3D printed 5x4 film holder?

[MrDrizz]

Just wondering if any of you wonderful folk have any experience with 3D printing 5x4 film holders? I've seen a few nice designs that i am tempted to try but getting a recommendation from someone with experience would be golden.

 

[Woodsy]

I’ve not seen any of what’s been made so far, but having had a bit of experience with 3D printers now, I would be very careful with the depth of the film plane within the holder. It doesn’t take much to throw the focus, and I just don’t trust the dimensional tolerance of even moderate quality printers. We have (among others) a formlabs form 3+ at work which we use heavily, and while it’s invaluable for what we do, I would never use it for prints where the dimensions absolutely matter*.

*results vary between different resins.

 

[robhooley167]

Can't hurt to try. I only have experience with "lower end" FDM printers, not the SLA type that Woodsy has used, I think it would probably not have the dimensional stability that is required for sharp film work, but would likely be ok for plate holders for alternative processes (tin-types etc).

 

[stevelmx5]

I've built quite a few film/plate holders and the dimensional requirements are pretty straightforward with regards to the standard film plane (5mm back from the face of the holder), so long as whoever designed the holder model gets their part orientation right and uses the right combination of materials. FDM 3D printers use flat fixed print beds, so getting a flat plane that is 5mm back from the front face shouldn't be a problem (whereas resin/SLS printers print using a powder or liquid base so I've found it more difficult to get truly flat faces with my own resin printers) but I'd always use either aluminium or FR4 (fibreglass) for the darkslides for rigidity in a thin part.

I know Max at Intrepid launched their film holders recently, which are a combination of 3d printed parts and CNC'd fibreglass. I've been working on my own Quickload-style envelope film holder system.