Sounds like a good idea, and maybe a list of those willing to do the printing for a nominal fee or known good commercial places. Still waiting for a coin/card operarted 3D printer to turn up in the local Spar, it's got a photocopier...
That's probably the first reasonable DIY use for them that I've come across.
Knock up a couple of dozen and stick them on eBay at a couple of quid a time and see what sort of take-up you get.
I'm very pleased with the three I got for the kitchens and utily room here.
One was about £15 (Philips Homebase, distress purchase). The other two £4.99 from Aldi when they didn't sell and priced dropped from the orginal £9.99.
5' 22W 2000lm CRI >90. Lower lumens than a 58W florry but I barely noticed the light level change on swapping and certainly don't now. Acid test: SWMBO'd has made no comment.
B-)
There was a comment that it would be "difficult to do in wood", a challenge if ever there was one... but is using a couple of bolts cheating? Does it have to be wood and wood only, solid wood no parts?
You need to look around more. ;-)
I have printed *many* d-i-y related things and the most typical being drilling / marking templates.
The good thing about printing rather than say knocking them up from offcuts is that you can optimise the design to exactly what you want, without having to worry what materials you happen to have.
The other good thing about printing is there is also less risk / better accuracy when making them because most 3D printers will print with sub mm accuracy, certainly much better than my eyes a rule and pencil these days. ;-(
The problem I see with that is that there are several designs of starter and it opens up the opportunity for people to give negative feedback if the 'tool' doesn't happen to fit theirs. ;-(
I built a box section steel chassis to be able to dismount a chipper from it's road trailer and to wheel it into places with restricted access (like a sack barrow).
To allow the 1" diameter stub axles to fit inside the box section easily I just printed a 100mm square insert with a 1" tubular hole down the middle and slipped a bolt though the lot at the inner end to stop the axle moving or coming out.
The thing is, in most cases if you can think of something and are able to design it you can (generally) have it that day. ;-)
The last thing I did was print a bracket that allowed me to mount a surface mount PIR lamp on the corner of a building. You can get corner mounted lights of course but not of the particular lamp design or price we wanted. ;-)
End brackets to allow support poles to be placed on a trailer to stop the cover sagging ... ;-)
Cheers, T i m
newshound brought next idea :
Add a hole for one of those belt loop clips, and it would be perfect. Leaves your hands free to then climb step ladders...
Useful things I've 3D printed recently with my Cetus:
Tubular bracket for friends wardrobe rail Adaptor from 3" electrical ducting to 110mm underground (cable network between buildings) Clips to hold the polycarbonate splash guards on my CNC Wire EDM machine A regulator valve male taper for a milking machine washdown system for a friend A tray receiver to allow a Kinect sensor to perch on a monitor for 3D scanning A set of buttons for an infants cardigan with pictures of lambs on them A blanking plug 55mm diameter for my Beaver Partsmaster CNC milling machine complete with logo A spray nozzle and mounting to replace one for my hydroponic pig cooling misting system Some spur gears And of course the Starter Gripper
it's a very useful tool - doesn't get used every day but does things that would be difficult otherwise
Andrew
Ooooh, now there's an idea. I have some drainpipe that runs from just inside the back of the sub-floor of the house (laid under the concrete base of the extension) to just outside the workshop. There are currently two lengths of SWA that are threaded though the pipe and into the workshop via a hole core drilled diagonally though the slab and I was trying to work out a way of either continuing the drainpipe up near the hole under the slab or just print am end cap that take a std drainpipe fitting down the OD of two runs of SWA and just cover the SWA as normal (and only with soil in that location). ;-)
Brilliant.
Quite. Like my trunking end. I could even include a third outlet for some smaller flexible conduit so that I could run a network or video cable through if I wanted later. Making something like that without a
3D printer would be pretty difficult whereas with it's just the drawing of 3 tubes in line with one bigger one and blending them together. ;-)Cheers, T i m
Don't forget that 3D printed PLA isn't waterproof unless you treat it. ABS can be sealed with an Acetone vapour soak.
Andrew
Whilst I was aware PLA was 'biodegradable' and made from corn starch or some such, just how non-waterproof is it?
eg, If it was in soil 18" under the surface, would that be wet enough to be worried about it's waterproofedness and how long do you think we are talking about before it dissolves away?
How would I 'treat it' to make it more waterproof?
FWIW, I could use whatever I print as a former and fibreglass over the top?
Cheers, T i m
An advantage of the current "right through") design is that if the lugs get mangled/wear, all you need do is a chop a bit off the end and you have a "fresh" end to use.
Also remember - this was an "immediate need" sort of thing.
So steam up Fusion 360, draw two concentric circles 19.7 mm and 22 mm, draw two small 2 mm circles on the diameter where it bisects the smaller circle half protruding into the middle. Select the shape so produced and extrude it
55 mm - save as an .STL file - port it to the Cetus and have a cup of tea - job done, problem solved. 5 mins to draw up, about 30 mins printing, no need to get too anal about the design.I did consider incorporating a knurled gripper for ones fingers but it just wasn't worth the bother
Andrew
A friend has PLA printed a housing for his weather station sensor electronics - this is mounted on a pole in the air exposed to all weathers and so far has lasted over 4 years unaffected. However I have heard from an acquaintance in Australia that PLA degrades in the high UV levels that they get there.
Dipping in clear spirit based varnish effectively seals PLA - don't use water based (for this or anything else for that matter !!!!)
Andrew
why?
'coz it's useless
Andrew
I've got plenty of it doing its job no problem.
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