• Stackable containers

    lion mclionhead • 05/30/2026 at 06:45 • 0 comments

    Helas, lions overpaid for those enclosures.  They had 2 for $19. They have an AI assistant of course, which doesn't do jack any more than chat bots 20 years ago.

    The limitations of 3D printing make stacking them difficult.  Avoiding scratches would take a TPU panel that poked up on 1 side & down on the other side.  Perhaps 2 panels could be double side taped together.  Double side tape holds glass printed panels quite well.  The panel just has to be 4 layers thick instead of 2 & rather ugly.

    This worked quite well.  They stood up on their own.  The upward facing panel could have been PLA, but TPU allowed it to passively stay in place without adhesive.

    The 4 sided crosses became more annoying, as the ball would not easily contact all 4 sides but would flop between 2.  There's basically a compromise between large scale flopping & small scale flopping when the ball is not a perfect sphere.

  • Enclosure customization

    lion mclionhead • 05/27/2026 at 18:13 • 0 comments

    Enclosure #2 as delivered had the right size transparent section but the wrong base.  The base was supposed to clip on, but the tolerances left a lot to be desired.  The clip mechanism didn't work.  Lions must have been the only animals to ever order this case.

    The decision was made to try to make a custom base.

    Better, but having to screw on the clips was a pain & the support should really be in the corners.

    A PLA spring was more promising but of questionable durability.  It took a lot of PLA & a lot of deformation to make it stiff enough.  It's hard to install it without moving the ball.  It needs to be possible to shove the enclosure down without having to fiddle with the spring.

    Another iteration added pushbuttons to release the clamps.  A new TPU stand went back to a 4 sided support.  It seemed to more securely hold the ball on a large scale while also letting it flop around on a small scale.

    Still kind of fiddly to assemble everything.  The buttons require a lot of constant force while pressing up to keep everything together.  It's still a juggling act to put it together without moving the ball.   It desperately needed pointed clamps which could be engaged just by pressing down on them.

    Given unlimited money & time, it would have a bottom panel to keep the mechanism together.  They're also not stackable.  It would be a matter of extending the corners down & providing some layer of scratch protection.

  • Enclosure offerings

    lion mclionhead • 05/27/2026 at 18:09 • 0 comments

    https://www.amazon.com/Guirnd-Protected-Memorabilia-Autograph-Protector/dp/B0FBWFR3ZZ 

     Baseball preservation wasn't going so well.  The cheapest $4 containers let it flop around & had it contacting 2 sides even when upright.  The dimensions came in at 3.25" on the outside with 1/8" thick sides.

     There's no way a container this size would isolate it from the sides.  A cross with straight lines would keep it more stable than the existing cross.  A 3 sided cross would have fewer contact points.  A cylinder would not be more stable without costing more visiblity.  The feet are on top, so it scratches when upright.

    The mane advantage with this container was the view of all 6 sides, but it's not clear enough to photograph through the plastic.  No dimensions for any alternative containers are given.  

     https://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Display-Case-Collectible-Memorabilia/dp/B0FKT8YMRS

     This one states 8" x 8", which wouldn't fit in the apartment.  The stabilizing cylinders are all too small.  It would just fall off.

    An ideal option is a bit beyond what lions could fabricate in the apartment.  

    https://www.amazon.com/Collectibles-Removable-Countertop-Organizer-Dustproof/dp/B0FZHXRNYP

     https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08NGPMGSN

    There are bare display cubes with more clearance.  They're not as cheap or easy on the eyes as the dedicated baseball containers.  The injection molding artifact might scratch.  That would have to be the cross position.  The walls are thinner.

    Any cross support lions printed would have to be TPU to be less abrasive. The TPU would have to be on a panel of sorts, farstened with double sided tape.

    The 3.25" container might be the best option in a bad neighborhood.  Lions would consider melting off the included crosses, installing TPU crosses on the side with the feet, living with the side contact points & less visibility.

     The balls were stored in ziploc bags for 40 years.  That was better than having them rub against each other but probably inferior to the $4 containers.

     A temporary cross stand would have to be used for photographing, like the bat.

     Much experimentation & modeling arrived at a 3 side cross with straight lines being the ultimate stand but it had to be 1mm too tall to keep the ball stationary.  No matter what, it would no longer fit in the 3.25" containers.  The ball is not a perfect sphere so it's impossible for all sides of a cross to contact it.  The amount of variability requires a lot of margin.

    The enclosure needs to have a 4" outer dimension for it to clear all the sides.  The TPU cross when printed on glass actually grips the acrylic.

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=-46rCsXptes

    The standard method now is to laser cut these cases instead of buying them.  Savage used a table saw. 

    Nothing less is going to give as good results anymore.  That pivots it to the cheapest possible solution while waiting for enough space.  So much lost productivity so all real estate can now be for investment purposes only.

    Of course, since they're not going to be displayed anywhere in the apartment, the most shrewd decision might be tupperware with minimal printed supports. 

    After many days of keyword searches, finally tried softball cases.

    https://www.collectible-supplies.com/4-each-softball-cube-display-cases/

     That looked perfect, but shipping was $20.  It had enough inner length for a baseball with a custom stand.  Basically, 3 & 7/8" inner length is as good as you're going to find in mass production.  The next step down is too small.  The walls were thick enough & free of artifacts.

    https://www.ballqube.com/

    Has other enclosures for ludicrous bait prices.

    After many days, eventually found this thing for attempt...

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