Show & Tell: 3-D printed corner supports for sewing table

[Uwe]

I finally got a 3-D printer (Cetus 3D) a few weeks ago and I'm starting to make a few useful things. 

Today I printed corner support inserts that were missing from a used table top. It worked out quite nicely and the inserts fit perfectly. I designed the part in Fusion 360 and printed it using a hard plastic material. You can also print with flexible, rubber-like plastic filament to closely match the vibration damping properties of the original rubber parts. Printing took about one hour for each part. Not exactly fast, but way faster than ordering something online.

I uploaded the design to GrabCad in case anybody wants to experiment with it: https://grabcad.com/library/corner-support-sewing-table-1

I'm rather excited about the possibilities this cheap at-home 3-D printing makes accessible. 

Here are a few pictures:

 

Edited April 19, 2018 by Uwe

[RockyAussie]

Well done Uwe and welcome to the 3d printing world. I know I'm going to see a bigger fancier printer in your workshop pretty soon.

[Constabulary]

nice idea - how long does it take to print a corner thingy? Printing Blue Guns could be an idea too.

[dikman]

Thanks for making the files available Uwe, I'll add them to my collection. The "standard" PLA filament used in home printing is surprisingly strong.

Edit: I had to join to download them. Is there a reason you put them there and not Thingyverse (which is where most seem to post 3D files)?

Edited April 19, 2018 by dikman

[koreric75]

That is awesome!  I've been really wanting to add a 3d printer to my workshop, as well as a laser cutter/engraver, oh and a cnc for wood and metal...lol.  I just need to hit the lottery now and seal the deal.  I will check out fusion 360, I've been playing with artcam free version to design cutouts for cnc (for when i eventually get one) figured since it's free i can work in that and learn how to build the designs well before getting the machines so i don't waste too much material in the beginning.

For the corner piece do you think you could've used a piece of wood and a router bit to get the same?  I'm curious about the accuracy for the 3d printer vs this method,  also if you were to fudge one of the measurements slightly have you tried tooling the finished product, i.e. sanding, routing, cutting etc?  

[Uwe]

Material cost of the PLA filament was about $1 per part. Flexible rubber-like filament would cost about $4 per part and requires a heated base plate.

@koreric75 Fusion 360 is a great industrial strength CAD program that you can use for free as a hobbyist or small business. It's a very powerful system with lots of features, but the learning curve is steep and long. You can sand, file, saw, drill and Dremel these parts like most plastics - if you go very slowly. Friction heat will melt the plastic again and gum up the tools. Machinability also depends how dense/solid you print the part - the inside can be nearly solid, or just a light, hollow lattice support structure.) These corner supports are almost solid plastic to make them strong. I had to file the first corner support a little because the outer radius wasn't quite right. I then adjusted the CAD model and the second part slid right in place. For this particular part, a wooden piece made with a router would have accomplished the same thing.

@dikman GrabCAD is just the first CAD community I connected with. I had downloaded a few other sewing related models there and John Saunders of NYC-CNC had mentioned it on several occasions. I'll have to check out Thingyverse, too.

@Constabulary It took about an hour to print per thingy. I'm not into guns but, yes, you can print mold dies for making various wet molded leather gear. 

@RockyAussie I'd have to sell quite few more sewing machines to make room and money for a bigger 3d printer, the next step up is ten times more expensive. I'll be busy making small parts for a while.

 

Edited April 19, 2018 by Uwe

[dikman]

Thingyverse has a huge amount of stuff posted there! Now all you need to make are the Singer-type corner pieces and you should have all the bases covered.

[Gregg From Keystone Sewing]

Very nice, good job.

[DonInReno]

That's the coolest thing I've seen all week!  

[suzelle]

Uwe,

This is very exciting! I've been following this technology since it first came out, but can't make the investment myself in this type of printer right now. I've got wide format printing equipment and make banners and such, I don't have the Customer base for that type of product (yet). It's so Jetsons though!  : )

I don't think I'd ever eat 3-D printed food, lol. However, for machine and car parts, very cool!

This is weird stuff:

https://www.cnn.com/2014/11/06/tech/innovation/foodini-machine-print-food/index.html

Edited April 22, 2018 by suzelle
adding link for 3D food printer

[immiketoo]

On 4/19/2018 at 1:28 PM, Constabulary said:

nice idea - how long does it take to print a corner thingy? Printing Blue Guns could be an idea too.

I tried that once, its a lot more complicated due to the precision needed for wet molding.  Even the slightest error in the file can make the gun not fit.

@Uwe, that is some cool shit right there.  I want one of these devices but I worry that the learning curve on the software is too high.

[dikman]

I built my own and knowing absolutely nothing about them before it was quite an experience!! The good thing about building one is you learn a lot about how they work and get a better understanding of how to keep it working. Coming to grips with the software was a bit overwhelming at first (and I'm not talking 3D creating software, I haven't got that far yet!) but eventually I got there. I just printed an indexing wheel for my lathe and only took 10 hours to print!!!!!

I'm impressed that Uwe got straight into 3D designing.

[Sebasopg15]

On 4/19/2018 at 5:28 AM, Constabulary said:

nice idea - how long does it take to print a corner thingy? Printing Blue Guns could be an idea too.

I looked into that myself when I was looking to buy a 3D printer but I can’t find anywhere that has specs or 3D files to print out blue guns, which would make it easier to make some decent holsters.

[LumpenDoodle2]

On 22/04/2018 at 8:09 PM, immiketoo said:

I tried that once, its a lot more complicated due to the precision needed for wet molding.  Even the slightest error in the file can make the gun not fit.

@Uwe, that is some cool shit right there.  I want one of these devices but I worry that the learning curve on the software is too high.

Thingyverse has a number of gun files, and some print out fairly well.   There can be quite a few problems with the scale, and unfortunately, corrupted files.    There is also the fact that printing out large parts can be sooo sloooow.   There again, it’s not as if you have to sit and stare at the printer for however long it takes (however, as a newbie, it was fascinating to watch).

I agree about the software learning curve, but there are plenty of lovely folk out there, who have made files available, to let you print out useful stuff while you learn to use the design software.

This month I haven’t used my printer much, but still managed to print out some new feet for my laser engraver, a mass print of .45 bullets, some .38 bullets,  and a turbo dust collector thing for my sandblasting cabinet.

Something very satisfying about firing up the 3D printer, and getting a finished product, but it usually isn’t a 10 minute job to get to that point.

[3DReefer]

Never underestimate the usefulness of 3d printing. I trace all my templates into fusion360 with splines and extrude them to 1.5mm thickness to have quickly reproducible hard plastic templates instead of worrying that the edge of a cardstock one may have lost its dimensions. This also means i can also scale any project quickly like a coin purse template becoming an identical small bag.  While costing pennys in comparison to having acrylic templates made. I also print my own stamps where the detail level allows me, 4 perimeters with 35% infill has survived months of use in my 1 ton harbor freight arbor press, as well as occasional smacks with the deadblow and poly hammers. RW Custom Leather has a 3d printed stamp that has been in use many times in their arbor press (think 4 ton) with 100% infill without any signs of deformation using polymax PLA. (key note as can see by the harley davidson stamp in picture.. dont forget to invert the X when printing so it is correct when stamping.. oops)

On 4/19/2018 at 7:11 AM, koreric75 said:

For the corner piece do you think you could've used a piece of wood and a router bit to get the same?  I'm curious about the accuracy for the 3d printer vs this method,  also if you were to fudge one of the measurements slightly have you tried tooling the finished product, i.e. sanding, routing, cutting etc?  

To answer the question of accuracy, a 3d printer, even the cheap as hell ones (i have 4 printers, from $150 Anet A8, $330 Creality Ender 4, to the $1000 SeeMeCNC RostockMAX v3.2) can be accurate way beyond anything leather could ever ask for. My printers are accurate to within .05-.1mm, well within anything that would be needed to accurately print blue guns, or absolutely anything else you could want to wet mold. Finished printed parts easily sand if need to be modified. Personally i use  PLA for all my leather print needs. In the second picture you can see i also printed a throat plated for the Cowboy 4500, which is now in possession of RW Custom Leather for their needs. The final was printed in white Polymax PLA. 

[koreric75]

35 minutes ago, 3DReefer said:

Never underestimate the usefulness of 3d printing. I trace all my templates into fusion360 with splines and extrude them to 1.5mm thickness to have quickly reproducible hard plastic templates instead of worrying that the edge of a cardstock one may have lost its dimensions. This also means i can also scale any project quickly like a coin purse template becoming an identical small bag.  While costing pennys in comparison to having acrylic templates made. I also print my own stamps where the detail level allows me, 4 perimeters with 35% infill has survived months of use in my 1 ton harbor freight arbor press, as well as occasional smacks with the deadblow and poly hammers. RW Custom Leather has a 3d printed stamp that has been in use many times in their arbor press (think 4 ton) with 100% infill without any signs of deformation using polymax PLA. (key note as can see by the harley davidson stamp in picture.. dont forget to invert the X when printing so it is correct when stamping.. oops)

To answer the question of accuracy, a 3d printer, even the cheap as hell ones (i have 4 printers, from $150 Anet A8, $330 Creality Ender 4, to the $1000 SeeMeCNC RostockMAX v3.2) can be accurate way beyond anything leather could ever ask for. My printers are accurate to within .05-.1mm, well within anything that would be needed to accurately print blue guns, or absolutely anything else you could want to wet mold. Finished printed parts easily sand if need to be modified. Personally i use  PLA for all my leather print needs. In the second picture you can see i also printed a throat plated for the Cowboy 4500, which is now in possession of RW Custom Leather for their needs. The final was printed in white Polymax PLA. 

@3dreefer 

 

36 minutes ago, 3DReefer said:

Never underestimate the usefulness of 3d printing. I trace all my templates into fusion360 with splines and extrude them to 1.5mm thickness to have quickly reproducible hard plastic templates instead of worrying that the edge of a cardstock one may have lost its dimensions. This also means i can also scale any project quickly like a coin purse template becoming an identical small bag.  While costing pennys in comparison to having acrylic templates made. I also print my own stamps where the detail level allows me, 4 perimeters with 35% infill has survived months of use in my 1 ton harbor freight arbor press, as well as occasional smacks with the deadblow and poly hammers. RW Custom Leather has a 3d printed stamp that has been in use many times in their arbor press (think 4 ton) with 100% infill without any signs of deformation using polymax PLA. (key note as can see by the harley davidson stamp in picture.. dont forget to invert the X when printing so it is correct when stamping.. oops)

To answer the question of accuracy, a 3d printer, even the cheap as hell ones (i have 4 printers, from $150 Anet A8, $330 Creality Ender 4, to the $1000 SeeMeCNC RostockMAX v3.2) can be accurate way beyond anything leather could ever ask for. My printers are accurate to within .05-.1mm, well within anything that would be needed to accurately print blue guns, or absolutely anything else you could want to wet mold. Finished printed parts easily sand if need to be modified. Personally i use  PLA for all my leather print needs. In the second picture you can see i also printed a throat plated for the Cowboy 4500, which is now in possession of RW Custom Leather for their needs. The final was printed in white Polymax PLA. 

@3DReefer that is awesome!  I was really curious about the stamps in a press and items like the throat plate... Does that fit in the 3200 as well?  I know what you mean about mirroring text, had a couple vinyl hvt f##k ups trying to hurry and spaced it.  

[3DReefer]

@koreric75 unsure if it will fit the other models as it was designed one off with the CB4500 at the RW Custom Leather shop. I am assuming for factory production speed and design they dont vary much tho. The stamps show have been thru my 1 ton armor press countless times without sign of deforming, the test samples I did for RW didnt hold up AS well originally with their 4 ton press, but once i used a different, tougher PLA type it has held up great. The WL one i also color with sharpie and press it to leave my stamp on chrome or oilled leathers that wont take a stamp. Sorry for the slow response.. seems i need to play with notification settings. 

[chrisash]

I have been looking at free 3D software prior to buying the 3D printer and found the following items of interest

Tinkercad 3D software

Sketchup 3D software

Freecad 3D Software

http://3dp.rocks/lithophane/ free online software to make amazing product

https://image.online-convert.com/ online converter change .jpg to .svg for 3D

Gettin my Ender 3 on 19th so expect to have fun

Tinkercad if you search on youtube you quickly find its far more powerful than first impressions