Since Christmas, I've seen several threads on Reddit where folks, most who are new to printing, just started up their brand new Bambu printers, only to find out that printing stinks (literally).  Melting plastic is a smelly business no matter how cool the machines are that do it, and it's understandable that people would be rightly concerned about the smells.  I'm no expert on the subject, but some of the advice I see offered to folks concerned about the smells, is downright bad.  It's common to see replies that say that as long as it's only PLA or PETG being run, there is no reason for concern.  Of course I strongly disagree with that, and try to put my $0.02 in to suggest some practical ways to duct and filter a printer's exhaust outside if possible.  The reason is primarily due to ultrafine particle emissions from our 3D printers, which occur regardless of the material being printed, but can be especially concerning with any carbon fiber filled materials, since the nanotubes can hitch rides on the particles, and end up in places we don't want them.  Many carbon filled materials appear to use much larger chopped carbon fiber, though that still has issues.  I avoid filled filaments (aside from wood), but may use it with caution if I ever needed the additional strength.

To mitigate some of the problems, I run my X1C in an enclosure (which is intended for a different printer), and duct that enclosure outside though a HEPA filter.  I also run my bento box clone in the X1C's stock enclosure, which acts as a first stage.  This setup has been working well, with no smells getting into the house.  My longer term solution however, is to remove the X1C from the enclosure, and use a booster fan to suck the air from the back of the X1C, then duct it outside.  The booster fan project has been on the back burner though for a few months, and although it worked, I felt like it may be possible to improve it a bit.  The recent threads on Reddit, where some folks are struggling to to find ways to balance their health concerns with running a 3D printer indoors, got me thinking that I should get back to the project and test it on my printer.  So today I spent a few hours redesigning the original single fan design, into a dual stacked fan design, which hopefully will boost the static pressure.  Static pressure is what's needed when air needs to be pushed through a hose or a filter, and although one fan was able to do it, I think 2 fans may work better.  The pics above show the new design, which uses two 6038 fans (4 wire PWM version) which will be run in parallel in a stacked setup.  I'm burning up the last of a roll of PETG to make the body of it now, and should have something to test with soon.  

For this idea to work though, I will need to mostly seal the enclosure, which will just require taping over the holes on the base of the printer, and sealing the door (which I have already done).  There will be some places for air to get in, but I want to minimize them, so the ducted fan can have the best chance of creating a small negative pressure inside the stock enclosure.  If this works and I can run the X1C outside the enclosure without smells getting loose, then I plan to post the design, but that is gonna take time as always.

Update 10/31/2024: Well, it's been a while... I've been happy with my current setup, but I've gotten a boost of inspiration to have another look at this project after a discussion on Reddit.  I did print this booster as a prototype, but have not tested it since it's just not a priority for the aforementioned reason (also the parts are not super cheap, just to test it). 

In the reddit thread, it was pointed out that there are some cool (and small) Ikea air cleaners, which look like they could be a great fit as an endpoint for this booster fan.  The Ikea filter is EPA12 only (not HEPA - edit for such a filter it probably is not a significant difference), but if I pick this project back up, I'd add a pre filter and a carbon box, similar to a prior design I made for my current enclosure.  I'm gonna start looking at small HEPA filter as well, but in any case, the idea is forming for a design with a duct > booster > HEPA/EPA12 filter as a possible way to filter my other printer, which does not have an enclosure (and is not allowed in the house).  As always though, there are several projects ahead of this which I really want to get posted, and some other things going on in life, so this may still go nowhere, but it's back on the whiteboard at least.  

I "needed" some BBQ tools to go with a Dummy13 remix that I'm giving as a gift to a co-worker who is big on BBQ.  I used the handle design from kh5rj0's Katana for Dummy13, which is a well tested design, that just works.  I designed these to go with DMC's Grill Kit Card though I have not tested them with that design to see if they are the correct scale).

You can find the Grill Kit on Printables here.

I think I have a problem, but hopefully once the holidays are over, I can slow down on the Dummy 13 stuff for a while (doubtful).  Anyway, here are some peeks at what's cooking.  I'm working on some Halo armor for Dummy 13, which will consist of a chest piece, abs and maybe a helmet.  Further on down the road, maybe a Halo Weapons Pack, though those will come later.  

The helmet shown in the pic is just a hack I did (it's a remix which I found on Thingiverse - credit to the original designers below).  Since I don't know how to work with editing STL's (I work with IGES and STEP mainly), I had to use the slicer to make the pockets in the helmet for it to fit the Dummy 13 model.  But if I can figure out how to modify the STL's without using a slicer hack (negative object), I will post a remix of the helmet as well (no guarantees though).  If I could find a good helmet design as a STEP or IGES with a sharing license that would be better suited for my workflow, but so far I have not found that.   Also on the table is making one from scratch, though I don't have time to do that before Christmas, so I'm gonna do the hacky thing using the slicer, just to get some figures completed.

The helmet design is credit to Renward@Thingiverse, who shared the following remix:
Halo Infinite Master Cheif Helmet(Filled)

The above model is a remix of Kolinc@Thingivserse who shared the original helmet model:
Halo Infinite Master Chief Helmet

Update 12/22/2023 - I managed to get the STL for the Helmet edited using Tinkercad, and am running some test prints.  There is a quality drop when exporting the STL from Tinkercad, but it's such a small part that it doesn't really show when printed.

In the meantime, here are some pics of the prototype, which had a run in with some of the other Dummy 13 models on my shelf.  Everyone is cool now, and they made up, after the Halo guy cooled off.  Apparently the whole thing was a big misunderstanding about roles and responsibilities, and most importantly, mutual respect.  All I can say is that it's a good thing the Tick never takes a day off.

The Tick model is thanks to Mici@Printables (and Soozafone@Printables for the Dummy 13 model), and the Master Chief helmet is by credit to Renward@Thingiverse and  Kolinc@Thingivserse who shared the original helmet model.  The AT-ST walker is a kit card model by Nakozen@Printables.  The foamcore board is by Pen+Gear@Walmart, and the Alex cabinet is my remix, with the original design courtesy of Ikea@Ikea.

Update 12/25/2023: The Halo Armor for Dummy 13 is now posted on Printables. 

You can find it here (and Merry Christmas!)

Update 7/9/2024: I previously removed the original models to update them, and then other projects took priority.  They however are now back online, with a small bonus (an pair of SMGs).  I also added a message to hopefully make it clear that these are not for commercial use (for the Amazon/AliExpress sellers who sell my models without permission).  To be clear, there are no sellers who have permission to sell these designs.

You can find the designs on Printables and MakerWorld:

Maker World:
Dummy 13 Halo Armor
Weapons Pack Version 3.1

Printables:
Dummy 13 Halo Armor
Weapons Pack Version 3.1

I'm working on a new version of the Weapons Pack V1.0 for Dummy 13, which I just need to test print and make the STL's and STEP files for, before I can post it.  It's gonna include some new weapons as well as the old weapons.  

Update - 12/14/2023: I decided to replace the shotgun in the v1.0 pack with a different weapon, here is a sneak peek:

Update 12/15/2023: The Dummy 13 Weapons Pack Version 2.0 has been released with some new weapons.  You can find it here.

I posted a remix of my Dummy13 Goes to the Moon - Astronaut Remix in a single color version (for normal printers).  The original was designed for an AMS/MMU, which not everyone has.  The single color remix also lead to an improved helmet design (which does require glue, but prints much nicer).  I'm pretty happy with the way the single color version turned out, and so I entered it in the Prusa "Jointed Figures – Jubilee Round!" contest (so do me a favor and drop a like over on Printables for the model - but only if you like it of course.  If you want to check out the multi-color version of the same model, which has some cool patches and flags added to the design, you can find that model here.

Update 12/10/2023 - What could be better than a Dummy 13 Astronaut with a bag of extra parts in your Christmas stocking?  I'm thinking a Dummy 13 Astronaut with a kit card of extra parts, so I designed this:

The kit includes hands from the original Dummy 13 model, and some which were remixed by Mici as well (the pointing hand and thumbs up hands).  I also added a new astronaut tool to this kit, which looks sort'a like a Geiger counter, but I was thinking of it as some sort of tricorder type thing.  The gun looking tool is actually inspired by an astronaut's “pistol grip tool” (fancy space bolt driver), but with enough imagination, it could make “pew-pew” sounds as well (though it's space, so maybe just the visuals).  

You can find it here:
https://makerworld.com/en/models/206949#profileId-240171

Update 3/29/2024: There are some new tools and a camera have been added, and there are some small changes to the original model as well.  A 3MF is also now available with a multicolor option.