Hey guys. I was wondering if anyone had and ideas / knew of an existing stl for a paper folder or folding document organizer. I couldn’t find anything on thangs or printables that would keep the paper from bending over time.

Anyone have any thoughts or ideas? I would be using this to store print outs and related documents from a pen and paper rpg.

  • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️English
    6•1 year ago

    To store and organize it how? For carry, or for hanging on a wall, placing on a desk…?

    For the majority of ideas that lend themselves towards storing a full sheet of paper flat in some manner – be it a clipboard, clamshell, desk tower paper tray organizer, wall hanger, or similar – I think you’re going to run into the limitation that it will inherently require at least one flat surface slightly larger than a sheet of paper, be it letter or A4 in your locale. And that is likely to be too big for the printing area on the majority of people’s printers.

    I know this is heresy on a 3D printing community but there are applications to which a 3D printed object is not practical or economical. An accordion document organizer is only a few bucks at the office supply store, and you can probably even find ordinary folders and clipboards at your local dollar store. If you must DIY it, I think you’d have better luck making some kind of origami contraption out of posterboard or something.

    • @poejreedOPEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      Yeah, i was starting to get that feeling as i was thinking about it.

      My current idea to get around that is to use cardboard from boxes for the large flat surfaces. Maybe i can make some soft of a frame that snaps together to allow it to bend idk? I’m still thinking

      • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️English
        1•1 year ago

        You could. If you need to make struts longer than your print bed, 45 degree angle dovetail joints are easy to print on any FDM machine in any orientation, and if you leave one nozzle width’s of clearance (0.4mm in most cases) they will slide together with an interference fit quite securely. These could also be glued.

        Also bear in mind that large flat surfaces printed horizontally are the slowest thing to print, since they inevitably require 2-4 complete layers of 100% fill on their top and bottom surfaces. The more long flat things you can print standing on their edges instead, the better.