To build atop of OP's response, the Bambu Lab line of printers are much higher quality than some older printers. I have 3 different ones, and I also just pull them off the build plate and begin using them.
Many modern printers also give similar results, but may require a bit of tuning. Also it's as much about the settings in your slicer software, and most current ones have evolved to have great defaults and are easily tweaked.
I'm potentially in the market for a 3d printer for our office. Mostly for one offs and some prototyping, and we don't necessarily need one but more a wouldn't-it-be-nice kinda thing. The Bambu Lab printers look like they could fit our needs/wants really well, but I'd love to do a bit of compare and contrast before placing an order. Are there any buyer's guides out there you would recommend for hobbyists such as us?
+1 for BambuLab printers. I have an X1C and finally I can work with the printer, not work on the printer. Get an X1E if you have special materials you want to print and/or want an entirely hardwired connection to the printer from the network.
Forum comments have been the best resource for me. (Followed by joining the printer’s users’ Facebook group to see what sort of issues are most common).
The top SEO’d buyers guide websites are pretty useless in my experience.
That said, having owned a dozen different printers for my own business’s prototyping work, the Bambu labs are truly fantastic. I retired 3 ultimaker S7s for 2 X1 Carbons and haven’t looked back. The Bambu labs legitimately print 3-4x faster and have as good if not better surface finish. AMS system is ingenious. Only thing I did was x-y squareness/skew compensation so both printers make the same sized parts (the printers aren’t perfectly square from the factory). There are guides on how to use M1005 gcode command.
On the finishing:
“Of course because I 3D Printed it with a PLA filamanet, it's not as shiny and glossy compared to actuall electronic devices. People use acetone and various solutions to make it shiny.”
The acetone (vapour) approach only works on ABS and is pretty nasty. For PLA your best bet is sanding. You could add some putty to make it a bit easier and get better results. You will then also need to paint it. All in all if the print quality is good enough best stick with that.
XTC 3D is expensive for manufacturing but is really good for these hobbyist projects. It’s really too pricey to do actual production runs with but the results are great if you’re just making something for yourself at home.
If you’re using a color that already has a decent amount of yellow in it or don’t mind the yellowing polyurethane and spar-urethane are also decent finishing options. They won’t work on colors like white though, obviously. Even grey is probably going to see a little too much yellowing from those.
For PPE: an effective respirator is not that expensive, should be wearing them and safety glasses for sanding as well. Only extra PPE you really need for acetone smoothing is some nitrile / latex gloves, and those are fairly standard in shop / art environments anywho.
Also, MEK, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, apparently smooths PLA out quite well too, but if you can print in ABS I would already be doing that for finished products anywho.
I have a Bambu P1S, and I'm fairly sure the prints would look worse after sanding than before. I just use them all as they are, straight out of the printer, and they always look amazing.
The primary thing people complain about is the aesthetics of the FDM print lines. They give the appearance of a hobbyist look. Sanding and finishing is one way to alleviate that. I bet PLA doesn’t sand amazing since it’s mostly just sugar but PETG sands reasonably fine. I have sanded PETG and finished with spar urethane/polyurethane for commercial products to give them a nice professional glossy sheen with no print lines. I mentioned in a sibling comment XTC-3D as another option which is probably the best hobbyist product for this, but it’s kind of a pain to work with and it’s a little expensive. So not great for commercial use. For home use though it’s totally fine and indeed usually gives better results than the urethanes mentioned above due to lack of yellowing and being thicker and better at filling in the lines and giving a smoother appearance. People could honestly probably just use that product without sanding and be mostly happy with it because it does a good job of hiding the FDM lines even without sanding
Question: Most docks have ample space around the phone to grip it and remove it from the dock easily. Your design encases the phone on every side. How do you get the phone out in the morning?
I'd watch Superfastmatt's latest video on the subject, although I think there is one competitor in particular that is supposed to be a similarly good experience.
In theory, with parametric design (eg OpenSCAD, Autodesk Inventor, etc) a model could allow you to enter the phone dimensions and it automatically re-calculates the correct geometry.
In practice, experience says doing this (in a robust way) is a lot harder than it sounds. ;)
It's not really that much harder, as long as you know which dimensions you want to be variable from the start. Going back and changing everything after the fact is a massive pain.
I think it's doable with a parametric design in Fusion but it is definitely more work up-front or re-work after you have a working version. Getting a well parameterized and set of constrained sketches can be a time consuming process since I don't do it every day. It's probably the part I've struggled with the most in making 3D printable designs (I'm not OP but design cosplay props for my kids) since I don't always know what I want the final dimensions to be.
How’s the weight of it when the phone isn’t docked? Perhaps you could add an insert for a steel plate on the bottom so it has a nice feel when the phone isn’t docked?
It's not a lot, because I printed it with an infill of 10%. You can increase it, and make it around 40% or 50%. Some people also use sands to make it heavy. For now it doesn't bother me and I think because I'm putting other things on top of the tray, it doesn't move around easily.
It can be a bit painful to get hold of, but I’ve been experimenting with micro-suction sheets, which allows you to “stick” things down to smooth surfaces, without adhesives (the material surface is full of tiny pores that act as millions of mini suctions cups). And allows you to easily remove, and re-stick them later without leaving any goop behind.
It’s a nice way to stop these types of 3D prints from sliding around in surfaces, without having to resort to weights or lead shot, which it way more painful to integrate that you would expect.
Thanks a lot for your support. A friend and I looked into the economics, but the lowest company willing to print was around $63. If you know of any services that provide 3D printing, I am happy to look into it.
I haven't downloaded your model but https://www.i-solids.com/ (US-based, FDM and MJF) and https://www.weerg.com/ (Italy, mostly MJF ) will both do instant quotes and you might get reasonable prices from them at scale. PCBWay and JLCPCB in China will also do 3d printing at reasonable volume, if you want to get an idea of a baseline price.
Competing products such as the Nomad stand, Zen, Courant tray are $100-140. I happily paid for each.
The design and high quality materials were worth it to me for the same reasons you wanted this design — it is functional art and doesn’t look out of place next to my other quality items I see and use daily.
I could see paying $120 for this dock. I bet this is the kind of thing that would succeed on Kickstarter. Sure, I could print and assemble it myself but that would cost me more than $120 in parts and labor.
I believe they want a minimum order of $1000 and only allow me to print it in a single color. Honestly, providing a physical good is a whole other set of issues with which I have no experience at all.
It looked like his design incorporated space for a standard case.
Actually, without a case I think there might be an interesting edge detail.
That wouldn't affect functionality, and look cool too!
I use a case for grip, not for the protection it provides. I'd be dropping this slippery device pretty often otherwise. I haven't been able to go case-less since the days of the iPhone 4.
> Apple fixes or replaces it for free
Where? In the US they charge $29 and up for repair with AppleCare+. $29 for the screen, $29 more if you damage the glass on the back too. $99 if you damage the camera or anything else that requires replacing the phone altogether.
HN revolves around YComb and finding ideas that make great products. Someone has come up with a brilliant solution and someone else is saying they want to buy it. HN isn’t about “hacker” purity, it’s about thinking through cool ideas and maybe finding a startup along the way.
Building your own, idk, mechanical keyboard? Hackerish thing to do, sure. But buying someone else's cool design is not against "the ethos", that's a silly thing to say. Supporting artisans in their craft is Good, actually, I don't see anything about this design which make it different that way.
that's a weird notion of hacker purity. did you write your own kernel and compiler and web browser, on your own CPU that you built from transistors you made in your parents garage? and then connected to an Internet of your own creation? or did you "outsource" some part of that process to others?
Yeap, so I added the instructions on Gumroad's page (where you download the 3D file). I printed it where the bottom is touching the plate. And support is minimal supporting the tilted part of the model.
I might upgrade soon anyway but is there something preventing iPhone 13 Pro to not fit? I'm not aware of any changes between that one and 14, 15 and 16.
Actually probably not. Does it have the same size as the 14 Pro ? If it's the same you can use it with no issues. All the orange photos you see are from an 14 Pro, so it should work nicely.
I did all my CAD work via https://www.shapr3d.com/. It runs on multiple platforms, but I use it on my iPad Pro. There are many other options, such as OnShape, Fusion, FreeCad etc.. However most of them have their own quirks
Onshape: It's public domain on Hobbyist plan, so anything I create has to be by default Public. The next plan they have is $1500 yearl
Fusion: This is the most recommended one, however it's macOS and Windows only. Their Hobbyist plan is pretty generous, but the UI is very slow on macOS and it doesn't have an iPad app.
For me, the iPad Pro is a huge enabler. I don't want to sit down in front of my MacBook because I already work the whole day. Second, with the Apple Pencil it's so much easier and intuitive compared to anything else.
The only ceveat with Shapr3D is the cost. I paid for the yearly subscription, which was around $299. And it's the cheapest of all of them btw.
I see a couple of sibling comments giving you great tips already. I am still in the painful stage of failing my way to success (though closer to the end than the beginning)
I will suggest a few things. Follow up each of these points with more research if you can.
Spend as little money as possible and prove to yourself you’ll actually like it. Then buy only the good tools you actually need for the project at hand. I have tools I bought that remain unused and I regret spending the money. Its not the tool’s fault but me going in a different direction.
It doesn’t matter what species of wood your first projects use. Prefer wood with straight grain and you should be fine for your first half dozen projects.
Read widely or watch many YouTube videos. There’s a lot of space for ideas, from carving spoons to making stick chairs to making furniture of any style. Note what inspires you but be aware the path to making what you like may take awhile.
First project: make a cutting board (only one piece! Learn how to make it look great and learn a finish) Second project: make a simple box (learn how to make things square, learn some simple joinery)
Safety first! I put this last so it’ll be the first thing you remember. There are so many ways to ruin your health, from breathing sawdust to using toxic finishes. Hand tools are generally better for your lungs than power tools. Soap or wax finishes are healthy and easy to apply. Just about everything else is toxic and you must protect yourself accordingly. Invest in safety glasses, masks and gloves. And a first aid kit.
Woodworking is an extremely rewarding pastime and I hope you get hooked. Best of luck!
He's got a very nice approachable style (almost the Bob Ross of woodworking?) and has some great beginner videos. He also sells a course with plans for gradually increasingly challenging projects. No affiliation, just watched a lot of his videos when I was first getting started with woodworking.
There are also (as you'd expect) thousands of other Youtubers doing woodwork, too. Steve's just a great starting place.
Learn to sharpen tools properly. A sharp chisel and plane, and something like a Japanese pull saw to handle the big stuff (with a measure of delicacy due to its flexibility) will get you an impressively long way. But such implements can dull quickly, and there’s nothing more dispiriting (or dangerous) than a dull tool.
See if your local community college offers a class. I know that's not a sexy answer but I think there is something to be said for having access to all the big tools and not filling up your garage with random bits of lumber before you know how serious your interest in woodworking is going to shape up to be.
While conventional tools are nice and necessary, having access to a gantry CNC machine for cutting wood is a HUGE thing.
A CNC makes many projects a single step. Anything having to do with cutting plywood to non-rectangular shape or stencils or carving letters or ... yeah, do it on the CNC.
And, even if the project isn't a single step, a CNC can compress a bunch of steps and make the project way easier. And even the canonical "cutting board" may require the CNC for a flattening pass (edge grain through a planer has issues).
I follow your journey with admiration, Fatih, and I want to say that you are truly an inspiration. Congratulations on building something exactly the way you envisioned it—a remarkable achievement that is often overlooked but incredibly difficult to accomplish. Eline sağlık :)
>I'm still astonished by what you can do with CAD software and a 3D printer at home.
I really want to get into 3D printing, for neat hacks like this, but also because I've been fiddling with arduino and similar and find it difficult to really find good parts to mount them on, attach servos too and so on. Would be nice to just be able to print something that I know will fit even just for prototyping.
Anyone have a good suggestion for a 3D printer that is good quality, will last a while, and beginner friendly?
One criticism of Bambu that I've heard is that sending prints over the network requires the public internet, which is not true with Prusa, which can do local-only network printing.
I bought the Prusa Mini+ kit. It was educational, but a few months later I upgraded to a Bambu Lab X1C. It’s a much more expensive machine, but the print quality and consistency are worth it.
With the Mini, I was hesitant to try things because I was afraid the prints would fail and I’d spend forever calibrating things. With the X1C, I can crank out prototype iterations as fast as I can design them.
If you aren't sure you're going to pursue this for the long run, think about joining a makerspace/hackerspace first and trying out theirs. On the downside, many people with varying degrees of skill have used the machine and it may not be factory fresh in performance. On the upside, given a vibrant makerspace, there's somebody there who's responsible for upkeep and can help you over some of the bumps in the road.
Bambu is surely the best option if you have the money to spend, but I wanted a budget option, so I got a used Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro for 150€ and I'm extremely happy with it.
I'm shocked by how well the prints come out and how little fiddling it requires.
I've set it up with Klipper now with an old mini PC I had around and a Playstation 3 Eye camera, feels nice to put old hardware to use and controlling / monitoring prints remotely is neat.
+1 to all of the recommendations for anything by Bambu Lab. It's as close to plug and play as you'll get. (Personally I feel the P1S with the AMS combo is the best value to price, but you really can't go wrong with any of them)
I’ve also had a good experience with my SV06, though if I were buying a new printer to replace it now I’d probably pick a Bambu.
It does require some tinkering and few minor upgrades (nylock mod for bed levelling, oldham couplers for Z-wobble) to get good results as well as plenty of profile tuning, though now I’m there it’s been rock-solid.
I just got a Bambu Lab A1 (Combo with AMS lite, which I can also recommend) and am really impressed how smooth and well designed everything is. They really put a lot thought even into how the product is packaged and assembled. The few parts that you need to assembly yourself are all color coded (but after installing the color coding is hidden).
With my good old Ender 3, almost every print required tinkering with settings, otherwise print quality was bad or prints straight up failed. It was great for learning about 3d printing but with the A1 I can just print everything in much better quality without worrying about any settings.
I only noticed recently that people are now printing in multiple colors (materials?) in one go - is that a new thing? Maybe something this manufacturer integrated?
Bambu Labs has the AMS, Automatic Material System that sits on top of the printers and makes multicolor printing pretty easy, holds 4 colors but you can link units together for up to 16. There's other companies that provide other multi-color solutions for other printers but Bambu's P1 and X1 series with the AMS really took off in the last 2 years.
If price is no option, Bambu labs is the way to go.
If you are tryna get a 3d printer on a budget, any of the Creality Enders, like the Ender 3 or the CR-6 MAX are good starting points within the ~$200 range.
Looks like the A1 is $489.00-$559.00. A $170-$200 3d Creality printer still fits into a different category and pricepoint imo for beginners on a budget.
I have a cheap Ender 3. I’ve had it for about 5 years and it’s been just fine. I did do a few upgrades along the way that helped a lot (bed leveling probe l, direct drive extruder, and second z axis screw drive). Figuring out how to add those was part of the fun.
If you wanted something more production/out of the box ready, you can certainly find it. But it doesn’t have to be a big initial investment. You can start small and then upgrade as you go.
I got myself a Ender 3 V3 SE for christmas, and it has served me very well once I got used to it, especially once I hooked it up to a pi running octoprint. However, I've heard that the Bambu printers are generally the most "plug and play" you can get
Adding the autoleveling probe and firmware made my Ender 3 usable. I still try to make sure the bed is somewhat level, but I agree that this is a must-have feature.
I used to joke that my favorite tv show was just spinning a model around and around that I was working on in freecad or kicad or openscad. It's honestly still my favorite tv show.
If you want something that just prints, and want to spend absolutely no time fettling or upgrading the printer, then either Prusa (which I can speak to) or Bambu. Bambu has leapt ahead of Prusa in terms of features, though. They’re more expensive than some competition, but you’re paying for the simplicity.
Another +1 for Bambu. Recently replaced an older Ender 3 with P1S and it's been a breath of fresh air. Ender was much cheaper but the many, many hours I spent on tweaking both the software and hardware... I was many times ready to give up on the whole thing.
Same. I struggled and struggled to print things on a two year old Qidi that just worked on a Bambu Labs X1. The Bambu has limits but they are in a very different place. The pace of development in this area is wild. Patent law may be slamming on the brakes though.
I suggest do a search for "makerspace" in your area - They can help you build the project & you can learn how to do it, and you might meet some great friends in the process.
I just get bambulab p1s a few weeks ago. My goal was to find “iphone of 3d printers”. It is still not there but it’s as close to “press a button to print” as possible. So far I’m pretty happy with the device and software.
I like the design but it seems rather complicated with all the little crevices and such.
1. I would like to see just a solid block on the front, redesign it so when I stick the phone to the MagSafe, because it will hold, the phone completes the design rather than fitting it into the hollowed out piece. The phone should be able to just be placed on the front and let the MagSafe hold it in place. I should be able to just grab my phone and go, not have to poke it from the back.
2. The MagSafe charger used is fine for proof of concept but I would like to see the MagSafe part better integrated into the stand like it is with the TwelveSouth HiRise 3 (not the deluxe)
1. In the blog post I actually worked on that for a few days. But I didn't like it as much I liked this one.
2. Unfortunately the default Apple MagSafe charger that I can use as a customer isn't easily bendable like that. TwelveSouth and other companies use custom parts, so it's possible to integrate them in a better way.
There would be no need to “bend” the MagSafe charger. The TwelveSouth design keeps the entire MagSafe area (I.e. everything within the ring of magnets), completely flat. I doubt Apple would let you customise the MagSafe connectors physical properties if your within their accessories program.
Depends how fussy you want to be. But it would be pretty easy to design the MagSafe holder so you insert the charger from behind, and there’s a thin layer over the front to hide the charger itself.
Or if you want to get really fancy, the MagSafe magnet arrangement is well documented, and you can easily buy adhesive magnets that arrive in the correct pattern and orientation, which would allow you to embed the magnets completely within the print, and later add a standard Qi charger to provide power.
I’ve personally torn down Qi chargers and embedded them in furniture to create completely integrated, and “invisible” wireless chargers. On the whole it’s pretty easy todo, only major downside is higher power losses because there’s more space between the charging coil and the phone, and your coil alignment will be less accurate than Apple. But it’s still a completely functional charger.
This is awesome and a great demonstration of where 3D printing and a bit of design nous can get you
Last year I tried to design my own magsafe stand but it was proving to be too complicated to meet my criteria of looking good and be stable (the 15 Pro Max is big and heavy) and I didn't want to go down the route of making many prototypes/iterations so I ended up just printing a design someone else made [1] and it's been solid.
> This particular design stuck with me. Initially I was spectical about it, but the more I looked at it, the more I loved.
Spectical sounds like an improvement over skeptical since it implies that you keep looking and don't just dismiss. If this was a typo we should consider it a coinage and run with it.
Alternately: Spectical - Specification skepticism. Doubts based on technical specifications that may later be assuaged by real world performance. "I was spectical of the Nintendo Switch because it had nine year old CPU, but it still delivered games that were more fun than the Xbox X or PS5."
I understood your parent comment as thinking of it in terms of “spectacles” (i.e. glasses) rather than “specification”. Emphasis mine:
> it implies that you keep looking
As in “On first glance I was spectical the chair could hold enough weight, but the more I looked the more I noticed little details that improved its strength”.
"Spectical sounds like an improvement over skeptical since it implies that you keep looking and don't just dismiss. If this was a typo we should consider a coinage and run with it."
That's very cool! I can imagine using it with an old iPhone as a permanent, cloud-connected alarm clock. Would save having to pop the phone in and out every time.
I would love to get my hands on the CAD-Files to fit my Pixel 9 Pro to this case.
Also, has anyone found a nice solution for a "Standby Mode" Equivalent for Android? I tried a Daydream-Screensaver, but with that my phone get really hot and it also was very bright.
But I can see the advantages in making the phone still be the alarm clock, or else you'd run into problems w/ having an alarm on both the phone and on the clock. Plus it would be nice for the display to change if e.g. someone is calling me in the middle of the night. I can see why the design is the way it is, since presumably none of that would be possible if the dock is just a wireless charging cradle.
It reminds me of the cool ways the wireless charging dock for the HP Touchpad let you turn the tablet into an ambient clock or a digital photo frame, all the way back in 2011.
I also checked that first, unfortunately according to the Amazon reviews (Can't always be trusted) it seems to have some issues with positioning for charging where you have to place it pretty accurately to work.
I love this design. And this particular design and application highlights one neat property about 3D printing at home: you could have an open source design that is easily tailored to the end user's phone case (of which there are endless variations) and their personal everyday-carry pocket items.
Nice. I saw Scott's original design and thought it was very classic but wasteful of filament, and this one feels like a good replacement for my current MagSafe stand (which is also 3D printed).
I would like to see a parametric version for older iPhones, though (I have a 15 Pro, but there are others in the house...)
I just had a brief stab at this using OpenSCAD. The bottom curves are tricky (and of course OpenSCAD's lack of bevels and fillets is a pain), but it seems doable--given time.
I've had an idea for a dock that turns your smartphone into a landline of sorts. Plugs into an actual corded phone base and only rings the physical landline phone.
I remember at some point some novelty shops selling bluetooth and wired phones resembling old school landline phones, those could be a useful starting point for such a design.
qq: did you print it with supports?
this looks awesome. i printed the other version you mentioned in the article, but it didn't quite solve my nightstand problems, which you correctly identified and fixed with your tray. and it looks great!
really nice to see well designed, useful 3D printable products.
These kind of designs are essential for 3D printing to graduate from printing baby yodas only. Also, the high-quality photography and documentation helps a lot to go for the 3D print over temu.
You can. It adds a lot of work! It's surprisingly tough to sand. And sanding makes it look bad, so you end up having to use filler primer and/or bondo, then more sanding, and more painting. Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTE9bJyUO_8
Yes, you can. If you want to do that, I'd recommend to print in ABS though. It's easier to sand and you can use vapor smoothing afterwards to get a very smooth and shiny surface.
Printing ABS is more challenging though and the fumes tend to smell.
I remember when Apple sold standing docks with their iPods. In another world, this would have easily been an Apple accessory. And for the same reason the author built it.
It's not unheard of [1]. It happened a number of times in my iPhone ownership that the phone became significantly hotter than usual for no apparent reason.
> I might post occasionally, which will probably be a link to my blog post or a few honest questions/insights. I'm not leaving, of course, but I won't be active there anymore.
Actually, both are used for pushing out. I made it so both left and right-handed people can use it. The cameras are already taken into consideration, and you can use them on both horizontal sides.
SYJ[1] is one of the coolest creators on YouTube, if you haven't checked him out, I highly recommend it. His videos are very "hacker" in nature, and the film work is basically art.
OP here. Of course, there are commissions and taxes. First, you can download it for free, but you can tip (donate) any money. Say you gave $10; around $1.5 goes to Gumroad. And then, of course, I'll have to pay income tax on the rest, depending on your country.
Very cool. I've been tempted to buy a 3D printer for various little things like this but have yet to make the leap.
For those who haven't tried using standby mode as a bedside clock, I recommend it. Started using it maybe a year or so ago after buying a prebuilt magsafe stand, and the OLED panels that have been in most iPhones for several years now are very well suited to the use case — the panels can get quite dim (latest models go down to 1 nit!), there's few pixels lit up in the first place, and what light does get emitted is a sleep-friendly red. It's like the old red 7-segment display alarm clocks but even better since it's not as bright and turns off when no motion is detected.
It has definitely become an invaluable tool for taking care of things around the house for me. Things like broken light switch sliders, under desk mounts, things related to cable management, and any sort of custom bracket.
Going back in time though, I should have paid up for something with auto-leveling from the start. That is the most important feature. After using the $100 Ender V3 Pro for several years I'm probably going to make the jump to something from Bambu soon.
I heartily recommend the Bambu printers. I started with a Creality CR10, then an Anycubic Photon, then added an Ender 3 Pro. About a year ago I picked up a Bambu P1S and I was blown away. It's way more than just a step up from an Ender. Auto leveling, way, way faster, etc.
I also ended up adding the AMS, which is super handy.
Over time my conclusion with 3D printers is that the capital cost of the printer is (within reason) largely irrelevant. Unless you're on an extremely tight budget and are going to print in just one color, the cost of filament pretty quickly dominates. Especially with the inexpensive printers. $20-30 a pop adds up in a hurry.
OP here, yeap. Here is a list of books I have and recommend:
* Braun, Designed to Keep (Phaidon)
* Dieter Rams (Phaidon)
* Bauhaus (Taschen)
* Dieter Rams, So wenig wie möglich (it's in German, but there is also an Englisch version, from Sophie Lovell)
Yeah people were showing off something very like this on YouTube a week or two ago. And that’s actually the second time I’ve seen these. I think you got scooped bro.
I came here to see if anyone is selling them. I don’t have a printer.
If you read the post, you'll see that OP was inspired by a similar design (which is linked as an embedded YT video) but designed his own to fit his other needs, i.e. making the back part a tray.
Article clearly says that he saw the existing ones and decided to tweak it for his use case? He didn't say he invented and patented it. Weird thing to complain about.
I've used Xometry and JLCPCB (in China) to 3d print stuff but it might be expensive for a larger thing like this. I now have a Bambulab P1 at my office.
I’ve used a local library. Their print settings are usually turned down in density, and you end up with a print that’s filament held together with boogers.
The integration of multiple functions (tray, charger, clock) into a single unit is a clever solution to bedside clutter. However, have you considered how this might impact the flexibility of use? For instance, what if a user wants to charge their phone elsewhere or use the tray separately?
Seems like it should be a dumb LCD clock in front with the phone dock behind it. Now the iPhone can be grabbed off and used in an emergency. The BC21 shown is close, but the alarm and other features are redundant.
There's an eject button to let you grab the phone, and the phone exits standby as soon as it disconnects from the charger - I don't get what problem you are trying to solve?
2) An independent time display also would be a tiny load, so the trickle vampire energy isn't being wasted.
3)Removing the only moving part also simplifies using the phone immediately. Do you want to be fumbling with an eject spring latch when someone is having a heart attack?
4)Compatibility: Now it works for Android, iPhone, Blackberry, or whatever other devices already use wireless charging.
From the OP's repy in another thread it appears that ejecting of the phone was not initially shown/written about in the first iteration of the blog post. Maybe the parent comment only saw the post before the update.
OP here. Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll be happy to answer them.
Your entry doesn’t discuss the finishing step between printing and use.
My experience has been that a great deal of sanding and other tool use can be needed to get to smooth results.
Did you go through a finishing process after printing to get to the smooth results you show here?
There are none? All the photos are straight from my Bambulab X1C. I used eSun PLA+. No special treatment was done.
That’s awesome.
I've also been shocked at how little post-processing prints off a Bambu printer need. They're pretty amazing machines, right out of the box.
To build atop of OP's response, the Bambu Lab line of printers are much higher quality than some older printers. I have 3 different ones, and I also just pull them off the build plate and begin using them.
Many modern printers also give similar results, but may require a bit of tuning. Also it's as much about the settings in your slicer software, and most current ones have evolved to have great defaults and are easily tweaked.
I'm potentially in the market for a 3d printer for our office. Mostly for one offs and some prototyping, and we don't necessarily need one but more a wouldn't-it-be-nice kinda thing. The Bambu Lab printers look like they could fit our needs/wants really well, but I'd love to do a bit of compare and contrast before placing an order. Are there any buyer's guides out there you would recommend for hobbyists such as us?
Just buy a Bambu. You won't regret it. I bought one after ten years of printing on more OSS designs, and I wish I'd gotten one sooner.
If your hobby is 3D printing, get a Bambu. If it's 3D printers, get anything else.
How does it compare with the recent Prusas?
+1 for BambuLab printers. I have an X1C and finally I can work with the printer, not work on the printer. Get an X1E if you have special materials you want to print and/or want an entirely hardwired connection to the printer from the network.
> I can work with the printer, not work on the printer.
That's what sold me on getting my Bambu, and it's totally true. No need to spend hours carefully aligning and calibrating things.
Just buy an A1 with the AMS, cheap as hell, other people’s blabla is hardly applicable to you. It is like just more than 400 usd.
Forum comments have been the best resource for me. (Followed by joining the printer’s users’ Facebook group to see what sort of issues are most common).
The top SEO’d buyers guide websites are pretty useless in my experience.
That said, having owned a dozen different printers for my own business’s prototyping work, the Bambu labs are truly fantastic. I retired 3 ultimaker S7s for 2 X1 Carbons and haven’t looked back. The Bambu labs legitimately print 3-4x faster and have as good if not better surface finish. AMS system is ingenious. Only thing I did was x-y squareness/skew compensation so both printers make the same sized parts (the printers aren’t perfectly square from the factory). There are guides on how to use M1005 gcode command.
On the finishing: “Of course because I 3D Printed it with a PLA filamanet, it's not as shiny and glossy compared to actuall electronic devices. People use acetone and various solutions to make it shiny.”
The acetone (vapour) approach only works on ABS and is pretty nasty. For PLA your best bet is sanding. You could add some putty to make it a bit easier and get better results. You will then also need to paint it. All in all if the print quality is good enough best stick with that.
XTC 3D is expensive for manufacturing but is really good for these hobbyist projects. It’s really too pricey to do actual production runs with but the results are great if you’re just making something for yourself at home.
If you’re using a color that already has a decent amount of yellow in it or don’t mind the yellowing polyurethane and spar-urethane are also decent finishing options. They won’t work on colors like white though, obviously. Even grey is probably going to see a little too much yellowing from those.
For PPE: an effective respirator is not that expensive, should be wearing them and safety glasses for sanding as well. Only extra PPE you really need for acetone smoothing is some nitrile / latex gloves, and those are fairly standard in shop / art environments anywho.
Also, MEK, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, apparently smooths PLA out quite well too, but if you can print in ABS I would already be doing that for finished products anywho.
I have a Bambu P1S, and I'm fairly sure the prints would look worse after sanding than before. I just use them all as they are, straight out of the printer, and they always look amazing.
The primary thing people complain about is the aesthetics of the FDM print lines. They give the appearance of a hobbyist look. Sanding and finishing is one way to alleviate that. I bet PLA doesn’t sand amazing since it’s mostly just sugar but PETG sands reasonably fine. I have sanded PETG and finished with spar urethane/polyurethane for commercial products to give them a nice professional glossy sheen with no print lines. I mentioned in a sibling comment XTC-3D as another option which is probably the best hobbyist product for this, but it’s kind of a pain to work with and it’s a little expensive. So not great for commercial use. For home use though it’s totally fine and indeed usually gives better results than the urethanes mentioned above due to lack of yellowing and being thicker and better at filling in the lines and giving a smoother appearance. People could honestly probably just use that product without sanding and be mostly happy with it because it does a good job of hiding the FDM lines even without sanding
It looks beautiful, thanks for the write-up!
Question: Most docks have ample space around the phone to grip it and remove it from the dock easily. Your design encases the phone on every side. How do you get the phone out in the morning?
Thank you. Check this tweet out: https://x.com/fatih/status/1836691756965933084
There are two holes on both sides (for both left- and right-handed people). All you do is push slightly, and it comes out.
You're the third person asking this, so I'll add a section about it to the blog post. Thank you again.
What kind of 3d printer do you use? Do you like it, or are there things that others do that you wish it did?
Asking because I'm interested in getting one, but I know very little about them and have no idea what to research to help me decide.
OP specified Bambu X1C. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41627847
Thank you! Sorry I missed that.
I'd watch Superfastmatt's latest video on the subject, although I think there is one competitor in particular that is supposed to be a similarly good experience.
Will you make the STEP file available instead of 3MF?
When does the kickstarter campaign kick off? :)
Could you rescale the model to fit an iPhone 13 Mini?
Rescaling usually doesn't work well because the MagSafe portion is static between all sizes. Hence, every custom sizing needs a custom re-design.
In theory, with parametric design (eg OpenSCAD, Autodesk Inventor, etc) a model could allow you to enter the phone dimensions and it automatically re-calculates the correct geometry.
In practice, experience says doing this (in a robust way) is a lot harder than it sounds. ;)
Thanks, very nice design and write-up.
It's not really that much harder, as long as you know which dimensions you want to be variable from the start. Going back and changing everything after the fact is a massive pain.
I wonder if there's a version that's more of a shelf so could accommodate (m)any sized phones and with/without cases?
I think it's doable with a parametric design in Fusion but it is definitely more work up-front or re-work after you have a working version. Getting a well parameterized and set of constrained sketches can be a time consuming process since I don't do it every day. It's probably the part I've struggled with the most in making 3D printable designs (I'm not OP but design cosplay props for my kids) since I don't always know what I want the final dimensions to be.
And a parametric design requires you to buy the commercial Fusion license.
No it doesn't, unless you mean some more advanced parametric features that just the basic parameter driven modelling.
How’s the weight of it when the phone isn’t docked? Perhaps you could add an insert for a steel plate on the bottom so it has a nice feel when the phone isn’t docked?
It's not a lot, because I printed it with an infill of 10%. You can increase it, and make it around 40% or 50%. Some people also use sands to make it heavy. For now it doesn't bother me and I think because I'm putting other things on top of the tray, it doesn't move around easily.
To give a more solid feel and "woody" sound[1] you might try filling with epoxy or expanding foam.[2][3]
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gwXJsWHupg
[2] https://old.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/3hewrd/has_anyo...
[3] https://old.reddit.com/r/ResinCasting/comments/9v03mp/fillin...
or clay.
https://youtube.com/shorts/9YKbf5pJy9M
It can be a bit painful to get hold of, but I’ve been experimenting with micro-suction sheets, which allows you to “stick” things down to smooth surfaces, without adhesives (the material surface is full of tiny pores that act as millions of mini suctions cups). And allows you to easily remove, and re-stick them later without leaving any goop behind.
It’s a nice way to stop these types of 3D prints from sliding around in surfaces, without having to resort to weights or lead shot, which it way more painful to integrate that you would expect.
https://sewelldirect.com/products/airstick-microsuction-tape
Silicone sheets should also work well for this.
I mean I just want to buy it. Give me a link and I pay you money.
I've used craftcloud for these types of one offs before. It's a pretty great service in my experience.
If you go that route, you can use my referral code REFOUSPW7TK for 10% off. Totally optional.
https://craftcloud3d.com/
Thanks a lot for your support. A friend and I looked into the economics, but the lowest company willing to print was around $63. If you know of any services that provide 3D printing, I am happy to look into it.
I haven't downloaded your model but https://www.i-solids.com/ (US-based, FDM and MJF) and https://www.weerg.com/ (Italy, mostly MJF ) will both do instant quotes and you might get reasonable prices from them at scale. PCBWay and JLCPCB in China will also do 3d printing at reasonable volume, if you want to get an idea of a baseline price.
I was quoted $73.19 from I-solids, just FYI
Thank you, I'll look into it.
Competing products such as the Nomad stand, Zen, Courant tray are $100-140. I happily paid for each.
The design and high quality materials were worth it to me for the same reasons you wanted this design — it is functional art and doesn’t look out of place next to my other quality items I see and use daily.
I could see paying $120 for this dock. I bet this is the kind of thing that would succeed on Kickstarter. Sure, I could print and assemble it myself but that would cost me more than $120 in parts and labor.
What about these guys?
https://www.slant3d.com
I believe they want a minimum order of $1000 and only allow me to print it in a single color. Honestly, providing a physical good is a whole other set of issues with which I have no experience at all.
Just wait 3 months and you'll see someone selling it on Ali Express :-)
Slant looked at Scott’s design and suggested some changes. You might find it interesting. https://youtu.be/b1RBo7f0Zb0
Similar. Would be nice for a max version as well.
What about cases on your phone? I assume you need to remove it first?
It looked like his design incorporated space for a standard case. Actually, without a case I think there might be an interesting edge detail. That wouldn't affect functionality, and look cool too!
Personally, I don’t use a case on my iPhone 14. I pay Apple every month for Apple Care +. If I break it Apple fixes or replaces it for free
I use a case for grip, not for the protection it provides. I'd be dropping this slippery device pretty often otherwise. I haven't been able to go case-less since the days of the iPhone 4.
> Apple fixes or replaces it for free
Where? In the US they charge $29 and up for repair with AppleCare+. $29 for the screen, $29 more if you damage the glass on the back too. $99 if you damage the camera or anything else that requires replacing the phone altogether.
Came here to say this. Will happily pay for it.
That's kind of the opposite of the Hacker ethos
> That's kind of the opposite of the Hacker ethos
HN revolves around YComb and finding ideas that make great products. Someone has come up with a brilliant solution and someone else is saying they want to buy it. HN isn’t about “hacker” purity, it’s about thinking through cool ideas and maybe finding a startup along the way.
I don't have a 3D printer and I unfortunately don't have the time.
Always good to know
Nah.
Building your own, idk, mechanical keyboard? Hackerish thing to do, sure. But buying someone else's cool design is not against "the ethos", that's a silly thing to say. Supporting artisans in their craft is Good, actually, I don't see anything about this design which make it different that way.
Getting the job done is the hacker ethos. Sometimes that means buying a solution instead of spending a bunch of time (and money) building it.
Not sure about this, I would call this manager ethos and outsourcing
that's a weird notion of hacker purity. did you write your own kernel and compiler and web browser, on your own CPU that you built from transistors you made in your parents garage? and then connected to an Internet of your own creation? or did you "outsource" some part of that process to others?
What orientation did you print it at, and did you use supports?
Yeap, so I added the instructions on Gumroad's page (where you download the 3D file). I printed it where the bottom is touching the plate. And support is minimal supporting the tilted part of the model.
I might upgrade soon anyway but is there something preventing iPhone 13 Pro to not fit? I'm not aware of any changes between that one and 14, 15 and 16.
Actually probably not. Does it have the same size as the 14 Pro ? If it's the same you can use it with no issues. All the orange photos you see are from an 14 Pro, so it should work nicely.
I looked into it and supposedly 14 Pro is 0.8 mm taller and 0.2 mm thicker.
You should be fine, go for it :)
What CAD software did you use?
I did all my CAD work via https://www.shapr3d.com/. It runs on multiple platforms, but I use it on my iPad Pro. There are many other options, such as OnShape, Fusion, FreeCad etc.. However most of them have their own quirks
Onshape: It's public domain on Hobbyist plan, so anything I create has to be by default Public. The next plan they have is $1500 yearl
Fusion: This is the most recommended one, however it's macOS and Windows only. Their Hobbyist plan is pretty generous, but the UI is very slow on macOS and it doesn't have an iPad app.
For me, the iPad Pro is a huge enabler. I don't want to sit down in front of my MacBook because I already work the whole day. Second, with the Apple Pencil it's so much easier and intuitive compared to anything else.
The only ceveat with Shapr3D is the cost. I paid for the yearly subscription, which was around $299. And it's the cheapest of all of them btw.
Can you charge it while in dock?
Did you notice it has a MagSafe charger? Like... It's the whole point, the iPhone won't go into StandBy mode without charging.
Not everybody uses an iPhone. I figured out what StandBy mode is when reading the article, but I had never heard of it before that.
I don't know what is a MagSafe charger. I never used a Iphone and I'm just seeing the USB hole is covered.
It’s akin to a qi charger, but also securely attaches to the phone magnetically.
As a hand tool woodworker, I’m inspired to make something similar out of a block of wood.
When I saw the title on this page, I was hoping to see a version that was inspired by Apple’s iSight camera (with the perforated aluminum)
None of this is intended to take away from your work - it’s just so dang inspiring!
Any advice on starting out in woodworking?
I see a couple of sibling comments giving you great tips already. I am still in the painful stage of failing my way to success (though closer to the end than the beginning)
I will suggest a few things. Follow up each of these points with more research if you can.
Spend as little money as possible and prove to yourself you’ll actually like it. Then buy only the good tools you actually need for the project at hand. I have tools I bought that remain unused and I regret spending the money. Its not the tool’s fault but me going in a different direction.
It doesn’t matter what species of wood your first projects use. Prefer wood with straight grain and you should be fine for your first half dozen projects.
Read widely or watch many YouTube videos. There’s a lot of space for ideas, from carving spoons to making stick chairs to making furniture of any style. Note what inspires you but be aware the path to making what you like may take awhile.
First project: make a cutting board (only one piece! Learn how to make it look great and learn a finish) Second project: make a simple box (learn how to make things square, learn some simple joinery)
Safety first! I put this last so it’ll be the first thing you remember. There are so many ways to ruin your health, from breathing sawdust to using toxic finishes. Hand tools are generally better for your lungs than power tools. Soap or wax finishes are healthy and easy to apply. Just about everything else is toxic and you must protect yourself accordingly. Invest in safety glasses, masks and gloves. And a first aid kit.
Woodworking is an extremely rewarding pastime and I hope you get hooked. Best of luck!
Try Steve Ramsey: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBB7sYb14uBtk8UqSQYc9-w
He's got a very nice approachable style (almost the Bob Ross of woodworking?) and has some great beginner videos. He also sells a course with plans for gradually increasingly challenging projects. No affiliation, just watched a lot of his videos when I was first getting started with woodworking.
There are also (as you'd expect) thousands of other Youtubers doing woodwork, too. Steve's just a great starting place.
Learn to sharpen tools properly. A sharp chisel and plane, and something like a Japanese pull saw to handle the big stuff (with a measure of delicacy due to its flexibility) will get you an impressively long way. But such implements can dull quickly, and there’s nothing more dispiriting (or dangerous) than a dull tool.
See if your local community college offers a class. I know that's not a sexy answer but I think there is something to be said for having access to all the big tools and not filling up your garage with random bits of lumber before you know how serious your interest in woodworking is going to shape up to be.
Checkout woodgears.ca :-)
See if you can find a local hackerspace.
While conventional tools are nice and necessary, having access to a gantry CNC machine for cutting wood is a HUGE thing.
A CNC makes many projects a single step. Anything having to do with cutting plywood to non-rectangular shape or stencils or carving letters or ... yeah, do it on the CNC.
And, even if the project isn't a single step, a CNC can compress a bunch of steps and make the project way easier. And even the canonical "cutting board" may require the CNC for a flattening pass (edge grain through a planer has issues).
I follow your journey with admiration, Fatih, and I want to say that you are truly an inspiration. Congratulations on building something exactly the way you envisioned it—a remarkable achievement that is often overlooked but incredibly difficult to accomplish. Eline sağlık :)
Thank you for your kind words.
Very cool.
>I'm still astonished by what you can do with CAD software and a 3D printer at home.
I really want to get into 3D printing, for neat hacks like this, but also because I've been fiddling with arduino and similar and find it difficult to really find good parts to mount them on, attach servos too and so on. Would be nice to just be able to print something that I know will fit even just for prototyping.
Anyone have a good suggestion for a 3D printer that is good quality, will last a while, and beginner friendly?
The BambuLab A1 mini is the obvious choice here. Incredible value for the money and IMO quite beginner friendly.
The alternative choice would be the Prusa Mini, although the BambuLab has higher quality and more features than the Prusa.
I heard that Bambu Labs is violating open source licenses, thus stealing from Prusa in particular.
I've heard people claim this but never seen any actual evidence of license violations.
Everything seems perfectly in order with both the Linux-based firmware on the X1C[0] and their slicer[1] which is a fork of Prusaslicer.
[0] https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/knowledge-sharing/open-source-s...
[1] https://github.com/bambulab/BambuStudio
One criticism of Bambu that I've heard is that sending prints over the network requires the public internet, which is not true with Prusa, which can do local-only network printing.
this is not true. https://wiki.bambulab.com/en/knowledge-sharing/enable-lan-mo...
Is that relatively new? Maybe my info is out of date?
Maybe last year people were saying that Bambu intercepts your models, that it's not private.
As I google, they say that your camera feed also goes to the public internet.
Not really.
They forked a slicer, which wasn't against the license but not terribly nice either.
The big thing now is the patent lawsuit with Stratasys
None of these things matter for the average user. For the average user the Bambu products are the ones to buy. Easy button for 3d printing.
PrusaSlicer itself was a fork of the open source Slic3r, and also received critism when it was first announced.
For functional prints I would go with the Bambu Lab A1 instead of the A1 mini because of the larger build plate.
I agree. I have the X1C, however the A1 is as good as the X1C (unless you go into more advanced stuff like ABS/ASA or want to print large objects)
I bought the Prusa Mini+ kit. It was educational, but a few months later I upgraded to a Bambu Lab X1C. It’s a much more expensive machine, but the print quality and consistency are worth it.
With the Mini, I was hesitant to try things because I was afraid the prints would fail and I’d spend forever calibrating things. With the X1C, I can crank out prototype iterations as fast as I can design them.
If you aren't sure you're going to pursue this for the long run, think about joining a makerspace/hackerspace first and trying out theirs. On the downside, many people with varying degrees of skill have used the machine and it may not be factory fresh in performance. On the upside, given a vibrant makerspace, there's somebody there who's responsible for upkeep and can help you over some of the bumps in the road.
Bambu is surely the best option if you have the money to spend, but I wanted a budget option, so I got a used Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro for 150€ and I'm extremely happy with it.
I'm shocked by how well the prints come out and how little fiddling it requires.
I've set it up with Klipper now with an old mini PC I had around and a Playstation 3 Eye camera, feels nice to put old hardware to use and controlling / monitoring prints remotely is neat.
+1 to all of the recommendations for anything by Bambu Lab. It's as close to plug and play as you'll get. (Personally I feel the P1S with the AMS combo is the best value to price, but you really can't go wrong with any of them)
I've had a very good experience with the Sovol SV06.
It was around CA$300 when I bought it a year ago. I'm considering getting a second one.
I’ve also had a good experience with my SV06, though if I were buying a new printer to replace it now I’d probably pick a Bambu.
It does require some tinkering and few minor upgrades (nylock mod for bed levelling, oldham couplers for Z-wobble) to get good results as well as plenty of profile tuning, though now I’m there it’s been rock-solid.
I started with a Prusa Mini. It's a reliable workhorse.
Bambu Lab is extremely popular right now, and looks to be very easy to use.
Bambu labs. Pick your price point. I got one a couple of months ago and it’s been great and so far has worked without hassle.
I just got a Bambu Lab A1 (Combo with AMS lite, which I can also recommend) and am really impressed how smooth and well designed everything is. They really put a lot thought even into how the product is packaged and assembled. The few parts that you need to assembly yourself are all color coded (but after installing the color coding is hidden).
With my good old Ender 3, almost every print required tinkering with settings, otherwise print quality was bad or prints straight up failed. It was great for learning about 3d printing but with the A1 I can just print everything in much better quality without worrying about any settings.
I only noticed recently that people are now printing in multiple colors (materials?) in one go - is that a new thing? Maybe something this manufacturer integrated?
Bambu Labs has the AMS, Automatic Material System that sits on top of the printers and makes multicolor printing pretty easy, holds 4 colors but you can link units together for up to 16. There's other companies that provide other multi-color solutions for other printers but Bambu's P1 and X1 series with the AMS really took off in the last 2 years.
If price is no option, Bambu labs is the way to go.
If you are tryna get a 3d printer on a budget, any of the Creality Enders, like the Ender 3 or the CR-6 MAX are good starting points within the ~$200 range.
Since the BambuLab A1 series was released, I consider this highly outdated information.
Looks like the A1 is $489.00-$559.00. A $170-$200 3d Creality printer still fits into a different category and pricepoint imo for beginners on a budget.
The A1 is presently $339.00. The price you cited is for the combo including the AMS, which allows for multi-filament printing.
source: https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/a1?variant=4158335519...
You can get a Bambu Lab A1 mini for 205 EUR. Cheapest Bambu Lab A1 I see is 345 EUR.
But there's also the A1 mini. A volume of 180x180x180mm³ is not bad.
I have a cheap Ender 3. I’ve had it for about 5 years and it’s been just fine. I did do a few upgrades along the way that helped a lot (bed leveling probe l, direct drive extruder, and second z axis screw drive). Figuring out how to add those was part of the fun.
If you wanted something more production/out of the box ready, you can certainly find it. But it doesn’t have to be a big initial investment. You can start small and then upgrade as you go.
I got myself a Ender 3 V3 SE for christmas, and it has served me very well once I got used to it, especially once I hooked it up to a pi running octoprint. However, I've heard that the Bambu printers are generally the most "plug and play" you can get
I have an Ender printer as well and probably wouldn't recommend it. IMHO, the Bambu printers are a much better value.
The exception might be if 3d printing itself is your hobby and you enjoy tinkering endlessly, upgrading parts, tramming, setting esteps, etc...
Auto leveling printers alone are a godsend. Having to manually level my Ender 3 got to be a true pain but it sure did teach me a lot as a beginner!
Adding the autoleveling probe and firmware made my Ender 3 usable. I still try to make sure the bed is somewhat level, but I agree that this is a must-have feature.
I used to joke that my favorite tv show was just spinning a model around and around that I was working on in freecad or kicad or openscad. It's honestly still my favorite tv show.
If you want something that just prints, and want to spend absolutely no time fettling or upgrading the printer, then either Prusa (which I can speak to) or Bambu. Bambu has leapt ahead of Prusa in terms of features, though. They’re more expensive than some competition, but you’re paying for the simplicity.
Another +1 for Bambu. Recently replaced an older Ender 3 with P1S and it's been a breath of fresh air. Ender was much cheaper but the many, many hours I spent on tweaking both the software and hardware... I was many times ready to give up on the whole thing.
Same. I struggled and struggled to print things on a two year old Qidi that just worked on a Bambu Labs X1. The Bambu has limits but they are in a very different place. The pace of development in this area is wild. Patent law may be slamming on the brakes though.
I suggest do a search for "makerspace" in your area - They can help you build the project & you can learn how to do it, and you might meet some great friends in the process.
I just get bambulab p1s a few weeks ago. My goal was to find “iphone of 3d printers”. It is still not there but it’s as close to “press a button to print” as possible. So far I’m pretty happy with the device and software.
Bambu Labs A1 - not had it long, but for less that £300 it's unbelievable, easily matching quality with the prusas on the type of stuff I'm printing.
The Bambu Labs A1 Mini is less than £300, the A1 is more expensive.
A1 is presently £289.00 GBP
They might be looking at things with the AMS thing that lets you do multiple colours. Mini with that is about £300.
Without that, the mini is £169 and the A1 is £289 as you say.
A1 mini, it's sitting on my desk right now (is very small) and I love it!
I love my Creality Ender 3, I was intimidated by the assembly process but it went fine and I can’t believe how good it is. And it cost peanuts.
Edit: downvoted for liking a printer
I like the design but it seems rather complicated with all the little crevices and such.
1. I would like to see just a solid block on the front, redesign it so when I stick the phone to the MagSafe, because it will hold, the phone completes the design rather than fitting it into the hollowed out piece. The phone should be able to just be placed on the front and let the MagSafe hold it in place. I should be able to just grab my phone and go, not have to poke it from the back.
2. The MagSafe charger used is fine for proof of concept but I would like to see the MagSafe part better integrated into the stand like it is with the TwelveSouth HiRise 3 (not the deluxe)
OP Here.
1. In the blog post I actually worked on that for a few days. But I didn't like it as much I liked this one.
2. Unfortunately the default Apple MagSafe charger that I can use as a customer isn't easily bendable like that. TwelveSouth and other companies use custom parts, so it's possible to integrate them in a better way.
There would be no need to “bend” the MagSafe charger. The TwelveSouth design keeps the entire MagSafe area (I.e. everything within the ring of magnets), completely flat. I doubt Apple would let you customise the MagSafe connectors physical properties if your within their accessories program.
Going back to OP’s original constraints, what would you 3D print to meet this?
The appear of the design is that you just slot in a USB MagSafe charger. There’s no custom electronics involved at all.
Depends how fussy you want to be. But it would be pretty easy to design the MagSafe holder so you insert the charger from behind, and there’s a thin layer over the front to hide the charger itself.
Or if you want to get really fancy, the MagSafe magnet arrangement is well documented, and you can easily buy adhesive magnets that arrive in the correct pattern and orientation, which would allow you to embed the magnets completely within the print, and later add a standard Qi charger to provide power.
I’ve personally torn down Qi chargers and embedded them in furniture to create completely integrated, and “invisible” wireless chargers. On the whole it’s pretty easy todo, only major downside is higher power losses because there’s more space between the charging coil and the phone, and your coil alignment will be less accurate than Apple. But it’s still a completely functional charger.
I guess this is how we practice design skill, by building things with hands!
Look forward to expanding my maker from dev to real gadget!
This is awesome and a great demonstration of where 3D printing and a bit of design nous can get you
Last year I tried to design my own magsafe stand but it was proving to be too complicated to meet my criteria of looking good and be stable (the 15 Pro Max is big and heavy) and I didn't want to go down the route of making many prototypes/iterations so I ended up just printing a design someone else made [1] and it's been solid.
[1] https://www.printables.com/model/184106-magsafe-stand
> This particular design stuck with me. Initially I was spectical about it, but the more I looked at it, the more I loved.
Spectical sounds like an improvement over skeptical since it implies that you keep looking and don't just dismiss. If this was a typo we should consider it a coinage and run with it.
Alternately: Spectical - Specification skepticism. Doubts based on technical specifications that may later be assuaged by real world performance. "I was spectical of the Nintendo Switch because it had nine year old CPU, but it still delivered games that were more fun than the Xbox X or PS5."
I understood your parent comment as thinking of it in terms of “spectacles” (i.e. glasses) rather than “specification”. Emphasis mine:
> it implies that you keep looking
As in “On first glance I was spectical the chair could hold enough weight, but the more I looked the more I noticed little details that improved its strength”.
Lol, I love it
Haha, it was a typo. I fixed it now :)
There were two great mashups in this article. Now sadly just one.
"Spectical sounds like an improvement over skeptical since it implies that you keep looking and don't just dismiss. If this was a typo we should consider a coinage and run with it."
I love it! I seriously may use it.
Someone should add a spot for an Apple Watch to charge and slap it on etsy
Assuming the original files are under a commercial-compatible license.
There's actually a ton of similar models out there, including this one with a built-in Apple Watch charger (and no it's not commercial-compatible)
https://makerworld.com/en/models/629588
That's very cool! I can imagine using it with an old iPhone as a permanent, cloud-connected alarm clock. Would save having to pop the phone in and out every time.
I would love to get my hands on the CAD-Files to fit my Pixel 9 Pro to this case.
Also, has anyone found a nice solution for a "Standby Mode" Equivalent for Android? I tried a Daydream-Screensaver, but with that my phone get really hot and it also was very bright.
Someone has already made one based on the original design
https://makerworld.com/en/models/637572
The article mostly made me just want to buy a BC21 (https://us.braun-clocks.com/products/bc21-braun-digital-wire...).
But I can see the advantages in making the phone still be the alarm clock, or else you'd run into problems w/ having an alarm on both the phone and on the clock. Plus it would be nice for the display to change if e.g. someone is calling me in the middle of the night. I can see why the design is the way it is, since presumably none of that would be possible if the dock is just a wireless charging cradle.
It reminds me of the cool ways the wireless charging dock for the HP Touchpad let you turn the tablet into an ambient clock or a digital photo frame, all the way back in 2011.
I also checked that first, unfortunately according to the Amazon reviews (Can't always be trusted) it seems to have some issues with positioning for charging where you have to place it pretty accurately to work.
Out of stock :-(
I can't explain exactly why but this looks beautiful!
Thank you!
3 Weeks ago Scott Yu-Jan posted his version of the iPhone Stand By Dock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3nWw8qSYgk There is a nifty mechanism to take the iPhone out. Model: https://makerworld.com/en/models/615378#profileId-538769
This video is embedded in the article and also mentioned.
I love this design. And this particular design and application highlights one neat property about 3D printing at home: you could have an open source design that is easily tailored to the end user's phone case (of which there are endless variations) and their personal everyday-carry pocket items.
Nice. I saw Scott's original design and thought it was very classic but wasteful of filament, and this one feels like a good replacement for my current MagSafe stand (which is also 3D printed).
I would like to see a parametric version for older iPhones, though (I have a 15 Pro, but there are others in the house...)
Worrying about being wasteful of filament is a mistake. That's how you end up making parts that feel cheap and flimsy.
Noone praises cheaply-made products for being economical with materials, we call them cheap and nasty, it's the same with 3d prints.
It has a very sizeable volume of _nothing_ behind the phone (besides the slot for a watch charger), and is bulky. That's my definition of wasteful.
A parametric version could include Android.
I just had a brief stab at this using OpenSCAD. The bottom curves are tricky (and of course OpenSCAD's lack of bevels and fillets is a pain), but it seems doable--given time.
Knowing how Dieter Rams inspired the Apple ecosystem, this beautiful iPhone dock is a testament to his ten principles of good design!
Nice work. What is the clock app that you show in the pics? The one with the pink and orange characters?
This is actually the iPhone nightstand mode which activates when the phone is on magsafe and in landscape.
Very nice!
I've had an idea for a dock that turns your smartphone into a landline of sorts. Plugs into an actual corded phone base and only rings the physical landline phone.
I remember at some point some novelty shops selling bluetooth and wired phones resembling old school landline phones, those could be a useful starting point for such a design.
>This is what we call the iPhone DN-40 Dock
Well, don't do that. DN-40 is a trademark that doesn't belong to you.
I didn't say that, but that's ok :)
Sorry, I got confused and didn't quite catch that you're not the guy in the video. Silly moment for me.
The most impressive part of this is the 3D print itself. Does anyone know what printer they are using? I wish mine came out half this good.
OP here. I use a Bambulab X1 Carbon.
in the video, the guy is using a bambu a1 mini. i personally have a bambu a1 (full size) and the prints are nearly perfect every time.
qq: did you print it with supports? this looks awesome. i printed the other version you mentioned in the article, but it didn't quite solve my nightstand problems, which you correctly identified and fixed with your tray. and it looks great!
Yes, there is minimal support because the phone part is tilted. If you print with tree support, you should be OK.
Wow this looks so good, do you insert the phone with the case still on it?
Yes! We don't have AppleCare Plus here, hence I have to use with a case. I designed it with a case in mind.
That looks very cool!
Thanks for sharing it.
I have no idea if there might be trademark/copyright issues, if you tried marketing it, though.
It's a brand new product, hence I think there is no trademark involved here.
Well...there are some kinds of trademarks, especially in the design world, that can be tricky.
For example, I believe that Harley-Davidson has trademarked their exhaust sound, and I think that Google, Ferrari and McLaren have trademarked colors.
TIL, I didn't know about it.
really nice to see well designed, useful 3D printable products.
These kind of designs are essential for 3D printing to graduate from printing baby yodas only. Also, the high-quality photography and documentation helps a lot to go for the 3D print over temu.
cool, but seeing this same thing over and over again is getting a bit exhausting
and having to do a naruto hand gesture to get the phone out is a lot harder than pressing down on the top
It's the same gesture as the vertical MagSafe "pods". Seems fine.
It's actually very easy because it just pops out. It's the same thing as pressing down, you're just pressing down from the side. (I had both)
Couldn't you sand the end result to prevent those ugly 3D printed lines?
You can. It adds a lot of work! It's surprisingly tough to sand. And sanding makes it look bad, so you end up having to use filler primer and/or bondo, then more sanding, and more painting. Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTE9bJyUO_8
Yes, you can. If you want to do that, I'd recommend to print in ABS though. It's easier to sand and you can use vapor smoothing afterwards to get a very smooth and shiny surface.
Printing ABS is more challenging though and the fumes tend to smell.
You can also do something caled "vapor smoothing".
You can also use "adaptive layer height" in the slicer settings to greatly reduce it.
I remember when Apple sold standing docks with their iPods. In another world, this would have easily been an Apple accessory. And for the same reason the author built it.
Pretty useful for an old phone, pretty annoying on a primary device. I had something similar setup, but as an macro deck.
Looks amazing! Wish there was a version for the 14 Pro Max.
I'm working on a `Max` version, because a lot of my friends are asking for one.
That's great news. I will keep an eye out and would happily throw a few bucks your way for a 16 pro max version.
I would also throw money at a 14 pro max and 15 pro max version.
If these were for sale I would buy one
That filming is of amazing quality.
Beautiful work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3nWw8qSYgk
Were you inspired by this guy who also made the same clock?
This video is referenced in OP's post.
It's like the first video at the top. Have you even opened the link?
This is magnificent, congratulations!
Thanks a lot.
Since charging phone can get hot, PLA may not be the best choice, as it can start to misbehave past 50C.
PLA holds up well at 50C, BTW. At least what I use these days.
If your phone is getting to 50C during charging, you have bigger problems.
It's not unheard of [1]. It happened a number of times in my iPhone ownership that the phone became significantly hotter than usual for no apparent reason.
[1] https://9to5mac.com/2023/09/26/iphone-15-overheating/
How do you take the phone out? Push the camera bump from its back?
Also, nice design, but the word “inspired” is doing some heavy lifting.
OP here, check this photo out: https://x.com/fatih/status/1836691756965933084
Because there is a tray, you don't need any mechanism to remove it. It's just your fingers and hands.
Thanks.
On an unrelated note, what happened to significantly decreasing your contributions to X?
https://arslan.io/2024/04/07/my-feelings-about-x-formerly-tw...
> I might post occasionally, which will probably be a link to my blog post or a few honest questions/insights. I'm not leaving, of course, but I won't be active there anymore.
Yeap, I was more active, but I only posted about my work there. I rarely post other personal things. I would post a lot more in the past.
It looks like there are cutouts in both top corners in the model. One for the camera, and one (likely) to push the phone out.
Actually, both are used for pushing out. I made it so both left and right-handed people can use it. The cameras are already taken into consideration, and you can use them on both horizontal sides.
SYJ[1] is one of the coolest creators on YouTube, if you haven't checked him out, I highly recommend it. His videos are very "hacker" in nature, and the film work is basically art.
1: https://www.youtube.com/@ScottYuJan
+1
Here's his Dieter Rams iPhone dock too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3nWw8qSYgk
(his production quality is unreal)
I JUST realized this wasn’t the post that he partnered on! Ha. I suppose that’s the recency bis at work.
Ejection mechanism on this seems much more sensible.
Can it have rubbery grip, or silicone instead of plastic? Sorry I asked, before asking Google.
TPU is a popular 3d printed material that is more flexible. You could probably adapt the design to use it in places.
How does gumroad work? If I type in a “fair price” and buy it, what happens? Does the creator get the tip and gumroad prints it for me?
No, you only get to download the 3D model.
OP here. Of course, there are commissions and taxes. First, you can download it for free, but you can tip (donate) any money. Say you gave $10; around $1.5 goes to Gumroad. And then, of course, I'll have to pay income tax on the rest, depending on your country.
Neato.
I like the tray with what looks like fold up edges - does anyone know what this is?
The first one? Don't know, but I have a Maxpedition one, works fine.
I'm looking for the second one, the leather valet tray. Appreciate any information.
look up "collapsible dice tray," they are a common hobby craft pattern.
Very cool. I've been tempted to buy a 3D printer for various little things like this but have yet to make the leap.
For those who haven't tried using standby mode as a bedside clock, I recommend it. Started using it maybe a year or so ago after buying a prebuilt magsafe stand, and the OLED panels that have been in most iPhones for several years now are very well suited to the use case — the panels can get quite dim (latest models go down to 1 nit!), there's few pixels lit up in the first place, and what light does get emitted is a sleep-friendly red. It's like the old red 7-segment display alarm clocks but even better since it's not as bright and turns off when no motion is detected.
It has definitely become an invaluable tool for taking care of things around the house for me. Things like broken light switch sliders, under desk mounts, things related to cable management, and any sort of custom bracket.
Going back in time though, I should have paid up for something with auto-leveling from the start. That is the most important feature. After using the $100 Ender V3 Pro for several years I'm probably going to make the jump to something from Bambu soon.
I heartily recommend the Bambu printers. I started with a Creality CR10, then an Anycubic Photon, then added an Ender 3 Pro. About a year ago I picked up a Bambu P1S and I was blown away. It's way more than just a step up from an Ender. Auto leveling, way, way faster, etc.
I also ended up adding the AMS, which is super handy.
Over time my conclusion with 3D printers is that the capital cost of the printer is (within reason) largely irrelevant. Unless you're on an extremely tight budget and are going to print in just one color, the cost of filament pretty quickly dominates. Especially with the inexpensive printers. $20-30 a pop adds up in a hurry.
I've been 3d printer-curious for a while now, and I think this might just be the thing that pushes me over the edge.
no need to buy, visit the local hacker group
Any recommendations on good books on Dieter Rams, Braun and the philosophy behind all of that itself? I'd like to learn more about it.
OP here, yeap. Here is a list of books I have and recommend:
* Braun, Designed to Keep (Phaidon) * Dieter Rams (Phaidon) * Bauhaus (Taschen) * Dieter Rams, So wenig wie möglich (it's in German, but there is also an Englisch version, from Sophie Lovell)
There's a documentary called Objectified that may interest you:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectified
Rams documentary https://www.hustwit.com/rams
I've seen people 3D printing this exact thing on Instagram for months.
It's impossible because I made it myself and released today. Read the blog post please :)
They might be talking about this one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3nWw8qSYgk
Yeah people were showing off something very like this on YouTube a week or two ago. And that’s actually the second time I’ve seen these. I think you got scooped bro.
I came here to see if anyone is selling them. I don’t have a printer.
If you read the post, you'll see that OP was inspired by a similar design (which is linked as an embedded YT video) but designed his own to fit his other needs, i.e. making the back part a tray.
Well maybe "designed" stands for "chose the color of"?
Or multiple people had the same idea..
Article clearly says that he saw the existing ones and decided to tweak it for his use case? He didn't say he invented and patented it. Weird thing to complain about.
I love this, but I don't have a 3D printer. Is there a service that could print this for me?
I've used Xometry and JLCPCB (in China) to 3d print stuff but it might be expensive for a larger thing like this. I now have a Bambulab P1 at my office.
I’ve used a local library. Their print settings are usually turned down in density, and you end up with a print that’s filament held together with boogers.
yup, there's provider like shapeways, but you can also find people on reddit that could print it for you
You can have your pick at https://craftcloud3d.com/
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Very nice, unfortunatelly it looks like we can't charge while charging.
What?
Inspired is generous, it's an exact copy of the form.
The integration of multiple functions (tray, charger, clock) into a single unit is a clever solution to bedside clutter. However, have you considered how this might impact the flexibility of use? For instance, what if a user wants to charge their phone elsewhere or use the tray separately?
They built this for themselves and then released the 3d model for free. Users who don't want this wouldn't print it.
Exactly. There are already tons of stand alone trays and chargers.
Seems like it should be a dumb LCD clock in front with the phone dock behind it. Now the iPhone can be grabbed off and used in an emergency. The BC21 shown is close, but the alarm and other features are redundant.
There's an eject button to let you grab the phone, and the phone exits standby as soon as it disconnects from the charger - I don't get what problem you are trying to solve?
This is a 4-fold design improvement:
1) Seeing the time without any phone present.
2) An independent time display also would be a tiny load, so the trickle vampire energy isn't being wasted.
3)Removing the only moving part also simplifies using the phone immediately. Do you want to be fumbling with an eject spring latch when someone is having a heart attack?
4)Compatibility: Now it works for Android, iPhone, Blackberry, or whatever other devices already use wireless charging.
From the OP's repy in another thread it appears that ejecting of the phone was not initially shown/written about in the first iteration of the blog post. Maybe the parent comment only saw the post before the update.