Every time I cleared off my Bambu Lab A1 mini, the build plates ended up in a pile on the desk, leaning on whatever was nearby and sliding off the edge. I just needed somewhere to put them. So I designed a holder, printed it, and screwed it to the underside of the shelf above my printers.

3D printed honeycomb build plate holder mounted under a shelf, loaded with Bambu Lab A1 mini build plates
The finished rack, mounted under the shelf with the A1 mini plates slid in.

The problem: loose build plates everywhere

If you run more than one plate on an A1 mini, you know the routine. Pop the plate off, flex the print free, and then set the plate down somewhere. Do that a few times and you have a stack of plates on the desk that slides around, gets in the way, and puts your plate surfaces at risk of getting scratched or knocked to the floor.

The fix: a honeycomb rack that lives under the shelf

The holder is a simple open basket with a honeycomb cutout pattern. It mounts to the underside of a shelf, and the plates slide in edge-on, side by side, so they’re stored upright, off the desk, and out of the way, but still right there when you need to swap one in.

Honeycomb A1 mini build plate holder fresh off the print bed
Fresh off the printer. The honeycomb pattern keeps it light.

Mounting it

  1. Hold the holder up against the underside of your shelf where you want the plates to live.
  2. Drive screws through the mounting holes into the shelf.
  3. Slide your A1 mini build plates in, one at a time, edge-on.
Screwing the 3D printed plate holder to the underside of a wooden shelf
Screwing it to the underside of the shelf.

Watch it go up

Here’s the whole thing in a quick Short: printing it, mounting it, and loading the plates in.

Want the files?

I haven’t uploaded this design anywhere yet. If you want it, head over to the Short and comment “plates.” If enough people ask, I’ll drop the files for free.

Comment “plates” on the Short

The printer it’s built for

This rack is sized for the build plates from the Bambu Lab A1 mini. If you’re running one (or a few), keeping the spare plates organized makes swapping jobs a lot faster.

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