Better Bag Stand

This is a stand to hold bags open for filling. It is adjustable and will work for several size bags.

• Ziploc® sandwich, quart, and gallon sizes
• FoodSaver® bags
• Any other bag up to 10” (25cm) tall.

Printing

All of the parts can be printed with no support, using any material. Here are my exceptions and recommendations:

• The left and right clip parts are printed on the side. I used a small organic support for the inside of the spring attach point, but if your printer does well with short bridging, you may not need it.

• Do not worry about the top edge of the clip’s pin hole. It doesn’t matter if it is a little rough as the pin has flat sides and should be positioned with a flat side to the rough part of the hole. {It is much easier than cleaning out support!.}
• I recommend printing the spring in PETG as it is better than PLA for springs.
• The arms are printed on their back with the teeth up. I recommend PETG for this as the teeth will wear down with PLA. I also recommend a layer height of no bigger than .20 as I found the teeth shape was too rounded with larger settings.
• I also recommend a “Solid infill threshold area” setting of 1000mm2. This will cause several critical areas to be solid: pins, base brackets, arm ratchets, and clips.

 Assembly

• Test fit the inner arms into the outer arms to ensure a good working fit.
  • You may need to work it several times to get it smooth.

• If you have a lot of trouble getting a slide action, you may consider lightly sanding/filing the tips of the ratchet teeth on the outer arm – but don’t remove too much or the arms may slide too easily and not stay extended.

• When the action is satisfactory, separate the inner and outer arms for the next steps.
• Attach the right clips to the inner arms.
  • Note the gripping tooth side of the clip needs to be facing in towards the center of the stand.

• Align the pin holes and insert the shorter pin.
  • Insert the pin from the center towards the outside.
  • The pin flat side should be vertical (the split between the pin legs horizontal). This will cause the flat side of the pin to fit into the rough side of the pin hole.

• Insert the spring into the attached clip.

• Slide the left clip into the right.
• Insert the other end of the spring into other clip.

• Slide the complete assembly of clip/spring/pin/inner arm into the outer arm.

• Slide the entire arm assemblies into the base brackets.
  • Note the small raised parts on the lower outer arm fit into the notched out inner bracket on the base.

• Insert the longer pins through the base brackets and hole in the arm.
  • Note the pin is inserted from the center, facing the outside.

 Usage

• Rotate the arms to the straight up position.
  • The arms should slide down into the brackets in the base to hold them firmly upright.
• Extend or retract the inner arm to the height you need.
  • Squeeze the upper end of the outer arm to pinch the ratchet teeth inward, allowing the arm to slide easily.
• Clip one side of the bag under each clip.
• When finished, slide arms up and rotate to fold down.

Update

I recommend also printing the Better Bag Stand Lock.

This is a significant re-design. It is much more robust. The arm extension system and pivoting is completely different.