1U Rail Shim for 10-inch mini-rack (3.5mm thickness)

10-inch Mini-Rack - Rail Shim - 1U

I created this 3.5mm thick, 1U rail shim for a 10-inch mini-rack to allow mounting thinner steel blanking plates and brackets flush with thicker 3D-printed brackets and blank plates. Typically the metal mounting brackets and blank plates are less than 1mm thick, while the 3D-printed brackets are much thicker. This leads to the metal brackets looking recessed compared to the rest of the items in the rack. These shims solve that by going behind the metal bracket/plate to push it further out giving your rack a uniform, flush appearance.

In the image above you can see how the steel blank plate (with the stickers) is now flush with the other 3D-printed brackets for the Ugreen switch and the ZimaBoard 2 NAS. Previously, it was recessed a few millimeters below the other things in the rack, and I did not like that look.

I have also ordered these rack screws from Amazon as well. The chrome plated ones that came with the GeeekPi Rackmate T0 are slightly short with the 3D-printed brackets and plates. Not only did they not supply enough in the box, they do not allow many threads to grab. You risk stripping the threads by over-tightening them. If you are also using the Rackmate series I would recommend replacing the screws with standard length rack screws for better compatibility. Also, I think the black screws will look much nicer.

Print Settings

Setting

Value

Nozzle Diameter

0.4 mm

Layer Height

0.2 mm

Wall Loops

4

Top/Bottom Layers

4

Infill Density

15%

Infill Pattern

Cross Hatch

Material

PLA, PETG, ABS

License

This model is shared under the CC-BY open-source license. I am a firm believer in the open-source community and philosophy. You can share, modify, and use my models however you like. All I ask is for proper attribution. I have shared STL, STEP, and FreeCAD files to make modification easy.

Happy Homelabbing!