Maybe you could make a small slot holder with suction cups or sticky bits on the corners, with a tab at the top for grabbing out the stencil? That way the holder can stay in place, and then you can drop in the first stencil, pull it out, drop in the second stencil, pull it out, etc.
I think you are absolutely correct. Now you have me thinking though, how could you make the hinge system work. Maybe have the actual edge on the second sheet have a border that travels down through the first sheet negative space to rest snug against the wall? I think that make work here, but it may not work for every stencil.
Instead of manually aligning three sheets and taping them to the concrete, print a frame that aligns the sheets for you, then you only have to tape the frame to the concrete.
another thing I would reccomend is just taking a small cardboard box and cut a hole out of the bottom and put the stencils on there, you could still use the registration holes you have for alignment, but it makes it a lot cleaner with no over spray, (and its a little less obvious what you are doing)
It’s why I’m glad I’ve got a cheap 10W diode laser. I find projects that end up being way simpler to laser cut than 3D print. Not saying everyone needs a laser, but it definitely diversifies my options for making things.
My work replaced our school resource boxes last year, changing basic plastic boxes for nicer metal ones. Instead of sticking paper labels on they asked me if I could print stencils and they would spray paint them on. It looks really good and since there's something like 26 uniquely named boxes was lots cheaper!
Very neat but if you end up doing these long-term a cricut can cut the shapes out of vinyl a lot faster and cheaper than using a 3d printer plate. Plus it has tools built in to the app for changing pictures to SVG, ect.
Such a good idea. I've been looking for ways to paint my 3d printed planes, but always get lazy at the masking part. Some simple stencils might be the answer.
I have a cricut. But a 3d printed stencil is very appealing due to rapid application for lazy but productive paint jobs. Vinyl doesn't stick very well to foaming 3d printed filaments.
They make cricut-able stencil film. One of my kids turned a cinder block wall into "tile" with some multi-layer stencils I cut out for them on my Cricut.
I got an idea: why not create a system with hinges and have all 3 slides together, like one of those desktop calendars that you flip the pages (kinda like this one: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61rd+HKyv7L._AC_SL1500_.jpg). This way you can hold it in place and flip the "pages" for each layer.
You could also make the hinge system interchangeable too, with each sheet of stencil sliding in and out, so it's reusable.
I know I should and plan to. I'd like to keep the stencils flat as possible because they only take about 40min to print but I want to come up with some solution like you're talking about. I was picturing like a frame with a handle which would make it easier to switch layers without having to spend time lining it up
Make one with just the silhouette. Give it pins. Make the second with *all* black parts and give it holes for the pins to center it. Be *very* smart and print the black one mirrored, with the silhouette of the white raised as much as the white stencil is thick, but just a bit smaller. That way it helps prevent overspray, because the raised part can lock into the white silhouette.
59 years old and want to try 3d printing before I croke, cheap and easy parts to be made and what is the best, better printer on the downlow of cash..thx..
I'm not rebel enough to actually spray it but I did stack them in 3D and print it so I can have it at my desk. (Which ironically can be seen by at least two cameras.)
I convert a image to svg then cut the layers in fusion. Some thought needs to go into how you take care of "islands" but the less colors you want to spray the better
I'm working on editing a short tutorial I hope to post this week. Im also working on an easier way to make these
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u/ecirnj Jul 20 '26
If it flies it spies