alpaco.it bloghttps://alpaco.it/blog/Notes from the workshop behind the alpaco.it 3D-print generators. Drain hair catchers, and the dome that tore in the slicerhttps://alpaco.it/blog/drain-hair-catcher-generator/https://alpaco.it/blog/drain-hair-catcher-generator/Sun, 11 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Drain Hair Catcher Generator makes a basket for a sink or bathtub drain or a slotted cover for a shower grate, and getting a perforated dome to survive an STL reload took three attempts. A T-handle for any hex key, and the key sizes behind ithttps://alpaco.it/blog/hex-key-handle-sizes/https://alpaco.it/blog/hex-key-handle-sizes/Sun, 11 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000How the Hex Key Handle Generator sizes a printed T-handle, screwdriver grip or lever sleeve from the number stamped on an L-shaped hex key, with the ISO 2936 and ASME B18.3 arm lengths it uses. A lens cap is a standard part, so I built a generator for ithttps://alpaco.it/blog/lens-cap-generator-filter-thread/https://alpaco.it/blog/lens-cap-generator-filter-thread/Sun, 11 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Lens Cap Generator turns the filter size printed on a lens into a push-in, slip-over or screw-in cap, with a strap holder and a fit-test ring, and here is the thread math behind it. 3D printed hose adapters: stop buying, start measuringhttps://alpaco.it/blog/3d-printed-hose-adapter-measure-first/https://alpaco.it/blog/3d-printed-hose-adapter-measure-first/Sat, 10 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000A 3D printed hose adapter fits on the first try when you measure the right surface of each end. Here is which one, with real port sizes for shop vacs, sanders and saws. Box dividers down to 3 mm, and the layout that needed 4.8 GBhttps://alpaco.it/blog/box-dividers-down-to-3mm/https://alpaco.it/blog/box-dividers-down-to-3mm/Sat, 10 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000The rugged box generator now builds divider compartments as narrow as 3 mm of free space, and a 400-cell layout that used to need 4.8 GB of memory now needs 0.45. 25 useful 3D printed gifts people keep, with the sizes that make them workhttps://alpaco.it/blog/useful-3d-printed-gifts/https://alpaco.it/blog/useful-3d-printed-gifts/Tue, 06 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000Twenty-five 3D printed gift ideas that get used instead of dusted, from name keychains and monogram coasters to spice jars, stands and print-in-place boxes, each with the numbers that decide whether it works. Six everyday parts from the browser CAD editor I'm buildinghttps://alpaco.it/blog/six-parts-from-the-browser-cad-editor/https://alpaco.it/blog/six-parts-from-the-browser-cad-editor/Mon, 05 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000An electronics enclosure and its lid, a storage box with dividers, a shelf bracket, a pen cup and a phone stand, modelled in the CAD editor I'm building for the browser, and what it got wrong along the way. "Cookie cutter walls, magnet pockets and keyholes: the rules a printable part checks while you type"https://alpaco.it/blog/rules-a-printable-part-checks-while-you-type/https://alpaco.it/blog/rules-a-printable-part-checks-while-you-type/Wed, 30 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Every generator page on alpaco.it now checks your numbers before the preview asks the server. The rules that matter most for cookie cutters, miniature bases, wall hooks and spacers, and the broken preset that testing turned up. Why is Gridfinity 42 mm? What Zack Freedman said, and what the number does for your drawerhttps://alpaco.it/blog/why-is-gridfinity-42mm/https://alpaco.it/blog/why-is-gridfinity-42mm/Mon, 28 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000Gridfinity is 42 mm because the number divides many ways, which makes bins nest into storage and plates nest into drawers, and because a microscope slide fits a bin as a window. The Hitchhiker's Guide joke is real, but it is the smallest of the reasons. A mount for any box and a window vent insert, two generators I built from Reddit threadshttps://alpaco.it/blog/device-mount-rack-panel-and-window-vent/https://alpaco.it/blog/device-mount-rack-panel-and-window-vent/Sun, 27 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000The Device Mount and Rack Panel Generator holds a router, power brick or mini PC under a desk or in a 10 or 19 inch rack, and the Window Vent Insert Generator turns a window gap and a hose size into a panel cut into tiles for your bed.