K Cup Tree

thingiverse

This countertop item is designed for coffee aficionados with a K Cup brewer. It boasts modular functionality, enabling you to stack pegs and K Cup holding plates until the tree reaches its optimal coffee capacity, tailored to your personal needs. As pictured, the K Cup tree can hold 21 K Cups, equipped with two large holding plates and one smaller one. A distinctive feature is the goofy ball on top, which might not appeal to everyone, but adds an eerie glow-in-the-dark element thanks to PLA printing technology. The ball serves as a beacon, guiding users towards their coffee stash in the dark kitchen early in the morning. If you're not fond of this design aspect, feel free to exclude it since it's non-structural. On 3/14/15, we updated the holding boards, which now hold fewer K Cups but provide more space between them. These changes are reflected in our "roomy holding board" files. Instructions for assembly follow. Printing Tips: We recommend using a combination of 10% infill and 2 shells for all parts. While it's possible to print without support, we suggest taking this approach to achieve the best results. Low-resolution printing is feasible, but pegs may require standard resolution due to their press-in fit. Additionally, helper disks around the base and holding plates' corners will help prevent warping. Applying a brim to peg bottoms can also aid in stability during printing. Getting Started: To build this coffee tree, you'll need one base piece, and the remaining parts are up to your personal preference. Begin by printing several pegs and assemble them into a shaft. Next, print collars and the desired amount of K Cup holding plates. Insert the shaft into the base's central hole and add collars and holding plates in an alternating pattern until the tree holds enough coffee for your taste buds. Lightly filing a chamfer on the peg holes' inner radius, holding plate center, and base center will facilitate assembly. At first, the holding plates might fit snugly into the shaft made from pegs, but they'll loosen over time and with use or require manual adjustment to achieve optimal performance.