Digital Designs and Scientific Hardware - Open-Source Lab: How to Build Your Own Hardware and Reduce Research Costs - page 245

FIGURE 6.89 An open-source printable Buckner funnel shown in MeshLab.
Buchner funnels are relatively common as they are used for vacuum-assisted filtration in all
manner of experiments. On top of the funnel-shaped part, there is a cylinder with a perfor-
ated plate separating it from the funnel. The designer (Thingiverse user: chowderhead) made
the OpenSCAD script parametric, so you can have any size of Buchner funnel you would like.
All the dimensions of the Buckner funnel are based on the diameter of the filter paper you
would like to use (as filter media comes in a variety of diameters). Because of the limitations of
printing on most single-material 3-D printers, in this design, the necessary perforations are not
included and thus need to be drilled afterward. However, in the near future, as many open-
source 3-D printers are moving to two or more print heads, one of which can print a sacrii-
cial support material like sugar or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), I am confident that someone will
design a one-step printable Buckner funnel. For the plate that needs drilled, it will need 100%
100%infill, but if you are printing the holes, you can get away without using as much plastic. Also
note that depending on the quality and fine tuning of your printer, you may have relatively
porous walls. To eliminate this, as it would ruin the functionality of the funnel, you will need
to seal it and depending on your printing material, there are several options. If you printed it
in ABS, you can use a mixture of acetone and ABS (e.g. bad prints) to paint your funnel. Like-
wise PLA can be smoothed with a dip treatment in dichloromethane (CH 2 Cl 2 or DCM).
It is also possible to take advantage of discarded equipment with the help of a laboratory
3-D printer to make other items you need around the lab. For example, consider the pipete
stand 106 designed by thingiverse user: M_Sanna shown in Figure 6.90 .