Tag: 3dprinting

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Aventon Level 3 MIK Adapter Plate

Remember when I got an ebike? It came with a rear rack, which is handy. I added one (along with a bag) to my old Trek, and I used it all the time. I found that commuting to work often required me to move things, and a milk crate on the back worked well, but the zip ties meant it was a pain to put on and take off, so a quick release mount is a good option.

And guess what? The Aventon Level 3 might be MIK compatible. I say “might” because it’s tricky…

I asked Aventon for specs on the rear rack that ships with the Aventon Level 3 and they could not (or would not) provide them. I ended up modeling a version of the rack so I could virtually model something for it. (Note: The model is not perfect, but worked for my needs.)

Meanwhile I found this MIK adapter plate on Printables so I thought I would give it a try. (I loaded the STL file with the rack model I created and it looked it would fit.)

Does it work? Yes, but… But it’s 3D printed. This means you can make one for a very low cost as compared to buying one. (Here’s the real thing, at $40 USD.) I used ASA filament and a roll is $30 USD so I can print about a dozen adapter plates…

The first one I printed was actually PLA to make sure things worked. I used it with the milk crate on my bike rack and it did work. I destroyed it when I grabbed the crate to move the bike. Bad idea! The ebike weight over 65 pounds. I just ripped the adapter apart.

I printed one in ASA and that one broke as well, so I modified the model to make it stronger, but that one flew off my bike when I took a fast corner. So I learned a few things. First, I am riding an ebike, often going over 17mph on rough Milwaukee streets. I can’t always avoid potholes or other street damage so I bump and bounce occasionally. On a heavy bike with a heavy rider on bad streets the 3D printed version might not hold up.

The most recent failure involved the little part that uses a spring to click into place. I realized I should have printed the part sideways instead of flat. I re-printed, and with more shells and infill and it’s held up so far, but I’ve added a bungee cord to be safe.

I may go back to printing with PLA modifying things a bit. maybe creating a better locking mechanism than a spring loaded wedge part. I really think that’s the failure point, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure something out. The next alternative after that is to scrap this whole idea and come up with my own mounting solution. In theory it should be quick and easy to install and remove something from the rack, but it should hold well enough to not fall off… how hard could that be!?

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Fixing a Watch Band (Again!)

Remember when I fixed my watch band? Well, it didn’t last. The replacement (from my old Fitbit) lasted a few weeks, but it also broke, so I went back to using rubber bands, until…

I thought to myself, just 3D print one! And I thought about doing it with TPU. But then I got lazy and just made one with PLA. I figured I would give that a try first, and… it does work!

I think I was convinced it needed to be soft and flexible but the PLA one has been under daily testing for over a week now and it might be just fine. The tricky part is I needed to make it just a little bit larger that the piece of metal it needs to slide over to get onto the band. But I didn’t want to make it too much larger. The size is a little annoying because I wish it were smaller, but without the flex of rubber or silicone or whatever, that isn’t happening. (And TPU probably wouldn’t have much stretch anyway.)

Just in case you need to do this too see the Watch Band Holder files in my OpenSCAD repository. Cheers!

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3D Printed Sign Handle

Sign Handle

Sign Handle

I designed a sign handle I could use for the protest signs I’ve been making lately.

Sign Handle

It’s a handle and backing piece. The two pieces bolt together using 8-32″ bolts (or 4mm bolts) and clamp around the sign. If you have concerned about wind you can hot glue the backing piece to the sign to add some solid support.

Sign Handle

I made the back piece larger & taller and glued it in place after a particular windy day! (You can see a little bead of hot glue sticking out of the top of the back piece in the photo above.

Sign Handle

The handle part is hollow, but you can print the whole thing without support. This is one of those prints that is more functional than beautiful, and as long as it works I don’t care how nice it looks. (I mean, it still looks good of course!)

Sign Handle

My signs are typically around 18″ x 12″ and I use cardboard of varying thicknesses. The only thing I don’t like about it is that I didn’t have the right size bolts so I had to cut some down to not stick out too far. (If the bolts stick out too far they could cause damage, and uh… well, no one wants that, right?)

Sign Handle

You can get the STL files from Printables.com – Sign Handle and you’ll need to make your own sign! (Or find some here!)

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3D Printed Sign Letter Stencil

Dana and I went to the “No Kings” protest last weekend, and I asked if she wanted one of the signs I made, or if she wanted to come up with something. She didn’t have any ideas until Friday night, so I rushed to get a sign made for her Saturday morning. Here it is! If you haven’t seen Daniel’s comments, check it out.

To make the sign I started in Inkscape with an Tabloid (11″x17″) canvas, and typed out the words. My plan was to 3D print the letters and us them for the stencil.

The red squares represent the size of the print bed on my 3D printer. I could not print the whole thing in one go so I broke it into two sections…

Here’s the first section. I brought the SVG into OpenSCAD and extruded it 1.5mm tall. Once I did that I exported an STL file I could print.

With the letters printed in black filament I put them down on the tabloid size foam core board to act as a stencil. With the letters being 1.5mm tall they had enough weight I didn’t need to worry about the paint blast blowing them away.

Spray Spray Spray! Paint goes on, letters (in place) stay. I let things dry for a bit…

Then removed the letters. A sign! I did think that it might have been fun to just glue on the 3D printed letters, though that would have added a little more weight to it. Still, ideas for the future… especially with multi-color printing. But again, I wanted to make a sign fast.

For good measure I added a 3D printed handle to the sign. I tweaked a design someone else threw together but I’m working on my own version now.

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HP Z420 Drive Caddies…

3D Printed Drive Caddies

3D Printed Drive Caddies

This TrueNAS project has had some setbacks, including RAM, but I’ve made progress!

3D Printed Drive Caddies

Since I am loading up this machine with drives I need some way to hold the drives in place, so once again 3D printing is the solution. I didn’t want to design a drive caddy as I assumed there would be some out there already, and there are, so I started looking, My results are below.

3.5″ to 5.25″ Drive bay adapters – Universal
I like this one. It does require a few bolts, but those bolts do allow you to secure this into the case, which can be a nice advantage. It’s got a lot of hole pattern options as well. It definitely feels solid since it gets bolted onto the drive.

3.5″ Hard Drive to 5.25″ Drive Bay Adapter
This is an interesting design! It uses no hardware and (for my print) snaps into place using the screw holes in the hard drive. It you don’t have hardware or don’t want to use it, this is nice. IF the fit isn’t tight it should still stay together once inserted into the computer. (I did need to print with supports.)

3D Printed Drive Caddies

3D Printed Drive Caddies

HP Workstation Rack for 2.5 HDD-SDD
This one is pretty good for holding a 2.5″ drive with bolts through the bottom. The one issue I have is that it’s a bit too long, at least for my computer. I could probably do a quick tweak on it in OpenSCAD to work for my needs though. It does need bolts on the side to slide into place.

3D Printed Drive Caddies

3D Printed Drive Caddies

3D Printed Drive Caddies

2.5” to 5.25” adapter for HP workstation case
I like this one as it’s got space for two drives, though you certainly can put just one drive it in if you want. It’s got a nice little cutout handle to make it easy to slide in and out if needed. I’m pretty sure I had to print it with supports though because of the little rails on the side.

HP Z440 3.5 drive caddy for 2 ssd drives
This one is okay, though I think I prefer the one above over this one. The sides where the drives attach seem a little thin, and the drives could be spaced out a bit more, though this one does have a hole on the bottom for more airflow. This one does not have built-in rails (so not support needed) so you’d need to add some bolts.

I’m still not 100% sure which of these I will end up using as they all have pros and cons. Of course it’s nice to see some variety in design and how people approach the problem of holding a hard drive (or two) in place.