I’m sorry I don’t have practical experience, but besides sterilization, there may be several other factors that need to be considered, such as Precision, the precision of 3D-printed parts might not match that of machined or molded parts, which could be critical for certain applications.While ABS is easy to print with and has good mechanical properties, it might not be the best choice for all applications. For labware that will be in contact with blood serum, you might want to consider materials that are more resistant to chemical degradation, such as PETG filament or even PLA filament for certain applications, depending on the specific chemicals involved.
I finally got the green light to buy a bambu P1S with AMS since we’re going to automate a sample pipeline that comes in non-standard tubes; any racks we could get for this would have to be custom, and thus FAR exceeded the cost of a printer for a single set.
Learning CAD modelling is more or less a requirement, since lab equipment is fairly niche and tolerances have to be pretty tight. CAD is pretty easy, but things are slow to kick off and you will probably keep doing things in very suboptimal ways for a long time (i know i still am :P). But you can definetly get good enough to make what you need in a few days. Once you’re a pro and can model quickly, I bet its a very useful skill to have in the lab.
There’s also a learning curve to the printing itself, even with bambu which is known to be plug-and-play, when modelling yourself. Knowing whats printable, strong, forgiving, etc… I suggest watching a couple of videos on general 3D printing settings and filaments, it’s not always intuitive!
I’ll get back to the topic and share some experiences and hopefully STL-files when we’ve actually gotten to make and use functional prints!
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I’ve had some experience printing labware for similar automated setups, so here are a few points from practice. If your CAD models are accurate and you’re consistent with your print settings, subsequent prints are generally very reproducible—ABS in particular tends to hold tolerances fairly well if your printer is dialed in. For moderate lab use, ABS racks can last a surprisingly long time, especially if you aren’t exposing them to harsh solvents or repeated autoclaving, though over time you might see slight wear on peg fits or edges. Grounding usually isn’t a concern for ELISA-type work unless your robot has sensitive capacitance-based liquid detection; most optical sensors and standard pipetting won’t care about a non-conductive ABS rack. A few other things to watch out for: ensure the print layer orientation minimizes sagging in the tube slots, and consider printing with a bit of extra tolerance for snug-fitting tubes since ABS can shrink slightly. Overall, many labs do exactly what you’re thinking—3D printing your own carriers can save a lot of money and allow rapid iteration of designs.