plant platform

thingiverse

I design a sturdy geometric platform that stands 1.2 cm high with a diameter of 19 cm, allowing you to place plants on it without getting unsightly ring spots where the plant was sitting. This one is much stronger than the commercial unit we had, which broke after some use (you can see the broken version in the fourth picture). If your PLA costs $16 per kilogram, this platform will set you back about $1.60 to make it, assuming a 20% fill setting and a 0.2mm layer thickness that took my printer 10 hours to print. I must admit that the geometric design of the platform looks quite pleasing to the eye, but unfortunately, it gets completely hidden by the potting plant sitting on top of it. The OpenScad file for this design can be easily modified to reduce its density if you prefer a lighter version. The file is very short and can produce a fairly complex design with just a few lines of code. I use these platforms for my 10-inch potting plants, which are 6 inches in diameter at the bottom. Last weekend, I needed two of them and was able to print them both within 24 hours. Here's a breakdown of the pictures: The first picture shows the 3D print as it appears on the printing bed (which is a bit messy due to my preference for using glue stick). There are 192 conical feet, each measuring 6mm in diameter. These small feet provide a smaller footprint that can help protect my vinyl deck. The second picture shows the platform from its right side up, with the flower pot sitting directly on top of it. The third picture is a screenshot of the Slic3r view just before I sent the design to the printer. The fourth picture is the broken commercial unit that needed replacing.