onsdag 22. april 2015

Everyday practical use of my RepRap 3D printer - Part 3

After I did part 2 of this type of post (here is part 1 if you're interested), I started to realize just how much stuff I have actually printed in the last 4-5 years. It really does attest to the quality and usability of DIY 3D printing when you don't notice you are using 3D printed parts in your daily routine.

Here's some more - though still not all - stuff from around the house. A few are from thingiverse, but most of these are custom built with OpenSCAD. Feel free to ask if you want a certain model for something, and I'll be happy to share the probably terrible rough and ugly code with you.

I've just linked my blog to g+, hope it works out as it should.

Edit 05.05.2015: Fixed some spelling errors and added a little more information here and there.

Enjoy! :)

First out is my vesa-mounted raspberry pi (named Anton) which I intended to use with XBMC. I felt it was too slow, and just installed KODI on the desktop computer instead. The raspberry will be used for OctoPI instead.

The cool thing with custom casing is you only make holes for the connectors you need. I also built it so the SD card is located inside the casing to avoid it breaking of.

Next up is mounting clips for some mood lights inside a bookshelf.

I was worried the heat from the light strip would melt the PLA, but it holds up after more than a year of prolonged use.

More clips, this time for some extra support for a LED strip in the kitchen. There is tape on the back, so one nail is sufficient.
The LED strip above is driven by a small PSU, which I have mounted using some 3D printed brackets. The PLA holds up to the heat very good.

What do you do when the handle of your wife's new seam ripper is too short? You print an extender, naturally.
A custom built bed needs custom built lamps. The lamps are from IKEA, and come with a huge clip to attach it to a desk. I removed said clip, made a housing with a trapped M8 nut inside, and soldered on a new switch. 
Another shot of the housing. As a extra feature it hides the screw I used to secure the headboard to the wall.
One of the mobile phone stand I have, which works pretty good. There are a lot of these around so I didn't take the time to design my own. This one is from thingiverse.
The shower soap cup from 2012 eventually broke, so I printed a stronger replacement. Also notice the hooks to the right. 

And there are also matching towel hooks. PLA is surprisingly strong, and I have yet to break one of these off. 

This neat nose glasses support is really tidying up the desk, and it help to recover misplaced glasses.
Another glasses holder. This one fits this type of eyewear frame very well.

Another bracket which takes a lot of daily abuse without any problems. I added a small piece of foam to the end of the rod so it is supported quite well between the walls.

You don't want your baking yeast all over the refrigerator? A 3D printed box is the solution for you! In this case I went for not only practical but also a little aesthetic. The weaved pattern was a fun OpenSCAD programming exercise!


A bit tough to photograph this one. We added some nice knobs to a dresser, but said knobs had some pretty nasty bolt heads which could rip clothing in said dresser. Tape? Nah, 3D printed cap of course. I heated it slightly with a lighter and pressed it on. Not one of them has fallen of yet.
Here's a painted knob on the same dresser as above, with a 3D printed butterfly silhouette. The filament is the great looking Galaxy Blue from Faberdashery.
 
Curtain rod holder? Sure!
Another one? Definitively, but lets sneak in a RepRap logo this time around.
Home sewn curtains needing a curtain band holder wall screw thingy? No problem!

IKEA RUSCH clock remastered with new numbers. The paint came off when reinserting the face plate, and the inner workings are not very beautiful. First time I glued the numbers on I hang the clock before the glue was totally dry, that resulted in a serious persistence of memory drooping. I consider this clock a failure, but hey, it works.
3D printing + textile ink = awesome. It did take a number of tries to make this work though. The first layer / glass side have to be a little overly squished to make clean edges appear, and the paint is best applied slowly with a brush. But the result is looking very professional!
This clip holds together the neck of a hair dressers apron my wife sewed.
 
Wall mounted shoes? No problem! Also notice the bootstyled clothes-peg at the bottom right corner. (I didn't remember I printed that until I saw this picture).

Tree rings holder in use for about three years now. The grey flower and the black owl is a few examples of all the jewellery I've printed.

Soggy water at the end of your tooth brush? No thank you!
Portal Waste Disposal Unit Accessory A have been working tireless for 2 years, but the arm of the man have finally broken. This is one of my favourite pieces. 

 So there you go! I, for one, is looking forward to what I'm going to print in the next year.

Have a splendid day folks!

-Peter



fredag 17. april 2015

Everyday practical use of my RepRap 3D printer - Part 2

I've had access to a printer for several years now, and as I stated in the previous post about this, I've ended up using printer mostly for (or perhaps for mostly?) useful stuff around the house these days.

So here are - in no particular order - a few of the things you can make, if you have access to a 3D printer.


A clip to suspend a ceiling lamp.

Picture frame for Berry (from Clody with a chance of meatballs 2).

Cookie/cake cutters.

Custom made cup lid. (The green one).

Hook for trash can from IKEA.


I reused a model and printed more of these custom brackets I made years ago.
The magnetic knife holder had lost the end brackets, which we fixed.
I built a custom case for my computer to make it fit in an old desk. Of course I 3D printed a lot of parts for it, like the fan grille at the front. (Sorry about the dust, I really ought to clean it soon).

There is also a bracket to hold the DVD-RW in place, as well as legs to mount the hard drives. All custom made.


The old desk had a pretty smart way to lock all the drawers, but it was not very practical to have to unlock the drawers all the time. Thus I printed a wedge to keep the locks open.

And here's a new batch of filament from filament.no I'm going to try out.

Hope this inspired you to acquire and use a 3D printer on your own.
Feel free to ask questions, and have a nice day. :)
-Nudel