Adaptable Plant Clip (Tomato Clip)

Overview

• Does not slip, even under decent pulling force • Fits poles with a diameter of 6-~16mm • Ring for securing the plant has a diameter of ~25mm • Uses very little material

I needed a clip to secure my tomatoes to a stick, but all the models available are either not secure enough and might slip (not enough clamping force/completely loose) or have pointy parts towards the plant. My design incorporates a full ring without any gaps that should prevent any plant damage and a clamping part that is adaptable to a decent range of stick/pole diameters (optimized for 6-10mm, up to around 16mm works fine). As it's using a polymer the clamping force is going to decrease over time when the part is under constant compression, but it wont fall off by itself.

Edit: After using the clips for a while I have noticed that they get less strong after a while and after a season of use they might break all together when printed in PLA. This happens because they are under a constant bending load to produce the clamping force. This results in what is known as “creep”. The material permanently deforms over time, even though the load is below the threshold for permanent deformation. So far I have only used PLA for this print, I don't know how well PETG or ABS holds up, but as far as I know PLA is pretty much the worst in terms of creep.

Printing Instructions

• A bit tricky to print, make sure you have your bed adhesion dialed in. I tried using a raft, it is more secure but removal is annoying and it uses 2x as much material. • PLA works, PETG should be fine too, I don't have any experience with anything else, but any semi-standard material should work (flexibles are most likely too soft, carbon fibre reinforced might be too stiff and break). • Only 2mm thick, so infill doesn't come into play • Layer height can be almost anything, I used 0.3mm • Z-hop is recommended as it prevents the nozzle knocking over/loosening the prints from the bed • Support is most likely not needed, you have to be able to bridge about 10mm though.

Usage Instructions

• Slip the clip around your plant • Cross over the two ends, making sure the two recesses align • Compress the big loop, opening up the small loop in the process • Put the small loop around whichever stick happens to be around • Profit

Design and description by Serisar , licensed CC-BY-SA.