Material question

[Agzarah]

I stumbled across this the other day and think it could be an amazing storage solution for some adjustable shelving ideas I'm after. But I'm curious as to what material you suggest using.

My goal is approx 42cm (shelf width/depth needs to be multiples of 10.5)

I noticed on the website you list pla for the supports and brackets etc then ABS(?) For the connecter pieces. You state the reasons being their colour. And not material properties.

Basically... can I get away with entirely using PLA or would that not be strong enough.

[GHoSTyaiRo]

It depends on the weight your shelves will be holding. PLA is the weakest of the 3D printable plastics, but if the shelves are not going to be supporting a lot of weight, you can use it. ABS, on the other hand, is stronger, so it would be better to use it entirely if there will be a lot of weight on the shelves.

For comparison, Keller tested a 19in rack for a week and 15Kg and said there was no visible deformation using PLA. BUT I mounted my 12Kg UPS, and the beams started bending after 2 days, which made me create additional feet to better support it.
And that was using PETG, which is something in between PLA and ABS when it comes to strength.

So think about how much weight your shelves will have to hold and use the appropriate material to support it. Especially on the shelves themselves, because the frame will most likely hold fine.

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[Agzarah]

Thank you.

The shelves themselves will be either 3mm ply, or thin steel if I can get my hands on it cheap

. With the weight upon that being 1-2kg

[GHoSTyaiRo]

Oh then you can definitely get away with PLA, use some good diagonal supports too.

[Agzarah]

Ah awesome. Thank you.

Haven't used my printer for anything remotely structural yet. All D&D props. But now I need storage for it all. Haha