xTool Studio is great at finding your items on the O1 Omni's bed, but there's still a manual part to it. You place every blank by hand, scan, and line your designs up. For one item that's fine. When you're printing 20 pens or 14 keychains for an order, and then doing it again the next day, it slows you down.
So I designed the L3D Omni Jig System. Two brackets clip onto the bed, and a whole range of jigs drop into them in exactly the same spot every time. Here's what it is, how to use it, and how to decide if you need it.
Jump to: What it is · Do you need it? · How to use it · Three jigs at once · The jig range · Print your own
What it is
The system has two parts:
- The Omni Bracket System. Two end brackets that push over the edges of the O1 Omni's bed. No screws, no tools, no adhesive. You only ever need one set.
- The jigs. Each one holds a batch of one type of blank and drops straight into the brackets. They're 3D printed in matte white PLA to match the machine, and every one has been tested on a real O1 Omni.
They fit every edition of the O1 Omni (Single UV, Dual-Head UV and UV + DT Fabric), because they all share the same bed.
Do you need it?
Honestly, for one-off items, no. xTool Studio can pick up where your items are and help you place your designs.
Where it really helps is batches. If you're starting a business, or you already run one, and you're turning out lots of pens or golf balls with the same kind of design over and over, the jigs let you:
- print lots of items at the same time;
- load your blanks on the bench instead of inside the machine;
- put every item back in exactly the same place, so your layout lines up every run.
How to use it
- Fit the brackets. Press the button to bring the bed out, then push one bracket over each end of the bed. Fit them once and you can leave them in place. They come off any time you need them to.
- Load your blanks on the bench. Every pocket holds a blank in the right spot, so there's no fiddly lining up inside the machine. Everything sits level, which you want.
- Drop the loaded jig into the brackets. It locates into them in the same position every time.
- Press the button and the bed takes it in. The jigs are designed around the machine, so nothing clashes.
- Scan in xTool Studio. The camera picks up every individual item, ready for you to place your designs.
- Print the whole batch.
Because the jig always sits in the same place, repeat runs line up every time. Once you've set your designs up over a jig, you don't have to scan for every batch. A scan takes about 30 to 50 seconds, so placing your saved layout in xTool Studio and pressing Print saves you that time on every run. Over a big order, that adds up.
Three jigs at once on the large bed
The original brackets hold one jig on the smaller mini baseplate. If you use the large 330 x 420 mm Standard Baseplate, the Omni Bracket System XL holds three jigs side by side. Every jig fits both, so you can even mix three different jigs in one run and pick them all up with one scan.
The jig range
There are jigs for a lot of the blanks people print most. Here are some of them:
- Keychains: round, oval and rectangular wooden keychains, leather keychains and metal bottle opener keychains.
- Golf balls, plus a baseball and pickleball jig.
- Pens: 21 at a time, and it takes most pen sizes.
- Coasters: glass (square and round) and slate.
- Lighters: flip lighters, plus electronic and flint lighters.
- Metal: business cards, wallets, challenge coins, dog tags and round metal discs.
- Bottle openers: wooden ones (rectangular, and round in 60 or 65 mm) and metal ones.
- And more: tins, wine stoppers, wooden dice and leather patches.
You'll find the full, current list with what each one holds on the O1 Omni hub. Every jig needs the Omni Bracket System, sold separately, and the one set works with all of them.
Printing on a blank I don't cover yet? Use the jig request form. Tell me what you want to print and send a link to the blank. The most requested ideas get designed first.
Got a 3D printer? Print your own
Every jig and both bracket systems are also available as STL files to print at home, either one at a time or all together in The O1 Jig Vault. Each jig comes as a one piece file for large printers and as a split version in two halves, so it prints on just about any 3D printer.
The licence is simple. You can print the jig for your own use and sell what you make with it. You can't share, resell or redistribute the file (or a modified version of it), and you can't sell or give away printed copies of the jig.
Which jig should I make next?
Tell me in the comments on the video or through the request form. If you've just got your O1 Omni, my O1 Omni beginner's guide takes you from unboxing to your first print.
