3D Printing

Fitting a Chinese Inductive Sensor on a Clone Prusa i3 mkII with an E3D Titan

Posted by houstin on June 21
Posted in: 3D Printing, Build-A-Printer. Leave a Comment

On one of my i3 clones based off of the brainworm from Tom’s 3D I upgraded to a genuine i3 and an Titan extruder.  Not only are these really well made (3:1 gearing seems to be magic on 1.75mm filament) but it gives me a lot more peace of mind.

The i3 mkII layout uses an inductive sensor for automatic bedleveling, and since I would like to upgrade to a mk42 bed clone eventually, I wanted to make sure to follow this scheme.  Sadly, the longer non-PINDA probe just doesn’t fit in the mounts bouncing around thingiverse.

Still, worked with this a bit and here’s my solution in a picture:

Inductive sensor fit into an e3d titan

What I did was drill a hole in the base for the probe, and a getaway hole out the side (yes, over the holographic film) for the wire.  My drill speed was a bit aggressive and it chipped off the corner, but once the top was screwed back on everything is solid.

 

So, hope this helps someone.  It’s been running for about a month and a half for me without issue.

Icom HM-151 Microphone Clip

Posted by houstin on January 19
Posted in: 3D Printing. 3 comments

Icom likes to play it a bit fast and loose when it comes to standards.  Normally when someone complains about this digital radio is usually the subject of the conversation.  Not today folks.  That’s right, I’m ignoring proprietary codecs today because I made a retaining clip for my IC-7000.

I love this radio and have had it in my daily driver for about 3 years now.  It’s been used for net control at a race, listening to CB, and boring repeater chatter too.  I’m not sure if in my haste to unwrap it when it first came or if it never came with, but I never had a retaining clip for the HM-151 mic that comes with.  Now normally losing a mic clip wouldn’t be a problem.  When I wanted a new one for my FTM-350R that’s in my rallycross car I just went on ebay and picked up a new one for less than a buck.  With Icom skirting around typical design standards for the stupid little clips that was not an option.

So, 3D printing to the rescue!  I opened up Fusion 360 and my faithful caliper and in about 15 minutes drew up this:

Mic Clip Model

From there I took the STL and printed one out.  Making sure to print the object at at 15 degree angle to make sure the sheer forces weren’t all in the same line, I got this!

Mic Clip Mic Clip Side

A cute little clip indeed.  So with a 1″ square of double sided tape I hung it on my car right by the map light and away I go.  (I’d get a picture of that too but it is too dark.)

If you’re interested in making one yourself, here it is!

Download locally here Or Thingiverse!

Producing Parts for an Uncommon Car

Posted by houstin on October 18
Posted in: 3D Printing, Cars. 4 comments

One year ago plus one week (to the day) I drove a 1985 Alfa Romeo GTV6 home.  I picked it up in running, driving, but rusting condition for a price I can’t really complain about.  Sadly, since I’ve pulled it off the road, I still haven’t gotten it back on the road…  So it takes up space in the garage without giving the fun back.

A lot of the work required is welding, and while I had every intention of spending lots of time with my MIG this summer, work and flooring tended to get in the way.  Not everything is a wash though, since all the time away from home gave me plenty of time to sit with a caliper and reproduce nearly impossible to find parts.

The first one that came up is the adjuster carriage for the headlights.  The GTV6 uses a typical 5.75″ circular light mounted in a half-cup brace.  These braces aim up/down by riding on a little plastic carriages.  If these things are even still sold, I haven’t been able to find them, so I fired up the 3D printer and made a few.

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It’s an odd part, with a number of compound curves, but designed to be made out of plastic.

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Okay!  Great.  Tested the fit and they came out well.  Only problem is I have to finish the bodywork on the front end of the car yet before I can actually use them…

So, next while I was away another hard to source part, and this is one that breaks easily.  Heck, even the seller warned me not to break it: The sunroof handle surround.

Someone online produces a machined aluminum replacement that looks great, and I imagines functions great, but it’s a bit pricier than I wanted to pay for the moment.  So back to the 3D printer.

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This is an odd part.  Based on some of the measurements and what dimensions seemed to be referencing, I’m of the mindset that Alfa originally designed this part to be machined metal, not injection molded plastic.  Probably why they have such a high failure rate.

Based on the way it printed it’s a little rough.  Will need sanding or chemical smoothing before use, and probably a few other changes to get a better fit.

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The last part broken/missing on my GTV6 is probably the most unique of them all.  Since this car was designed in the late 70s/early 80s there was still that obsession with circuit boards and how futuristic they were.  So the tail lights were all mounted directly on PCBs.  PCBs, that I should add, were really build with substandard materials, so inevitably they all corrode away…

I started with the left side light, designed them, and sent a set out to OshPark to print.

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I designed the boards to use the OEM type bulbs, by using the cheapest sockets I could find on eBay.  Standoff height is a bit different, but in my test fitting it seems reasonable.  I still have to correct some dimensions, but it’s 95% there.  The OEM wiring/connector just fits right on!

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So those are the parts I amused myself with while away from home.  Sadly I haven’t had time to go back and weld/paint more, and with Winter setting in I’m a bit distraught another year will go by, but all fun and games!

Old is New: 3D Printing Parts for a Canadian Production Wheel

Posted by houstin on March 24
Posted in: 3D Printing. 7 comments

Instead of finding a lathe and taking a stab at making replacement parts for the 19th century Canadian production spinning wheel Kit picked up last year, I figured I’d take a stab trying to make the parts on the Lulzbot.  Normally, for a typical wheel that’s around now it’s just a 20 dollar or so purchase to pick up bobbins, but these wheels were never built to any real standard.  So after an hour with a caliper, I’ve come up with this bobbing and the tapered drive pulley.

New Parts Old and New Drive Pulley Comparison Bobbin Comparison

 

I still need to smooth the ABS and bond the bobbin together (it is designed as a center shaft and two end pieces.)  Once it’s all done I plan to put up the STLs on my github.  Having not actually measured another wheel in person I don’t know exactly how different they are, but hopefully it’ll help someone in the future.