3D Printing with a dog

Dogs are truly man’s best friend. Dog hair however is the bane of a lot of projects. 3D printers generally abhor fur or dust nearby. It simply gets everywhere. Here are some tactics I use to avoid hair getting into prints:

Keep the dog out

This is very self-explanatory: No dog = No fur. Keep the doors closed. If your dog will not stop whining, buy a screen door or gate with a pillow right in front of it. Do Not Reward Your Dog When They Stare At You While Whining. They will think annoying you is a reward. You want this to be a place for them to look at you and hopefully get bored. I found that an automatic fetch machine or something to entertain the dog near the work area is not a good idea as they keep coming back and spreads vibrations through the floors.

Miniature vacuum on standby

A small vacuum primarily used in cars is ideal to have around. I usually pair the vacuum with my heat gun at absolutely no heat so it becomes more of a blow dryer. Only use the heat gun to blow things out of crevices (and to clean up the 3D print from stringing).  

Keep water very far away from printers

Humidity is one of the major factors is storing 3D printing filaments. Whether you are printing in low temp Eco PLA or high temp Carbon Fiber, a change in environment is something to avoid. This means humidity is always the enemy. While it may not impact your prints instantly, it could over time and it is extremely hard to pinpoint where the problem is since humidity is invisible and only certain parts of the filament could absorb it so it could be a coin flip even with a caliper. Open containers with liquids such as water bowls should be ideally away from printers.

Conclusion

It is always best practice to keep the dog away as far away from the printers as possible. With that in mind, it is fair to say it is best practice to keep anything needed to sustain life such as food or drink away from printers. 3D printers are