Previously, I blogged about 3D-printing parts for amateur radio applications. Well, last night, I wandered down to our local makerspace and, with the help of Craig and Laria, had a go at making tape-measure Yagi element holders. These parts are supposed to sit on a 1-in. PCV pipe and hold the pieces of tape measure that form the elements of the Yagi.
I wasn’t entirely successful. As shown below, the part sits nicely on the PVC tube.
The tape measure does not, however, snap into the holder like I thought it would.
I’m not sure exactly why this is. It could be one of several reasons:
- The part didn’t print right.
- The tape measure isn’t supposed to snap into the holder.
- The part was designed for a wider tape measure.
I’m going to consult with the designer and see what he says.
Doug says
Did you check the width of your tape? Looking at the holders in your last post about them they are designed for a 1″ wide tape.
My guess is you printed too hot, probably too fast, and over extruded. This could have thrown off the dimensions some. All things that could be fixed with the help of someone that uses that specific printer. Don’t let this discourage you. It takes some work to get to good consistent prints. I would look for someone that gets good prints off of that printer and see if they can help you with your slicing and setup.
Dan KB6NU says
I do have someone helping me. If it was designed for a 1-in. wide tape, then that part of of the print is OK. I was going to look at the design and make sure of the dimensions, but I only have an STL file and I don’t really have a good tool to look at that file. I was hoping that the web version of SketchUp would do that, but it either can’t import an STL file or I can’t figure out how to do it.
The two people that I’m working with seem determined to get it to print right. I am, too, so we’re going to continue to work on this.
Doug says
tinkercad.com is a good, free, easy to use basic design tool that you can import existing stl files into. The online tutorials are good.
I am glad you are determined to get this one right. There definitely is a learning bump to get over but once you get it figured out 3d printing is a handy skill to have. here’s my take:
printing a downloaded design with help slicing and setup = tech
slicing and setup on your own = general
designing your own prints = extra
welcome down the rabbit hole…
Adam Davis says
It looks like you’ve got the tape measure side and the pipe side swapped. The tape measure side is supposed to have the hooked sides, which you have placed against the pipe.
That said, it doesn’t look like a very good print, and I’m curious about the dimensional accuracy.
The design is easy to adjust with a heat gun, though – warm it up and push the sides together at the ends and you might be able to get it to catch onto the tape measure if it doesn’t already fit.
Dan KB6NU says
You’re right about it not being a very good print. Some adjustments will have to be made to the printer when we do more of them.
I hadn’t thought about trying to mount the holder the other way (D’oh!). I think you’re right, though. In that case, the bit that sits on the pipe isn’t round enough, and the bit that holds the tape measure is still too wide.
I’ll try the heat gun trick, but doing that is going to make the bit that sits on the pipe even less round.
Oliver Krystal says
Don’t give up! 3d printing is a devilry of its own.
Also, I think you need to print the thing with supports enabled.
Casey Benefield, NZ2O says
Dan,
As for the design, try OnShape if it’s noncommercial use. Very little learning curve, even for non-CAD experienced people like me. Web based, free. Should be easy to design/redesign that one to include a lip that the tape itself can be cliping into.
If all you have is a STL (hard to edit in OnShape), you can make a lip for the tape in OnShape, and then pop it into MeshMixer, and then position it where it should be.
If there’s a lip in the STL for the snap-in effect, you may need to turn on supports (everywhere) to get the lip to work.
Print Quality: 3D Hubs and Simplify3D has a great quality troubleshooter if you’re willing to dive into that.
What’s the printer model you have access to, and the material used? Print bed surface type?
There may be better slicer profiles out there to help with print quality.
Also, I would recommend against PLA due to UV resistance being quite low. PETG is much better, and resists heat/shouldn’t warp in the sun. ABS is good, if you can vent the cancer-causing styrenes out the window.
Also, printable radius gauges – useful as heck, and on Thingiverse.
P.S…. I won’t talk radio with you anymore, after My ARRL Voice. I think that’s for the best, to keep the discussion personable/civil….. I’m kinda just done, frustrated with it all, the attitudes, the politics, the constant pushyness to do or say what others want… I’m just really close to renouncing the mic entirely, and it isn’t the first time I’ve considered it.
BUT if you want to talk 3D printing, would love to help with that part, and that is something that makes me happy. Especially making functional parts/designs – even if for ham radio.
Dan KB6NU says
So, it looks, as someone else suggested that I was trying to use it wrong. The part that I have resting on the PVC pipe was really designed to hold the tape. It has a lip on it, but seems a little too wide. I don’t know if that’s because it was designed that way or if the print just didn’t come out quite right.
I’ll have a look at OnShape, but if you say it’s hard to edit and STL file in OnShape, I guess that I’m going to have to continue to look for something else. At this point, I think that all I need to do is to check the dimensions and maybe modify them a bit.
Casey Benefield, NZ2O says
Yeah, Onshape is a bit harder to edit STLs, but you can always make a supplement and meshmixer it. Problem with STLs, is even if you draw a cube in your CAD software and export as STL, you’re going to get MANY more polygons, even though it’s just a perfect solid cube.
Making fresh parts from Onshape is super-duper easy. There’s lots of tutorials out there too. My latest creation is a little shelf to go on a headboard, or over a cubicle wall. Then there’s the greenscreen curtain rod adapter that I made with square tube.
Now as for Sketchup…. that tool is talented at CAD/solid model errors. Fusion is a bit easier, but… eh… Onshape is just so nice.