts on overall size? Personally I am thinking about going with the size of option B. Then I can just set up configs in CAD model for both.

Light bulb/heater is a good idea. Elevated temp should help drive water out of material. I probably would not do it myself because knowing my luck the heater would set the acrylic on fire and my house would burn down...... But it should be easy enough to drill I hole in the back and put something in, maybe with a 40-50oC thermal cut off as well.

Just posted an inexpensive 5 gallon bucket dry-box design (based on this thread) on Thingiverse if anyone is interested:
[www.thingiverse.com]

WWFP it sounds like your design is really nice and tidy. This is late but... not sure which option is best and I guess it depends on how many rolls/spools you plan on keeping around. I'd say the bigger the better.

That is a really simple and nice design! Should be good for drying out filament as well. Loving the drawings as well.

I finally finished mine last week, it only holds 4 spools as I am tight for space. Plus it only really is designed to keep the filament dry, assuming the filament is already dry. On the plus side it seems to hold 30-40% humidity and the magnetic latched door works really well.

See the attached photo's.

I was just going to post up drawings/BOMs/model/stl's/dxf's but I see you have posted yours on thingverse instead of github. Is it all clear to post things up on thingverse after the legal mumbo jumble? Is it easier for people to get things off thingverse?

That looks really pro WWFP, I'm loving the umbrella etched on the front

As for posting to Thingiverse I was never too concerned about the legal stuff myself. To me the biggest concern is whether I'm supporting their business by posting my stuff there and gaining them traffic and recognition. Like many others I will continue posting there until there is a good alternative, as it seems to me the best way to get a design in front of the eyes of the open-source community. I think a lot of people on Thingiverse would be super stoked on your dry box design, I know I am.

All the design files for my one are up on github now:

[github.com]

CAD/STLs/DXF/artwork and even artwork for laser engraving are all there if anybody wants them.

What about vaccuum sealing the filament in one of those storage bags they sell for clothes storage?

Ben

Just a note I have updated the files for this on github for this. Added two braces to the door to prevent the door warping and the foam seal breaking. Also I will get onto fixing "bugs" in the metric design this weekend hopefully.

What do you think of using a food dehydrator? I have one that I'm thinking of using.