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Time has come for me to set up a dedicated space for 3D printers and routers. They take up too much space, they make too much noise, and the parts / materials are creating clutter. At the same time, I want to be aware of print problems and would like to avoid dedicating a computer to the room just for printing.

Thought it might be good to discuss workspace management. Anyone else set up a remote workshop?

Setting up the printer management was easy. I'm using Octoprint on a Raspberry Pi, connected 4 FDM printers and was able to get them all to work. Last time I touched Octoprint, it didn't support multiple printer profiles, but they added this feature and it works well. I have 4 cheap webcams coming this weekend that will allow me to view prints in progress from another room and see time-motion playback of prints after they complete.

Everything else involves some planning and experimentation. Having a single workflow is important to me, I'm biased towards simplicity and would prefer everything runs through one interface. Octoprint runs on the RPi, which has 4 USB ports. I'm adding a hub to accommodate the webcams, which will take it to 9 USB ports. But there's still other devices to connect and I'm not sure how many connections the RPi can actually handle.

This issue is about to get more complex. I have a resin printer coming this weekend, connects through WiFi and USB. Not sure there's a way to connect it to Octoprint wirelessly. And I don't know how to attach a cam to it for monitoring, not even sure that's a thing with Resin printers.

Aside from the connectivity, there's a question about airflow. The smell of resin gets to me, it's not the material is just the way I react to it. I have an air filter that can move about 10 cu/ft a minute, which works great in a small room but maybe not as well in a basement.

The other reason for investing in air flow is CNC Routers. I plan on cutting stuff like carbon fiber, which is hazardous to breathe and generates a lot of particles. So I'm trying to figure out how to expel it before I set up the table machines. I have a smaller 3018 CNC router that I plan to hook up to the RPi for small jobs, but I really don't know how to operate it remotely. I've seen CNCjs and the Octoprint CNC plugins, but don't find them terribly exciting. I'd be willing to settle for a separate interface if it can connect to multiple machine remotely, but I'm not sure that's going to happen.

Easy solution - just put all your 3d printing materials in a baby nursery! The soothing noise of printing arm servos, the gentle smell of molten plastic and liquid resin and the added efficiency of having all the things you need to film in the same space makes them a perfect combination. Also, where do you most often need baby wipes and paper towels readily available? that's right, both your 3d printing station and your baby nursery.




....


/s, obviously.

 the_scotsman wrote:
Easy solution - just put all your 3d printing materials in a baby nursery! The soothing noise of printing arm servos, the gentle smell of molten plastic and liquid resin and the added efficiency of having all the things you need to film in the same space makes them a perfect combination. Also, where do you most often need baby wipes and paper towels readily available? that's right, both your 3d printing station and your baby nursery.

Baby smells bad enough as is, resin stank and dirty diapers probably don't mix. Thinking about upgrading that space as well.

For the resin printer you have, can you see through the hood? On my Mars it is red, very difficult to see through, especially after tons of use and the stray resin smear here and there. When I want to check an ongoing print I have to tilt the hood up a bit to peek. So, a camera, may not really be of much use.

Also, the resin smell has a lot to do with the resin you are using, as some have very little, while others are quite strong. I use the Siraya Tech Simple and find my alcohol cleaning/rinse vats smell worse than the resin.

Why all the automation you will still have to place material and remove prints. If you ran endless printers I could see it being useful. But for me adding more just means more points of failure. What it sounds like you are trying to make is an automated work cell but for that you need away to remove finished goods and place material. That's a whole different beast and for home volume a complete waste of resources.