3 Fit gauges
Before designing a mount, I print a thin gauge that carries only the mating features: the hole pattern, a locating edge, the clearances. It goes on the real object and answers one question: do the measured values match the part?
A gauge costs about 4 g of PLA and 15 minutes on the A1. A wrong mount costs hours and a lot more filament. The gauge also fails cheaply in a way you can see: brass showing at one side of a hole tells you which way the value is off.
The A1 adds a fixed start sequence of about 6 minutes to every job (heating, AMS load, purge, vibration check, nozzle wipe, homing, prime line). On a gauge that is close to half the job, so small parts that are ready together share a plate.
Two gauges so far:
- 3.1 The VESA 75 frame: the monitor's four M4 inserts. Lined up first time.
- 3.2 The Beelink base plate: the PC's two M3 inserts and their set-back from the front face. Slightly off, which is the point of a gauge.