Modular Tagging System - For Plants, Boxes, Drawers, ...

prusaprinters

<h4>&nbsp;</h4><h4><i><strong>Update History:</strong></i></h4><p><i>May 21 2021:</i></p><ul><li><i>I have redesigned the tag box: It is now the same size as the plate box, and I made it much sturdier than the previous box. It stacks well with the plate box:</i></li></ul><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:25.28%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/f018d8e0-73c6-4bb0-89f1-2811cf7bb0bd/tagbox.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%2281a69dbb-2282-4e90-973a-2fcb29c1045e%22%2C%22w%22%3A1135%2C%22h%22%3A793%7D"></figure><p><i>April 26 2021:</i></p><ul><li><i>Added tags with clips that you can hang on trees or bushes:</i></li></ul><figure class="table"><table><tbody><tr><td><figure class="image image-style-align-right image_resized" style="width:46.43%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/fbfdc5ce-fb0a-4777-a696-08186a08a917/clips.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%22e07f2e9b-abee-479a-acd8-e7c9573617f0%22%2C%22w%22%3A1432%2C%22h%22%3A698%7D"></figure><p>&nbsp;</p></td><td><figure class="image image-style-align-left image_resized" style="width:51.48%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/c28f4ba0-ded5-4c7c-a515-195c38ada1c7/tree.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%2283c544d2-1e7c-4142-b5af-13fe48678f12%22%2C%22w%22%3A921%2C%22h%22%3A653%7D"></figure></td></tr></tbody></table></figure><p><i>April 18 2021:</i></p><ul><li><i>I also added a box for the tags, so you can store the tags right along with the plates in a drawer. See section “Storage” below.</i></li></ul><p><i>April 11 2021:</i></p><ul><li><i>Added a third layout “vertical” for the plant tags (see photos)</i></li><li><i>The STL files for tags now also contain the correct number of trays.</i></li><li><i>Added links to my other related designs at the end of the description</i></li></ul><h3>Motivation</h3><p>I really liked the idea of labeling plants with 3D-printed tags. But all the designs I could find did have a fixed label in the design. In my garden plants come and go, so I do need different label texts often. Recently, I bought nine different types of strawberries to find out which one would grow best in my garden:</p><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:97.74%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/6110e673-ce00-4e19-ae5f-b73af9073edc/strawberrys2.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%22f2c197d4-dc2f-4f24-ab9a-1c73cb5168a5%22%2C%22w%22%3A1310%2C%22h%22%3A949%7D"></figure><p>Of course, with 3D designs you can always change the label text, create the STL file, go through the slicer and print a new tag. But I really did not want to go through the complete design process each time, for just changing the label text for a new plant. I rather wanted to have a modular system with separate characters to put together a new tag with any text within a minute. This is why I elaborated this design.</p><h3>Overview</h3><p>The design constists of multiple parts, that can easily be assembled to build the tag you want for your plant or for any other purpose:</p><ul><li>Various character plates to build the text from</li><li>A tray to slide the plates into</li><li>A Tag to slide the tray into</li></ul><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/51c17b46-013a-4302-a54f-7e95209a8699/overview.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%22b6bcfe67-c09e-4d5b-9be6-4d9c5b79ff43%22%2C%22w%22%3A1290%2C%22h%22%3A1065%7D"></figure><h3>Features</h3><ul><li>Modular design, extendable</li><li>Slide-in and snap-in design holds the parts in place without using any kind of fasteners</li><li>Source code included (see separate section below)</li><li>All front faces are printed facing to the bed. So printing on a textured plate results in a very nice look:</li></ul><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/f1ba1232-cb66-473b-8b3b-6026571555bb/surface.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%227ecbfe70-9b18-4106-a044-d113a5f1aee6%22%2C%22w%22%3A984%2C%22h%22%3A680%7D"></figure><ul><li>The bottom of the plates have a marking, for not to accidently placing the characters upside down:</li></ul><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/a68701df-060d-47f7-87ad-ded0e74019dc/bottom_indication.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%221bf4e499-7303-4b0f-a3f1-d8d2326a5622%22%2C%22w%22%3A450%2C%22h%22%3A222%7D"></figure><h3>Getting started</h3><p>For making first steps I recomment printing "plates-characters" and "tag-plants_1x80mm" or "tag-1x80mm". So you can check if you like the design after less than 2 hours of printing.<br>Note that you need to perform a color change for printing the plates. I opted for starting with black and then changing to yellow:&nbsp;</p><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/dbe67898-78b3-4329-8e04-aa70ac490171/twocolor.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%221115de56-8069-4fbc-885d-1fc2da2dc96d%22%2C%22w%22%3A1095%2C%22h%22%3A681%7D"></figure><h3>Assembling a tag</h3><p>A complete tag consists of 3 parts: plates, tray and tag. Assembly is straightforward:</p><p>1. Get all the characters required for your label text, a tag of your choice and a tray:</p><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/5ec07500-1a3f-44ec-9c8e-13311c2e2fdb/step0.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%2201dbc483-201f-4dcc-8dfa-437454d90a02%22%2C%22w%22%3A1318%2C%22h%22%3A885%7D"></figure><p><br>2. Slide the plates into the tray. Make sure the plates can not fall out of the tray, by holding the tray like so:</p><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/ad337454-51b6-48da-b5b3-8c8ce44edd7c/step1.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%22fe4b5220-bcea-4e65-8ba0-2f442e91798a%22%2C%22w%22%3A1362%2C%22h%22%3A696%7D"></figure><p>3. Fill up the remaining space with empty plates:</p><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/70185db5-3a4f-46c0-a095-28af05dfbe49/step2.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%22dd754c6c-f826-40d0-89ec-c55ff19a3f22%22%2C%22w%22%3A1044%2C%22h%22%3A403%7D"></figure><p>4. Slide the tray into the tag, until it snaps in place:</p><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/31025874-924e-46f7-8da6-6130cc1729b1/step3.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%220e3bdbbb-6506-4275-9d22-c09b5f4d4890%22%2C%22w%22%3A1255%2C%22h%22%3A627%7D"></figure><p>5. Place the tag where it belongs:</p><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/e5c87721-1d53-49da-9b57-c9b24e287bef/step5.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%221a6aa74f-40cd-4552-bcdc-9fad8442b8dd%22%2C%22w%22%3A1106%2C%22h%22%3A866%7D"></figure><h3>Printing more Parts for more Tags</h3><p>If you like the design, you surely will want to have more character plates. So I recommend printing at least one set of "plates-all" to complete your first set of characters and symbols. You might then want to print "plates-characters_3x" in order to stock up on characters. There is also a set of plates with years ("plates-years") and a set of empty plates ("plates-empty_5x") to fill up remaining space in the trays.</p><p>Finally print any kind of tags, as required for your needs. I have included some variations in the download files.</p><h3>Storage</h3><p>If you want to get fancy - and I recommend so - then go ahead and print a box for the plates:&nbsp;</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/188937eb-edda-4c69-b129-18355f0f9058/box.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%22c5812887-255f-4dc2-aa33-339ad3ffca31%22%2C%22w%22%3A1024%2C%22h%22%3A722%7D"></figure><p>So you can keep your plates organized and assembling more tags is a treat.</p><p>There is also a box for the tags that stacks well with the plate box:</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/e6f0e483-750a-4dc1-8f0f-b5d85fdefd53/tagbox.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%22d936fb95-feb1-49ef-ae32-10ef8c35bd4c%22%2C%22w%22%3A1135%2C%22h%22%3A793%7D"></figure><h3>Details about Printing</h3><p>I recommend printing in PETG. I have provided the 3MF files containing my print settings, so when using PrusaSlicer you can use those settings to start from. Also, when printing on a MK3s or MK3s+ you can use the provided gcode files. For more flexibility you can also start from the STL files:</p><ul><li>All parts are printed lying on the front surface. I recommend printing on a textured sheet.</li><li>The plates are printed in 0.15mm layer height, with a color change from "background color" (e.g. black) to "font color" (e.g. yellow). Of course the empty plates could be printed in one color only, but I decided to also print them with color change, so that one can easily make sure to have the textured side on the front.</li><li>The tags and the trays are printed with 0.2mm layer height in single color (e.g. black). Note that the tags rely on bridging to close the back side of the tag.</li><li>The plate box has been printed in variable layer height (0.2 ... 0.3mm) to speed up printing. There is a color change from "font color" (e.g. black) to "box color" (e.g. white)</li><li>The tag box is also printed in variable layer height (0.2 ... 0.3mm) using just one color.</li></ul><h3>Future Development</h3><p>I am very happy with the current set of tags for all my uses as of today. If you have any ideas for improvements, please let me know in the comments. You can also use the privided source code to make extensions.</p><h3>Source Code and Design Considerations</h3><p>The tags have been designed using OpenSCAD. So you can add any missing characters &nbsp;or symbols. Also the tag can easily be customized by providing the number and length of the lines, the length of a spike - or 0 if none. Also you can have a second column, opening to the right side of the tag.</p><p>I opted for 80mm line lengths for all of my tags, because it seems to be long enough for most purposes and also is short enough for the tray not to become too flimsy.</p><h3>Happy printing!</h3><p>If you like this design, then <strong>please leave a like</strong> and also <strong>post a photo in the comments</strong>. Also check out my <a href="https://www.prusaprinters.org/social/52356-mageb/prints"><strong>other designs</strong></a>. The tags fit really well with the following designs:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><figure class="table"><table><tbody><tr><td><p><a href="https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/60395-rain-gauge-using-advanced-techniques-and-pvb"><strong>Rain Gauge</strong></a>:</p><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:59.6%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/50baba51-6aed-4785-a1ce-ea22595bd500/raingauge3.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%226a6d0a16-c56f-4a2c-8bca-8caf737a7e81%22%2C%22w%22%3A1278%2C%22h%22%3A1472%7D"></figure></td><td><p><a href="https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/63019-colorful-wind-wheel"><strong>Colorful Wind Wheel</strong></a>:</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/73df603d-5813-483f-94b0-77789877d6f8/overview.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%22446dfc3e-499f-4085-91e4-2e9b79bdfdfc%22%2C%22w%22%3A1080%2C%22h%22%3A840%7D"></figure></td></tr></tbody></table></figure><p>Also, inspired by the the tagging system, I created a new design for indoor use, you might be interested in:</p><p><a href="https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/63951-slide-in-label-holder"><strong>Slide-in Label Holders:</strong></a>&nbsp;</p><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/62792/rich_content/038ece17-5849-43b3-9f9f-02b6ede00814/slide-in.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%223b7b3379-3c7d-469f-b7cb-120d85146ab2%22%2C%22w%22%3A1450%2C%22h%22%3A1240%7D"></figure>