I got this entertainment center from my roommate when we went our separate ways and I dont remember why this shelf didnt have the brackets it came with or if this shelf even was made for this but regardless, it made using this shelf a hazard.
Any time I tried to put something on it, good chance it would fall off due to it only resting on the pegs without any way to secure it.
So first thing I did was use digital calipers to set the size of the peg and make a prototype shelf bracket. First iteration was ok, but not great. it spun in place making it hard to align it with the shelf, and the lip I added didn't stop it from sliding backwards. Unfortunately lost that peice so that one is not pictured.
Attempt 2 was to make the lip higher and it did work better, but the spinning problem was still there.
Attempt 3 was just finding the distance between the peg holes and printing a part that had 2 pegs connected together to prevent the bracket from moving. This took me 3 prints but I got there eventually. After i made sure that worked, I printed what I thought would be the final version and it was pretty damn close.
The only issue was I didn't account for the length of the glass, so the glass didnt fit on my brackets. I also realized that I made the material way thicker than needed to connect the two pegs together so I fixed that as well.
I then 3d printed a final set of two brackets for the front that extended the lip out so that it would rest nicely and I nailed that part first try which felt incredible.
Now this shelf doesnt move AT ALL. Its so much sturdier and nice to use. I bought a AV reciever which is what sparked this whole endeavor. I really tried to just set it up and let it be but trying to get this heavy receiver on this shelf without it falling made it a pain and I felt if I let it be, this glass would end up breaking which I didn't want.
For anyone curious, its a Denon 1910. I wanted this so that I could eventually get surround if I wanted but mostly for a center channel and maybe a sub for my TV setup. Me and my girlfriend are watching more movies and TV recently and the movies especially make me want better sound.
I may do another post about making a shelf for the other side. Right now, only one side has a shelf. Cable management rakes or something may also be a fun project just to make the wiring not such a nightmare.
(at the risk of being a little too excited for this comm) Heck yeah! It's stuff like this that makes me love 3d printing. Plastic junk on demand is neat, but it's so satisfying to replace/ improve lost bits and bobs like that. It's crazy how much of a quality of life improvement you can pack in an afternoon of modeling/ prototyping and a few hours in print time.
Haha yea me too man, this is exactly why i bought one. Being able to fairly easily replace broken or missing parts is such a joy. Getting digital calipers helped a ton with getting the dimensions right which made this go way smoother but ive printed other stuff like hexagon tiles for DND comabts, minis, a broom holder, just about anything you could want to print, someine else has made a model for.