3D Printed Ratcheting Socket Wrench

Posted Posted in 3D Printed Ratcheting Socket Wrench, 3D Printing

Inspired by seeing Cleven’s Pocket Ratchet Wrench, I decided to see if I could design a regular sized Ratcheting Socket Wrench which would be strong enough to be used for real world applications. The main body is split into a top and bottom section with a handle sandwiched between, which will be an interchangeable small or large handle (with different lengths to give better leverage) The Design is fully 3D printed, with eight M4 machine screws fastening it together. The ratchet mechanism has attachments on each side, which was inspired by Cleven’s design to allow the ratchet to drive both clockwise and counter-clockwise. The initial design allows the use of  12.5MM (1/2″) sized sockets, although the next development will be to allow the head to be interchanged with a head which can use 10MM (3/8″) sized sockets as well as standard 1/4″ hex tool bits. Ratchet mechanism working

MINI Custom Sidelight/Indicator Assemblies

Posted Posted in 3D Printing, MINI R50, MINI R50 - Exterior

This project has been influenced by the newer optional LED sidelights available for the R56 MINI Hatch and the Countryman/Paceman. As I wanted to complete the new style of lighting I have created on my MINI R50, I needed to make the sidelights match the angel eye ring style. I started out by buying a set of sidelight/indicator assemblies from eBay, which I then cut using a rotary tool until there was nothing left but the frame. With this corpus, I then took measurements and created a bulb holder and seating for an SMD LED ring. To finish this off, I painted the finished assembly in a chrome spray paint to ensure reflectivity. (Unfortunately it seems this chrome effect has proven to be too reflective, in some cases leading to onlookers seeing just a bright light instead of a well defined ring!) It was now time to purchase the SMD […]

New 3D Printed Lamp Design

Posted Posted in 3D Printed Lamp, 3D Printing

    Upon hearing a loud crash, I discovered that an Ikea lamp in my apartment had gained the cat’s attention and been broken in the process! It felt wasteful to simply get rid of the whole lamp and purchase a new one and so I decided to utilise the still functioning electrical parts of the lamp. My newly designed 3D printed lamp is made of a Black PLA base, with additional weights added to keep the lamp sturdy and a semi-transparent PETG shade.

Balcony Wind Turbine MK14

Posted Posted in 3D Printing, Balcony Wind Turbine

After the destruction of the MK13 wind turbine by the recent stormy weather, I immediately began work on a new prototype – MK14. Due to the fact that the previous design had been destroyed at a critical weak point – the base of the Nacelle/Generator casing, I decided to reinforce this area, as well as adding strength to the tower/base and the rear flight pole. (Which had also been destroyed) The new design not only includes strengthened elements, but also a new safety system which I hope will stop the prototype from damaging itself as drastically in the event of a critical design failure. The new system attaches to a carabiner clip attached to the Nacelle/Generator section, then loops through and attaches to another carabiner clip on the flight pole.

Destruction of MK13 Wind Turbine

Posted Posted in 3D Printing, Balcony Wind Turbine

  Today unfortunately marks the destruction of the MK13 Wind Turbine prototype due to the severe wind we experienced early this morning. It seems that the layered structure of the 3D print gave way at the base of the Nacelle/Generator casing with the stress put upon it by the high winds. Thankfully the safety cord ensured that whilst the turbine was destroyed, it was deposited on my balcony as opposed to over the edge.   Unfortunately this now means that I will be needing to re-print quite a few components, which will take many hours!

Laser Cat Toy MK2 Build

Posted Posted in 3D Printing, Laser Cat Toy

  After the initial design had gained the interest of my cat, I felt it was only sensible to refine the design and correct the problems with the MK1 prototype. The Laser Toy MK2 still uses an Arduino Uno, but now uses a standard 180 degree Servo for horizontal rotation and the same 180 degree Micro Servo for vertical rotation. The Arduino code has now been expanded with a longer and more varied routine based on Lily the cat’s (apparent) preference. The movement of the Laser Toy is now far smoother and far quieter, which makes it far more appropriate for a cat to play with!

Laser cat toy

Posted Posted in 3D Printing, Laser Cat Toy

Due to the hyperactivity of my pet cat – Lily, I have decided to create a laser toy design to entertain her. The design utilises an Arduino Uno and some small micro servo motors that I have recently bought, though due to the small size and lack of power, it seems I have hit my first problem, as once can easily see in the video. The juddering appears to be due to the motors not having enough power to move to their correct angles, which makes for a rather terrible sounding toy! (Not that Lily the cat seems to mind) My next stage is purchasing a more powerful servo motor, which will hopefully combat this problem, then I can add some more interesting routines to the Arduino code!

An update to the old 3d printer

Posted Posted in 3D Printing

After 3 years and thousands of hours of faithful service, my 3d printer – the Wanhao Duplicator 4S – has started to show it’s age. All of a sudden, I decided it could do with a little bit of an update, so I removed all panels, primed and painted them with white gloss, then downloaded and designed some new parts. Overall the printer looks quite different, with a new, more modern appearance, some slightly improved functionality and a safer rewiring of the hotend looms.