Baggage Tag

Occasional airplane trips make baggage tags useful. There are probably cheaper ways to go, especially if you can use a paper tag on a string from the airline you are taking. Still, why go that way if you can design one for yourself and print it on your own 3D printer, built for your business card.

A tag printed solid with text right on it is probably more practical, too. Red PLA would make letters relatively easy to read. Again, though, that's no design challenge. So, the version presented here is built for inserting a standard business card. You have one, right? Attach it to your luggage with a zip tie.

As far as techniques go, this small amount of code involves doing the solid tag as one module and then using a second module for all the cut-outs. I have found that It is WAY easier to make cutouts as visible solids to help position them correctly. Then I can do a difference() of the two modules, removing the empty spaces from the solid. This technique may not always work, but it's an approach worth considering.

$fn=30;

module case(){
    hull(){
    cube([100,4,58]);
    translate([110,4,29])
    rotate([90,0,0])
    cylinder(4,10,10);
     }
}

module cuts(){
    // strap hole
    translate([110,5,29])
    rotate([90,0,0])
    cylinder(10,3,3);
    // card space
    translate([2,1.25,2])
    cube([150,1.5,54]);
    // window to see card
    translate([8,-1,6])
    cube([83,2.75,46]);
}
//difference(){  // remove the comment slashes to activate the cutouts
 case();
 cuts();
//} // remove the comment slashes to activate the cutouts

// card retainer spheres
// these extend into the card slot to keep the card from sliding out of the window
translate([100,.6,29])
sphere(2);
translate([100,.6,19])
sphere(2);
translate([100,.6,39])
sphere(2);

There's no sag on my Lulzbot Mini, even though the window's upper edge has no support. I did find that I needed to ask for a "raft" in the Cura slicer software driving the printer. Without it, the card case is too narrow on the print bed and falls over. Oriented vertically, as it is, the print is slow (over 2 ½ hours). That's probably another reason to go for a solid tag with text. Printing a couple at a time didn't add much to the print time, though.

In case you need to rush into printing a tag and don't need more than a solid one, the bagtag-solid.scad version prints flat (no need for a raft). It took about an hour and a half. Just modify the text lines to suit your needs.

Available Files:

SCAD files for study/modification and STL files for quick prints