Tag: 3dprinting

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stlviewer canvas adjustment

STL Viewer

I use Gary Hodgson’s stlviewer quite a bit, as it allows for a quick view of an STL file in your browser, and since I’ve always got a browser running, it’s often easier than launching yet anther app just to view a 3D model.

But one of the things that’s always bugged me about it was the fact that the build plate appeared to be 100mm x 100mm, which would be fine in 2010 if using a MakerBot Cupcake, but my RepRap has a 200mm x 200mm build surface…

STL Viewer

This is much better! My models over 100mm long/wide actually fit on the build plate instead of spilling over into space. Obviously if you’re using Gary’s online version you can’t really make changes, but I just run it locally from my hard drive, so I can easily hack at it.

STL Viewer

Just go into the js folder and in there is the thingiview folder, and open thingiview.js in your favorite text editor. Line 711 should look like this. 


plane = new THREE.Mesh(new Plane(100, 100, 10, 10), 
  new THREE.MeshBasicMaterial({color:0xafafaf,wireframe:true}));

(Note: It’s all one line, but it’s wrapped here for readability.)

For the part that says new Plane(100, 100, 10, 10) just change it to new Plane(200, 200, 10, 10) and you’ll get a 200mm x 200mm canvas with which you can display your lovely STL file on.

(Obviously if you’re using MegaMax you should go a bit larger, perhaps 300mm x 300mm would be appropriate.)

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The Toolbox that Makes Things

Desktop 3D Printer

This is the future… a 3D Printer where you work; improving things, repairing things, and creating new possibilities. It’s here today for some people.

Here’s a nice post about Brookhaven Memorial Hospital saving money and solving problems thanks to one of their employees and a MakerBot 3D Printer. Think back to the days when the first Macs came out, and people who owned them would bring them into the office to get work done. I’ve brought my RepRap into work, but more often I just do the needed measuring and modeling and then print things at home and bring them in. (Like a recorder mount, LCD arm, or even something as mundane as a coat hook.)

Once you’ve got a “toolbox that makes things”, it’s not hard to look around and see things that could use improvement, or problems that need solving. (Recently my wife asked me to fix a loose shelf, and I was actually a bit disappointed that all it took were two zip ties to fix it. I was all ready to model and print something!)

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Boom Pole Mount

Boom Pole Mount

Recently I’ve been on a few shoots where I’m doing the audio, and if you’re holding a boom pole and trying to keep the mic out of the shot, it can be a bit difficult to adjust the recorder, which you’ve typically got resting on something nearby, or if you’re moving around, holding in your hand. Obviously I needed a “BPM” and this time it’s not “Beats Per Minute” but “Boom Pole Mount”, which will hold the Zoom on the boom pole freeing up one hand to made adjustments or, you know, help steady the boom pole. (Maybe it needs a better name, like “Zoom2Boom” or something.)

As often is the case… 3D Printing to the rescue!

3D model

I measured the second segment of the boom pole and it came in at 30.2mm in diameter, so I fired up OpenSCAD and started to design a piece that would mount to the pole. (I should also note at this point that I’m not the greatest at math.)

2D test

I thought that instead of printing a test piece I would make a paper prototype to test the fit, so I converted my 3D STL file into a 2D DXF file in OpenSCAD. I figured that wasting a bit of paper was better than wasting a bunch of plastic. It’s also much faster.

Silhouette cutting

I used the Silhouette Cameo to cut my DXF file using a page from an old calendar. (Reuse! Recycle!) Of course once it was cut I realized that I used 30.2mm for the radius instead of 15.125mm. Drat! Lesson learned, you can use d for diameter instead of r for radius in OpenSCAD.

Final 3D model

Back to the old drawing board, by which we mean the “constructive solid geometry” software. This is version 2 of the design. Version 1 was lacking the holes for the hex bolt heads to fit into on the flanges, and was a little thin. Version 2 seems to have resolved all the issues that version 1 fell short on.

Boom Pole Mount

A few bolts, nuts, and knobs (just like the arm uses) and we’ve got a pretty solid piece that I trust to hold the recorder to the boom pole with. The one thing we may need to watch out for is over-tightening the knobs, as that could lead to cracking the plastic. I can probably solve this by adding more infill to the print (it’s at 35% now) or by a slight redesign. We’ll field test this one first though, to see how it holds up.

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A New Arm (Part II)

Assembled Arm

In my previous new arm post I banged out a quick ‘n dirty replacement arm to hold an LCD display on a RED camera using some 3D printed parts and a few nuts and bolts.

Arm Parts

Version 1 worked, but I wasn’t totally happy with it. Iteration time! The beauty of digital fabrication using a 3D printer is that it’s easy to revise your design and try something new.

Block 1

One of the issues I had with version 1 is that things spun around too much. Even with the tightening bolts, there was more spinning happening when less spinning was desired. I ended up adding a hex-shaped hole to hold the head of the bolt in place. This resulted in less spinning.

Block 2

I then figured that if one hex hole was good, two were better! Sadly, while this worked well for the first corner piece, it didn’t work as well for the second corner piece that was held in place with the nut knob.

Block 3

No problem! OpenSCAD makes it easy to comment out a piece of code and output a new STL file. I now have two (slightly) different versions of the connecting block. Oh, I also rounded the edges a bit, which resulted in a better print, and a better feel.

One thing to note here. Where I originally posted an image of the connector block (before I even printed it) I made a comment about milling it from Aluminum. (Though ultimately it was decided that a drill press and band saw might be all the tools needed.) Milling this new design would probably still be doable, but until I’m sure we like this version, what’s the point? I may end up revising again.

Nut 1

And then there was the knob… The knob I had previously been using was one of the first things I ever printed on my RepRap. I’m sure I grabbed it from Thingiverse, but I’ll be damned if I can find it now. It may have been removed. Nevertheless, I didn’t love it, so I designed a new one. This is version 1, which was ok…

Nut 2

This is version 2, with a nice hull operation to give it a more rounded feel, and (probably) make it a little bit stronger. This is my new 1/4″ nut knob from now on. (Unless I design a new one!)

Parts

So yeah, a few 3D printed parts, some nuts and bolts from the hardware store, and we’re in business.

Assembled Arm

Oh, there’s also a screw in place of a bolt on the main support, because attaching it to the camera will be ten times easier with this feature, and you may also notice a slightly smaller version of the knob on the lowest mount point. This is (probably) needed to allow clearance to tighten it. (I didn’t have the camera around to test with, but I’ll find out this week if it works.)

Update: Tested it, seems to work well! You can grab the files from Thingiverse.

Arm on RED ONE

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3D Scanning (Coming Soon!)

GoScan

3D scanning isn’t exactly new, but it’s only going to get better in the future. It will become cheaper, faster, and available to more people. Those are all things that drive adoption of new technology.

I missed this video for the Go!SCAN 3D Handheld Scanner when it came out, but when I watched it I noticed something interesting. They actually call out “Reverse Engineering” as one of the applications of the device. Yes, they want you to reverse engineer things!

Reverse Engineering

I think this is a big deal… Reverse engineering isn’t (or maybe wasn’t) typically something companies would promote. Intellectual property, lawsuits and litigation have often made reverse engineering something you don’t talk about, so it’s cool to see it mentioned directly as a feature of a product.

If anyone has a Go!SCAN 3D Handheld Scanner I’d encourage you to take it apart and reverse engineer it. :)