25 replies to this topic

[Otter]

Hello all!

I'm Otter, and this is my thread. I will be posting all of the cool/useful 3d prints and DIY projects I am working on here for feedback and just to share my ideas/files around. 

If anyone has ideas for things, please let me know and I will try to work on the idea. 

[antsandmore]

so will this thread become where you and others share ideas of nests/formicariums?

[Otter]

so will this thread become where you and others share ideas of nests/formicariums?

My idea for this thread is for me to post my little projects such as antramp or my formicarium ideas and for others to give input/suggest ideas, however I am open to the idea of having others share their projects as well. 

[antsandmore]

Ok thanks for specifying! also, what is an antramp? Since I am a beginner, I don't really know a lot about ant housing words lol

[Otter]

For my first project/post, I will be sharing my antramp v1

I had some trouble with DIY outworlds, the biggest issue being that I always had to drill the hole quite high up to avoid either a curved bottom or thicker plastic structural features. This leaves the tube going into the outworld sticking usually 2-10mm past the edge of the container and makes it rather hard for ants to drag food into their nest. Most people find ants dragging food into their nest to be an issue, although the ants will be dragging food into their nest with or without my antramp's help so I might as well make it easier for them.
 
My idea is quite simple, make a ramp that connects the floor of the outworld to the tube coming from the nest seamlessly or close to it.





My model for the idea worked amazingly. I attempted to print it using the default Prusa 0.05mm layer height profile as I wanted the print to look nice, but that ended with lots of stringing which I cleaned up with a blade. 



My next version was attempted using a 0.2mm layer height which ended up working out perfectly. I glued the ramp to the outworld and stuck the tube in place. All I need to do is get another colony for the brand new setup   



Edit: Fixed the image imbeds(?)

Edited by Otter, January 6 2021 - 1:02 PM.

[Zeiss]

Looks like a good first project and it came out well!  Unfortunately the images didn't embed properly.

[Jakerobs]

Very nice! I love seeing people use their 3D printers to solve problems. Excited to see what else you come up with. What material did you use?

[antsandmore]

I didn't understand it at first, but the final picture explains everything! awesome!

[Otter]

Very nice! I love seeing people use their 3D printers to solve problems. Excited to see what else you come up with. What material did you use?

I have a few more projects I'm working on currently, biggest one being a handheld battery operated aspirator although that's going rather slowly. I use PLA and PETG for most prints, this was made using grey PLA. No clue what brand, it's just a random strand I had from an old spool.

 

I didn't understand it at first, but the final picture explains everything! awesome!

Np, glad you liked it! 

[ANTdrew]

Look into Milliput moldable epoxy clay. You could shape any ramp you want. You should upload photos to the gallery for easier viewing.

[Otter]

[Deleted]

Oop wrong thread haha

Edited by Otter, January 6 2021 - 1:35 PM.

[Otter]

Look into Milliput moldable epoxy clay. You could shape any ramp you want. You should upload photos to the gallery for easier viewing.

If I had the skill to use epoxy clay I would haha I'm just absolutely terrible at working with my hands, it's one of the reasons I got a 3d printer! I have no clue how to upload to the gallery, I tried looking up the thread that details how to post photos but I couldn't find it. 

[Ants_Dakota]

looks great! just keep experimenting, and pretty soon you will soon have a new formicarium idea!

[Otter]

Now that the multispecies research is out, I am able to release my very prototype ant introducer. 

My first prototype was a taped together roll of mesh with two discs of mesh taped to the ends. It was uh... not very good and I'm thankful that I can't find my photos of it as it was embarrassing haha. 

Now to get into my recent (and decent) prototypes. 
 
My first real attempt at making a functional item went fairly well, it was meant to be reusable and easy to disassemble. Unfortunately it had several issues, the largest being that the design was going to be large, clunky, and unstable. Weight was evenly distributed which allowed the canister to roll back and forth which would undoubtedly be unpleasant for any ants inside. 


 
While slicing the model for printing, I noticed another issue which was that the slots for the mesh were not going to print, which would have been an issue as those are the primary parts. 

Luckily for me, I scrapped this design and moved on to another design. 

After the issues the first design, I took a step back and went for a simple and clean method using a little bit of glue. 


 
This model was simple, clean looking, solved the even weight distribution issue, and solved the bulky clip issue. 

Printing this model was easy, it comes in three pieces which can all be printed at the same time. Print time is roughly 26 minutes at 0.15mm layer height.


 
As you can see, the introducer now sits upright with a stable and comfortable platform for anything you would like to put inside.



I allowed for a 0.15mm tolerance in the parts, which appears to be too much for the top post to correctly mesh with the cap. As far as I can tell this slight gap does not actually allow any ants to go through as it is extremely small.





For this prototype, I used 200 mesh which has an opening of roughly 0.075mm. As you can see below, this means that no ants come anywhere close to being able to slip through this. For larger species I may want to attempt using a slightly larger mesh, maybe something more like 70 or 120 mesh as that would allow for more protected interactions between workers.

Edited by Otter, January 11 2021 - 12:41 PM.

[Ants_Dakota]

ok, so if i hear you right, this is an ant transportation chamber? this is awesome! i need one or 10 of these!

[Otter]

ok, so if i hear you right, this is an ant transportation chamber? this is awesome! i need one or 10 of these!

More or less, its intended purpose is to move a queen or colony into another colony. I planned on using it to combine my solenopsis molesta with my monomorium minimum. Either way it could definitely be used as a transportation chamber. I will be publishing the files to my projects once I figure out a good way to upload said files. 

[Chickalo]

 

ok, so if i hear you right, this is an ant transportation chamber? this is awesome! i need one or 10 of these!

More or less, its intended purpose is to move a queen or colony into another colony. I planned on using it to combine my solenopsis molesta with my monomorium minimum. Either way it could definitely be used as a transportation chamber. I will be publishing the files to my projects once I figure out a good way to upload said files. 

 

off topic:  where did you find that monomorium queen?

[Ants_Dakota]

 

 

ok, so if i hear you right, this is an ant transportation chamber? this is awesome! i need one or 10 of these!

More or less, its intended purpose is to move a queen or colony into another colony. I planned on using it to combine my solenopsis molesta with my monomorium minimum. Either way it could definitely be used as a transportation chamber. I will be publishing the files to my projects once I figure out a good way to upload said files. 

 

off topic:  where did you find that monomorium queen?

 

you can find them while blacklighting.

[antsandmore]

can somebody explain how the transportation chamber works? thanks!!!

[Chickalo]

quick question:

what program do you use to create them?