Clothes dryer vent quick disconnect / dock by bummster

Last crawled date: 3 years, 3 months ago

I recently came into ownership of a K40 laser cutter. But how do I get the fumes out of the house? I didn't want to use a window contraption. It gets really cold in Chicago. Hey, why not use the dryer vent?!
There are plenty of other designs out there. Commercial and printable options use a series of clips or magnets for retention. I wasn't a fan of either of those. I wanted a more substantial retention method, yet clean. I didn't want to see bits of wire or frayed ends either.
3 parts
A hexagonal wall flange that can slip around a 4" vent.
A heptagonal nut. Yes, a 7 sided nut. Why? Because they're cool.
A cylindrical hose insert that captures the nut.
The whole thing works sorta like a compression fitting. It's just the size of your hand...
Slide the hose insert into the heptagon. Then slide the 4" hose onto the outside of the hose insert. Stuff the wire and a coil or two into the relief of the heptagon to ensure the nut is captured and spins freely with no play. Sinch it all down with a hose clamp.
There's no need to cut the vent tube flat to the wall or anything. Though, you may need to trim it back. Apply some sort of gasket material to the flat side of the wall flange. I used neoprene strips cut to length. Attach the wall flange using your favorite sets of screws and anchors. I'm a fan of E-Z anchors.
The wall flange and hose insert should be printed in PETG due to temperatures. I also printed these 100% infill. You'll consume over 200g of filament on these two parts alone.
The heptagonal nut is fine in PLA. Seems plenty strong at 4 lines for the walls and 10% infill.
Do apply a very thin dose of white or dielectric grease to the threads. Be very sparing here. You're not trying to coat them, just give them a touch of slickness so the threads can spin freely. I've found that printed threading, even at a 6mm pitch, get kinda sticky
I printed a pair of these, and so far I'm quite pleased with their performance. And if you're wondering why these things aren't all circles, it's because I wanted them to stand out a bit. A conversation starter if you will. Before I sell the house, maybe I'll print a bunch in a more neutral color.