148 replies to this topic

[Jonathan21700]

This is the best method of hydrating a formicarium (Thanks to Drew!) for me. Container that you have the refill once a month or even less, no stressing for the ants and no chance of flood also provides them with humidity gradient. It is just great! I can't understand why people still use the old primitive ways of hydration. Great stuff man continue experimenting!

[AntsCalifornia]

Been doing some 3d printing work for awhile now, and I think I'm going to try to make a nest like these ones after school gets out, I'll update about them when they're finished.

[AntsCalifornia]

So this is something I threw together in 45 minutes. It's not great, but I just wanted to see what it would be like to make one. It's made for a 4x6 peice of acrylic, a 1in diameter tile, and a 12.5mm vinyl tube.

Quick question: Can you link the box you use for the outworld for the yellow nest? It looks nice.

[noebl1]

@AntsCalifornia - Which post has the box you are looking for?  I think a lot of us use The Container Store for boxes.

[AntsCalifornia]

After a lot of testing and prototyping, here is something new I've never done before. It's still a work in progress with more features and updates to come. I've kept with the modular design, these will fit as stand alones, with all other designs I've printed, as well as in this new configuration. The yellow color came from my girlfriend who said I had to use them or else!

 

 

 

 

Cat approved!

 

 

The container store has nice boxes for cheap but their shipping is way too expensive. I was wondering if this outworld was from someplace else, like amazon.

Edited by AntsCalifornia, May 23 2018 - 3:01 PM.

[Kevin]

So this is something I threw together in 45 minutes. It's not great, but I just wanted to see what it would be like to make one. It's made for a 4x6 peice of acrylic, a 1in diameter tile, and a 12.5mm vinyl tube.

A quick tip if you plan on printing this formicarium - there needs to be a lip around the entire formicarium (for the most part there is other than around the tubing port) for the glass to be seated in or ants will escape. Most people will not be able to get a piece of acrylic to sit perfectly onto the edge of a formicarium while fitting the 3D printed piece perfectly (in other words, it allows for more tolerance to the cut acrylic). Typically, I use a lip of 5mm or above. Silicone can be added to the lip for an extra seal.



Also, I recommend using millimeters to create anything CAD related - including formicaria. It's easier to use 1/10ths than 1/16ths and if you are looking for diamond tipped holesaws to cut tile, you will likely find more selection in metric than US.

I hope that makes sense

Edited by Kevin, May 23 2018 - 4:37 PM.

[AntsCalifornia]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind for my new design, which will take more than just 45 minutes.

[starcraftjunkie]

@starcraftjunkie  I'd be interested to see what you come up with.  I've been using diamond bits I got off Amazon cheap to cut tile, however been trying to think of other applications with the tile with custom cuts.  I've been following Drew's thread on using custom fired tiles which is really cool/interesting.

 

Recently I've been toying with the idea of custom printing nests, using tile, and then use resin for the bottom of the nest so don't need to worry about the shape or accuracy of the cut of the tile.  I also observed that with an entirely 3D printed nest with an embedded tile, the water wicks through-out the whole nest.  Wonder if keeping the tile surrounded by resin would reduce that so there's some moisture gradients within the nest.

 

The water wicks through the 3d printed plastic? I figured the water would just saturate the tile and sit. Regardless, I figured over sizing the nest hole for the tile shape and using some ant safe resin or epoxy would prevent the transfer of moisture past the little crater it creates as well as make up for any manufacture size variations.

 

I'm planning on working on it this weekend. I'm still figuring it out in my head. I'm just not sure what I should do for connections, stick with what I have or make a new type.

 

 

So this is something I threw together in 45 minutes. It's not great, but I just wanted to see what it would be like to make one. It's made for a 4x6 peice of acrylic, a 1in diameter tile, and a 12.5mm vinyl tube.

 

Quick question: Can you link the box you use for the outworld for the yellow nest? It looks nice.

 

Sorry for the late response. It's from dollar tree. I tried looking online for it, but it's too general to find it. I saw them as general storage containers in like 3 places of my small local store. I might be able to go into it and find a UPC that could potentially locate it online.

Edited by starcraftjunkie, May 24 2018 - 12:34 PM.

[AntsCalifornia]

 

So this is something I threw together in 45 minutes. It's not great, but I just wanted to see what it would be like to make one. It's made for a 4x6 peice of acrylic, a 1in diameter tile, and a 12.5mm vinyl tube.

 

Quick question: Can you link the box you use for the outworld for the yellow nest? It looks nice.

 

Sorry for the late response. It's from dollar tree. I tried looking online for it, but it's too general to find it. I saw them as general storage containers in like 3 places of my small local store. I might be able to go into it and find a UPC that could potentially locate it online.

 

 

 

 

Oh, it's from the dollar tree? I didn't know you bought it from a store, you don't have to link it. I'll check the dollar tree for containers like this next time I go.