I spent $10,000 on 3D Printers...What now? // The Print Farm

My recommended print farm machines:

Over the years my fleet of 3D printers has grown from 1 to 10 and I need a place to put them! Up to this point the printers have been scattered around my house and since I just ordered 4 more Prusa i3 mk3S+'s - I think it's about time to build a print farm.

A print farm can be as simple as a shelf really, but what I'm after is efficiency. I will do this by being intention with my layout so that it matches my workflow. I want everything I need in close proximity and nothing extra!

Even if you're not into 3D printing (at all) there are probably some takeaways or ideas you can apply to your shop or workspace. Thanks for watching!

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[ShopNation]

Please disregard any comment from a strange account saying that you won a printer! I am not giving away a printer, do not engage them, just report them.

[netpackrat]

The lights are one of the more practical things you did there, not just for looks. When you get cameras set up for remote monitoring, you will be glad you added the lights. The next thing I would be looking into adding there is some fire suppression. Octoprint/Octofarm would be a nice touch as well.

[christianhelms]

literally watching this on my lunchbreak because i didn't want to wait until i got home. I've been watching travis for years now and love the work he's put into all of it. keep it up!

[MrStrizver]

Nothing that I can use except the inspiration to keep going in my shop for the things I want to make and that's exactly what I watched to the end for. Cool setup. Also, good commentary on knowing when to *not* DIY and just buy something instead.

[sickcrx]

I would love to see a down and dirty video on how you network them together, cord management and a quick initial leveling and setup if you are up for it. love the videos. keep up the great work sir!!

[Zengineer]

Absolutely love it! Great to see some things outside the typical workshop stuff, not that 3D printing is a huge departure. Everyone who builds needs a 3D printer!

[HangsFun]

I built a 12 printer farm with the same printers.
Changes I would recoend on your setup would be to add a raspberry pie and camera to each printer and use the farm management tool that also runs on a raspberry pi. I went with printed solid cabinets and a heater for each of mine with filament drier for each and reprinted all Prusa parts with Polycarbonate to increase heat resistance and added annealing ovens that my parts spend a set amount of time in before going into my industrial tumbler which removes a lot of the supports and hanging pieces and almost erases small print lines, lastly I do finish work.
Granted you are just printing PETG so you don't really need to control temp and humidity as much as I do. And the stresses and usage of your parts don't require heated chambers, filament driers, and annealing.
But I would recommend managing your growing farm with raspberry pies and cameras (octoprint) and a farm management tool (octofarm). It REALLY cuts down on the "sneaker net" work of monitoring and sending jobs to be printed..

[tristan]

That means you got nine bags of gummy bears.

[brianemunroe]

Looking great! Since the printers are located downstairs, I'd suggest getting some kind of remote monitoring / control tools (Octoprint / Prusa Connect, etc) - I know RPis are kind of hard to come at the moment, but hopefully that fixes itself sooner than later.

[mortensentim]

One thing I would suggest from experience is give each of your printers a name. You can track which printers give you the most trouble, when you last performed maintainance etc so nothing gets neglected which is easy to do if they're not giving you any troubles. We put doors on our rack to prevent drafts, but the doors can make it harder to work on and caused other issues, so if you're not in a dusty or drafty area I would leave it as is.
If you're printing many different parts one of the hardest bits to manage is keeping all the part versions and slicer files consistent across all the SD cards. Running the printers off a central controller was my thought to fix that, but was too big a jump to ever get around to.

[thomasmcmahan]

You always make or do something I’m thinking about doing myself, except you actually execute a great plan and it comes together perfect in the end.

[Platttraining]

I followed your lead and built a printer rack with 24" pavers, foam flooring bases and with an orange apron (I like the orange Prusa's yeah weird). I only have three Prusa's and scrambling to get more. Really love your setup and I think this will work for me. Thanks for sharing..

[MrBigB]

I always love how you explain the thought process in your projects. I don’t have that level of an engineering brain, but these glimpses help me formulate better processes for myself. Keep these coming!

[jimwiskus]

Overkill? Never with SN. Always well thought out and executed. That’s the one thing I love about the channel, it’s always Smarter, not Harder. I wondered if the new slab you poured might be for a new 3D print shop? See you in the next installment.

[mdbohica]

Great job! One "design improvement" I think would be good would be to drill a hole in each end of the trash can support so you can stretch a bungee cord around the back of the can so it won't slide off onto the floor.

[thmke]

The Yukon chest is actually just as good as Husky IMO, Ive had mine for a few years and its still working perfectly. Love your set up!

[johnnyfisher]

I think you will like that Yukon Tool Box. I have had 1 just like that ( Mine's Orange ) for going on 10 years and not 1 problem in all of those years. I keep mine loaded with mechanics tools so way more weight in it then what you are using it for so you should be good to go no matter what direction you go in the future.

[andyinD]

I haven't watched your video yet but the title spoke to me. I'm about $10k into 3D printing and I can't wait to compare notes. Plus I hwar this channel is giving away free prizes. Bonus.

[punk]

I've literally watched your channel grow in reverse lol. I started with your latest update and the algorithm has brought me here finally lol. Interesting to see how far you've come. I currently have 1 P1S and thinking about turning it into a business.

[edv]

Definitely a sweet setup! I installed your dust collection add on for my Delta Cruzer miter saw and it works good, definitely way better than stock! Nice to see where it was printed from!