Fluorescent Rock Display Stands with PVC pipe

prusaprinters

This is a solution for making stands for a fluorescent rock display case.  Most fluorescent rock displays use shelves stepped like a staircase.  This design uses PVC pipe as risers for individual rocks so you can individually adjust their height & placement.  While it's more work than setting up shelves,  it allows more flexibility, and can help get the most out of a small display and out of an expensive UV light source.  It could work for other types of displays, but in the dark these stands are mostly invisible printed in black PETG.The platform pieces have a hexagonal grid shape, and can be screwed down to plywood.  I recommend painting the plywood with black chalkboard paint first.  #8 5/8" flat Philips head woods screws work well for the attachment.It's designed for two PVC pipe sizes available in USA.  If you can't get the same sizes, see below for notes on editing the source files.  Note that PVC pipes are called by a dimension that doesn't exactly match their real dimensions. Check a sizing chart.  Then measure with calipers since actual pipe you buy may differ a bit!  This is designed for ¾" pipe (Schedule 40 or 80) and 1.5" pipe (Schedule 40 only).  The platform grips the inner edge of the 1.5" pipe and the outer edge of the ¾" pipe. The Schedule 40/80 designation only affects the inner diameter, so it only matters for the 1.5".  Black or grey rigid pipe is best: If you spray paint it, it will scratch off, and it will make it harder to fit the ¾" pipe into the stands.  I've used slightly flexible grey ¾" pipe which is nice to work with, but can slowly droop.  Be careful fitting the pipes into the stands, and also while removing support material, since that's where I've broken parts.  Despite what I read online, pipe color isn't a reliable indicator of schedule 40 vs 80.You can use a cutting tool to quickly size PVC pipe.  Try to cut as straight as you can because it will sit flatter and put less torque on your 3D printed parts.  I got the “AIRAJ Ratchet PVC Pipe Cutter” 2.5" version from Amazon.  It's made of metal and works fine, though I wish it cut perfectly straight.Most of the stands are designed with a sleeve that also fits both pipe sizes.  I recommend to first print both Test_Platform_PRINT_ME_FIRST and Notch_Sleeve_PRINT_ME_FIRST: You can see how well your pipe fits without having to wait for a long print.  Print both of them: The fit is tighter on the rock stand part because it won't flex to accommodate the pipe.  If it doesn't fit well, one option is to edit the Fusion 360 file variables.  I haven't messed with this much, so some changes might break the model, especially if you make a large change.  One thing that would probably help is to keep the product of variables “diameter” and “pitch_per_dia” the same, so the overall hexagonal grid size won't change.If the rock stands I designed don't work for you, you may need to modify them design your own.  Some notes about rock stands:Some rocks fit just fine on top of 1.5" pipe with no stand.The platform itself can be good to hold some rocks in position that would fall down on a flat surface.One model “smallstand_platform" fits directly on top of the platform without the use of PVC.A lot of the stands have tabs you can shorten or remove with tweezers to get a custom fit.Be mindful of print orientation to get good strength,  Some prints require supports and others don't.I did all my prints in black Overture PETG, draft 0.3mm layer height.  It's supposed to be UV resistant.There's much more to building a fluorescent mineral display than arranging the rocks - I recommend browsing www.naturesrainbows.com and also the Facebook group linked there.If you try these models, let me know how it goes!