I failed again on a couple of levels, but am figuring out the problem…

I think for the next design I am going to attack each pleat segment as an assembly like a Lego build. I need to shape the pleat and secure both top and bottom in a way that allows the fabric to pass through the ends. Then mount that brick assembly into a frame that pulls tension along the pleat length.

I’m kinda at a mental impasse at the moment because the alternative idea I have is to melt a bead of PLA into the top and bottom edge of the fabric to allow assembly with the fabric already cut to length.

With the Lego bricks-like clipping assembly, the conundrum is how to trim the excess and still create a filer frame that is easy to build into a larger air box assembly.

My goal is to have taut pleats with no cardboard or material forming them. This is actually a second project and attempt at such a thing. I could easily buy something, but screw that. Amazon won’t list dimensions of filters because that would be honest, when branding is exploitable for price fixing. I would rather cut up an old tee shirt for a better filter media anyways, or toy with more complexity in sensors with a microcontroller or filtration media later down the road.