The 3 screw holes are done in a similar way by creating 5mm cylinders, pushing them through the base, and subtracting them, but there’s a problem: how do you place them equally around the circle without just “freehanding” it? The answer is to place them in a known position, and move them in a calculated way. Now we want to “subtract” one object from the other, so we’ll select the shell and the inner cylinder and do that subtraction to get us the hole of the dimensions we want. Its radius is 17.5mm and height is 23mm – just enough to leave 5mm around the edges and at the bottom.īecause the height of this new cylinder is 23mm, we’ll now move it down “into” the other one by 23mm so that the tops of both are completely flush. In order to make a tube, we’ll create another cylinder and place it on top of the first. Notice that we didn’t put a hollow tube on top of the base, but a solid cylinder. We now have our basic shell with the right dimensions, but we’re going to need that mount hole and screw holes as well. To that we add another cylinder with a radius of 22.5mm and height of 28mm:Īt this point we have two separate shapes created, and in order to create our single shell shape, we select both items and join them together to create one. Here, we start with a simple cylinder with a radius of 43mm and height of 6mm: Most of what you’ll be doing in your modeling software will be creating primitive shapes such as squares, rectangles, and cylinders, then joining or subtracting them together to create more complex parts. For my part, I needed a handful of dimensions: the thickness of the base, the size of the hole, the height of the base and mount, and the size of the screw holes. Getting the dimensions right is important, and using an inexpensive digital caliper is key to getting some pretty precise measurements. So, let’s look at the steps for building this part. And, of course, we’ve already covered the printing stage. I’ve tried a bunch of different modeling software but the one I like most is AutoDesk’s 123D Design, which is free and powerful enough for most basic tasks. Regardless of object you’re attempting to create, the basic steps are pretty much the same: select your software, build your shapes, and print. I’ve evolved the design (using chamfered edges) and printing method (more plastic in-fill) over time, but this post is more about the design of the part itself. The results speak for themselves, but not without caveat: unfortunately this part isn’t quite as strong as the original and has cracked a few times. Specifically, a neighbor recently had a part break on his snow-blower and asked if I could print a replacement part. Thingiverse is a site that allows anyone to download ready-made 3D models for printing (I’ve put some of my own up there and written about them here), but today we’re going to talk about the steps to actually design your own parts. While it still has a long way to go before we’re all printing our own cell phones at home, designing and printing plastic 3D parts is well within reach. 3D printing technology continues to advance, as seen in this excellent infographic on. The MakerBot 3D Printer is a pretty cool piece of technology that we’ve covered before.
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