rackstack/README.md

rackstack

A parametric 3d-printable mini rack system

• Mount Anything: Perfect for organizing SBCs, mini PCs, small switches, power hubs, etc.
• Fully customizable: Fully written in OpenSCAD. Everything, from the dimensions of the rack, to the roundness of the corners, can be modified with a simple code change.
• Printable from home: Designed to be printed with conventional FDM printers. Requires minimal supports when printing, and final assembly needs only a few easy-to-source parts.
• No cage nuts! Sliding hex nut design for the front rails allows one to easily mount items without dealing with cage nuts.
• Stackable: Individual racks can be easily stacked and fastened together. Mix and match different color and design combinations!

Renders

See the renders for difference parametric profiles here

Assembly

Pre-generated STLs for roughly 200mm^3 (mini), 180mm^3 (micro), and 100mm^3 (nano) rack frames can be found in stl. These STLs are generated from the files in rack/print, and rack-mount/print - further information about printing these parts (supports, orientation) can be found in these files.

Assembly Instructions

Please see the assembly README here

Required Tools:

• 3d FDM Printer - build size requirements depend on configured rack profile
• M3 Allen Key (for constructing the rack)
• M4 Allen Key (for mounting rack-mount items)

BOM - Single Rack:

Item	Name	Quantity	Comment
	M3x12 FHCS	20	Extras are useful and inexpensive. If you plan on eventually stacking multiple racks together, don't hesitate to get a lot more.
	M3x16 FHCS	16	☝️
	M3 hex nut	36	☝️
	3x10 steel dowel pin	4	3mm diameter, 10mm height
	6x2 neodymium disc magnet	8	6mm diameter, 2mm height
	super glue	>= 2ml	Used to glue magnets to plastic

Notes:

• Omitted actual plastic for printing. Any conventional 3d printing plastic should do (PLA, PETG, ABS), but beware of PLA's thermal limits. Higher infill is recommended for all parts.
• For joining two racks, you will need 8 M3 hex nuts, and 8 M3x12 FHCS.
• Main front rails use M4 hex nuts and screws.
• Side rails are mounted using M3 hex nuts and screws.

Configuring + Generating STLs

A python script: rbuild.py is provided to generate different project stls.

Requirements:

• openscad cli command (Only runs on Linux)
• python3

Examples:

Generate all project files for the micro profile:

python3 rbuild.py -b all --nightly -c micro

This will build all the required STLs for a micro rack in the stl/custom/ directory. The --nightly is optional and means the build script will use the openscad-nightly command, instead of openscad. This usually results in much faster build times and is generally recommended.

For generating a specific part:

python3 rbuild.py -b yBar --nightly -c micro -t custom

Generated stls are put into the stl/ directories. The actual variable values for different profiles can be found in rack/profiles.scad.

We recommend you start by printing the eval_P.stl file first, just to determine if the default slack/layer height configurations work for you. If parts are too tight/loose please take a look at config/slack.scad. Please also adjust config/printing.scad to match your slicer settings.