mauricethegangsteroflove
Harmless
Posts: 9
Registered: 2-2-2026
Member Is Offline
Mood: The cat is in charge here.
|
|
3D Printing For The Lab
I found myself in need of a source of vacuum to use with a filtration flask I recently acquired, and lacking a suitable pump I 3D printed an adapter
to connect the hose from the flask to my vacuum cleaner. I hadn't really considered printing lab equipment or supplies before but the adapter worked
well enough, and now I'm thinking of possibilities for custom test tube racks, clamps, etc.
What kinds of things have you printed, or would like to try printing? Nylon filament can be quite heat resistant, and PLA is probably suitable for
many low temp or disposable purposes. Perhaps keck clips could be printable. I'm curious what others have tried, and to hear any success or failure
stories.
"I wonder what this stuff tastes like"
-- Last words of Johnny the chemist
|
|
|
Twospoons
International Hazard
Posts: 1396
Registered: 26-7-2004
Location: Middle Earth
Member Is Offline
Mood: A trace of hope...
|
|
I don't have a lab jack, so I printed some stackable tripod legs so I could raise my heating mantle off the bench.
Helicopter: "helico" -> spiral, "pter" -> with wings
|
|
|
chempyre235
Hazard to Others
Posts: 216
Registered: 21-10-2024
Location: Between Nb and Tc
Member Is Offline
Mood: Quite distracted
|
|
I've done some printing with PLA, and it works well enough for most things. I haven't tried it with lab equipment though. There are a few threads on
this subject:
https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=24...
https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=96...
https://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=15553...
I seem to remember someone printing some beakers and such, but I can't find the thread.
I've also tried ABS, which is more chemical/temperature resistant, but I think I need an enclosure to keep the up the temp while printing. ABS is
notorious for requiring high heat, and doesn't self-bond as well as PLA. Nearly every ABS print I've tried has looked like a Christmas tree, because
the layers didn't stick together well enough, and also didn't cool evenly.
[Edit]: @Twospoons, I don't think printing a simple lab jack would be that hard. It's just a scissor table with a long screw for adjustment. Could be
fun to try.
[Edited on 3/18/2026 by chempyre235]
"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results." -Winston Churchill
"I weep at the sight of flaming acetic anhydride." -@Madscientist
"...the elements shall melt with fervent heat..." -2 Peter 3:10
|
|
|
Deathunter88
National Hazard
Posts: 573
Registered: 20-2-2015
Location: Beijing, China
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
|
|
Consumer 3D printing has come a long way in the last 5 years or so. Before your main choices was PLA, ABS, PETG and at the time even ASA was a new
development.
Now we can print:
PPS and PPS-CF, which is almost as chemically resistant as Teflon.
We have PPA-CF which is almost as strong as 6063 aluminum.
PEBA which I think of as 3D printable Viton-like rubber (it's almost as chemically resistant with a few exceptions).
All of these can easily be printed by the Elegoo Centauri Carbon, a $300 printer. It's frankly amazing what you can do with consumer 3D printing
nowadays.
For example, I recently printed a nitric acid digester using PPS-CF, and it withstood concentrated HNO3 at 120C.
|
|
|
semiconductive
Hazard to Others
Posts: 447
Registered: 12-2-2017
Location: Scappoose Oregon, USA.
Member Is Offline
Mood: Explorative
|
|
I have an elegoo Saturn. I've printed test tube fixtures with it in the past.
I plan on using ground glass dust and the UV curable (thermoset) resin to print a refractometer within a month. It makes high precision parts.
I just purchased a $350 rock tumbler barrel that is stainless steel to do ball milling of glass with. eg: The optical cure resins don't melt, and
become extra strong with glass dust as filler.
|
|
|
chempyre235
Hazard to Others
Posts: 216
Registered: 21-10-2024
Location: Between Nb and Tc
Member Is Offline
Mood: Quite distracted
|
|
Aha! I found it. @Arkoma printed the beakers.
I've got an Ender 3-v2 printer with some upgrades that I bought, like a titanium heating chamber. I haven't put the printer to much use for the last
few years, though. I've mostly done PLA, but I don't seem to have the necessary equipment for high-temp ABS or PPS.
"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results." -Winston Churchill
"I weep at the sight of flaming acetic anhydride." -@Madscientist
"...the elements shall melt with fervent heat..." -2 Peter 3:10
|
|
|
violet sin
International Hazard
Posts: 1502
Registered: 2-9-2012
Location: Daydreaming of uraninite...
Member Is Offline
Mood: Good
|
|
Elegoo centauri carbon
I was on a hot streak yesterday, had that thing running 21hrs almost straight for a 6th grade life skills class, my son was learning economics at a
school function. We did a mess of dummy-13 (PLA /PETG), some articulated dragons/mini-dragons (PLA). So I've been getting more familiar with orca
slicer, trying to find time to get into blender too. I'm slowly getting the hang of adding supports, brims, adjusting scale and size. Taking notes
as I go so the filaments get easier.
I've only printed a few useful things like, light switch/outlet covers before a renewal on our leas walk through. Hoping it will be another boost in
capabilities as opposed to a time gobbling entropy well.
The thing came with a couple reels of PLA-CF so that was nice. Found some reg PLA, PETG, and silk I think at the "bin store" remainder/return lot
seller. A stack of build plates for 1$/EA that are for the X1C. Just a couple mm off from my stock build plate, and they leave either carbon fiber
look or shattered diamond look to the bottom of your pieces, kinda cool.
If I get back into chem hobby at the practicing level, I'd definitely consider printing stuff
Elegoo CC is single color, so this was hand fed in chunks for artistic fun. Definitely don't suggest standing there for an hour on every print, but
in this case it was nice to see what I could do without having automatic color changes.
Hope y'all have a great day
-VS
|
|
|
SnailsAttack
Hazard to Others
Posts: 183
Registered: 7-2-2022
Location: The bottom of Lake Ontario
Member Is Offline
|
|
It's funny that you made this post, because just this month I finally gained access to my school's 3D printer (uses PLA) and figured out how to use a
CAD modeling software (OnShape) specifically to produce custom labware.
I was able to print some early prototypes this thursday. This first one is a highly modular rack for my smaller test tubes. It was too specific to
purchase and too hard to make out of popsicle sticks, the perfect candidate for a CAD solution.
 
Modular approach will let me mix and match parts and easily produce new ones.
Besides this, I also designed another rack to organize the medicine bottles I use to store all my chemicals.
 
 
Was this an unreasonable investment of time and effort just so my chemicals wouldn't have to be stored rolling around in a box? Yes. Nonetheless, I
think this will be a great return on investment, because I am finally, FINALLY absolved of having to make these god damn arts and crafts cardboard
boxes.
As with the test tube rack, the bottle rack is modular. The current 1x3 model is designed so that multiple copies can be coupled by inserting the two
smaller pins. The connection is sturdy enough to lift an entire array of filled bottles.
These projects were both fairly trivial (literally the only design constraint was that the parts fit together and aren't too easy to accidentally snap
in half), but demonstrate that I now have the means to synthesize complex and highly specific items like tools, adapters and fittings, etc.
[Edited on 3/21/2026 by SnailsAttack]
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xpblue/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
