3D printing HP Non Hot-Swap drive trays

[andrewbedia]

Curious. Can anyone here 3D Print things, and if so, how much for (accurately) printing this:

HP Proliant 652998-001 Gen8 LFF Non Hot Plug Drive Tray / Caddy replacement by DennisTheMenace

I haven't gotten it yet, but I have a HP cage that takes NON HOT PLUG trays, which aren't the normal trays. Allegedly, this creation on thingiverse could work.

If these work, there may be a small market for selling these things on ebay. I'm not particularly interested in that, I'm just potentially interested in getting 8 trays made.

 

[Emulsifide]

That's a tough looking print to get done accurately with the small tine on the front upper left side of the caddy. You can't sell this particular object given its licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial.

 

[andrewbedia]

I guess I'll keep it for personal use then. I still might need to get 8 of these printed. We'll see once I get the NON HOT PLUG cages in.

 

[Patrick]

Might this be more of a thread for the DIY forum? DIY and Makers Spot

 

[WeekendWarrior]

Curious. Can anyone here 3D Print things, and if so, how much for (accurately) printing this:

HP Proliant 652998-001 Gen8 LFF Non Hot Plug Drive Tray / Caddy replacement by DennisTheMenace

FWIW, a pretty competitive market exists for companies that will 3D print objects, from CAD files, for small-run projects like this. I don't recall the names of these companies but I looked into something like this and found a lot of companies with high-quality printers willing to do my project.

I also found, however, that the per-unit cost was more than I would typically want to pay compared to mass-produced alternatives that were not quite what I wanted but were substantially cheaper.

 

[andrewbedia]

I can get it printed locally, but I thought I'd toss the offer out here in case someone could be more competitive and wanted the money.

This may also belong in the DIY forum as Patrick said, but this is technically WTB

 

[cheezehead]

FWIW's there are services out there that can mass 3D print smaller things like this for around $5/piece with larger quantities.

 

[voltarc]

Hey guys, been lurking for about a month and finally joined, have a bit of 3D printing experience so might be a bit of help here.

I personally would not print the part as it is, there's enough going on that printing it would require a bunch of support material and may not come out well. If there's interest I can split up the model so the parts can be printed flat and joined with a couple screws.

 

[ttabbal]

I wondered about supports etc.. It didn't fit on my print bed anyway. With the required time and the need to ship it anyway, I would probably just send it to Shapeways or similar. If you own a printer or have someone nearby that is willing to print for you, that's different.

If a split version gets made does fit and you live near Salt Lake, I could probably run a bunch out for you. On a larger printer, you might be able to set it face down on the bed so you end up printing a really tall part, but those side rails are pretty thin, I'd worry they would wobble while printing, resulting in a poor quality or failed print.

 

[TuxDude]

The notes on the thingiverse page do say 'Print with front face down', which should print it with no supports as long as those long legs don't wobble/bend during printing.

As for finding someone close to you to print things for you - check out your local library, many now have 3D printers and will print things for $0.10 / gram or somewhere in that range. Or you could also check out 3D Hubs: Local 3D Printing

 

[voltarc]

On a larger printer, you might be able to set it face down on the bed so you end up printing a really tall part, but those side rails are pretty thin, I'd worry they would wobble while printing, resulting in a poor quality or failed print.

That's exactly what has me concerned, the rails are 2mm thick and 165.8mm long, there's a high potential for failure with the suggested printing method.

 

[andrewbedia]

Well, a friend of mine with a LULZBOT TAZ 4 is printing one to see if it will hold a drive.