Trading Card Box

9 inches long by 2.56 inches wide (outside dimensions) Trading Card Box intended to store a small collection of trading cards that have been sleeved in KMC Hypermat penny sleeves with a small amount of clearance on either side of the card. 

Several features of this Trading Card Box include:

• Overall size (external) - 9 x 2.56 inches
• Internal size - At 100% scale the box will store trading cards sleeved in KMC Hypermat penny sleeves with a small amount of clearance on either side of the card.
• Friction fit lid - The interfacing surfaces have been drawn with .0005 [in] clearance per surface, which will essentially result in an interference fit if the prints are not reworked post printing (assuming the target printer has been calibrated properly).
• Rigidity - Wall thickness for non-mating surfaces have been set to .125 [in], and .0625 [in] for mating surfaces.  This provides relatively flexible walls in the middle of the box, while the short ends remain rigid.  

Suggested printing parameters, assuming PLA filament

• Base filament settings - Prusament PLA profile
• Nozzle - 0.4 mm
• Layer height - 0.15mm
• Perimeters - 3 (if modifying extrusion width, otherwise 2 is suggested)
• Brim - 5 mm
• Extrusion width, Perimeters - 0.6
• Extrusion width, Infill - 0.6
• Extrusion width, Solid Infill - 0.6
• Cooling, Disable fan for the first - 5 layers

Observation, regarding suggested Brim setting

to minimize/prevent the corners of the print from lifting away from the build plate, I recommend the use of a 5 [mm] brim. Sharp corners are much more efficient at transferring heat away from a print than flat surfaces. Applying a small brim will increase the surface area of the perimeter of the print, which will help counteract some of the contracting forces as the corners of the box cool.

Post Printing suggestion

The interface between the top and bottom halves of the box requires some finishing/sanding post print, since once assembled, the box is very difficult to open due to minimal assembly clearance. Additionally, due to the layer lines from the two halves being in the same orientation, a card box that has not been sanded post printing will be nearly impossible to open.

I suggest sanding with progressively finer sandpapers, starting with 100 grit, working down to about 220 grit and paper. This will knock down the rough unfinished print surface, while slightly increasing assembly clearance. For a smoother finish, the print may be wet-sanded with the 220 grit (or finer) sandpaper. It is also recommended that a dust mask is worn during this process to prevent inhaling plastic dust created through sanding.

Note 1: The files, photographs, and information was originally released on March 3, 2019 at the following link: http://ianpchase.com/blog/2019/2/24/inside-the-box

Note 2: CAD files provided on this page were drawn in inches

Note 3: The .gcode was created in 2019 for a then-current Prusa i3-MK3S………..