More 3D-printed gear

[David Gardner]

That’s awesome! Those tents were great. Is that experience with the vents why you don’t put them on your pyramid tents?

[d k]

We took the Mt. Shasta beginning mountaineering class with ASI sometime in the mid-90’s and stayed in 4-person mids; I think we dug steps down to the sleeping area in the snow, so we did have sort of a bench  It was a fun and really well-run trip, and in addition to learning ice axe and crampon techniques, I also gained a sense of confidence on steep exposed slopes for the first time ever, having been indoctrinated with a fear of heights from an early age.

[Jan Rezac]

Here’s a second version of the folding scalpel knife. The first version was fine, but it required a tiny threaded bolt. I had only a couple of them, and they would be difficult to source. The new version is 100% printed, of course except the blade. Now it’s easy to make plenty of them for giving away. Also, a lock that prevents accidental opening has been added.

Weights 4.5 g / 0.16 oz including the blade.

[Bonzo]

Here’s a second version of the folding scalpel knife…

Bonzo like.  Bonzo want.  Bonzo pay.

[Matthew / BPL]

Jan, that looks like a great design.

I’ve been feeling unmotivated as a designer lately and had thought about making a vocabulary of interlocking parts that could be used on future projects or shared with my students. To that end, I’d be interested to see the profile of the shape you used for the pivot. I’m assuming it is tapered to lock into a corresponding tapered hole in the grey part. Seeing it would give me a head start on making a similar pivot of my own.

[Jan Rezac]

Finally, I got to publishing the first thing – the scalpel knife v2 pictured above. It can be downloaded at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4752640, and there’s also all the information needed for printing it.

Making one should be as easy as it can get: It’s all printed, no special hardware is needed (apart from the blade, of course). It’s designed to be printed out of PETG, a very common material that’s easy to print at home.

Enjoy!

[Bonzo]

Making one should be as easy as it can get: It’s all printed, no special hardware is needed (apart from the blade, of course). It’s designed to be printed out of PETG, a very common material that’s easy to print at home.

Again…Bonzo like.  Bonzo want.  Bonzo pay.  Anyone want to take me up on that?

[Jan Rezac]

@Bonzo,
The problem with selling these is that value of the things is too small compared to the logistics around it. If you were the only person interested in it, I can throw a few of them into an envelope and send them to you.  If there was a group buy where I’d send fifty of them in a single package, I’m in. But all the things in between would cost too much of my time (which I don’t want to spend in the line at the post office).

[Kevin Babione]

I was thinking the same thing…Do I buy a 3D printer to have one really cool and lightweight scalpel knife or do we find someone who’s able to print them and sell them?

Matthew or David Gardner?  Right up your alley…

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

It doesn’t make sense to 3D print something and ship it overseas.  As long as the person is willing to share the file, specified material and build parameters, just find a local service to print it up.  I just went to Craigslist and entered 3D Printing and it came back with a lot of hits.  I suspect that there are a lot of hobbiest that need to earn some money in order to pay for their machines and materials.  My 2 cents.

[Kevin Babione]

Clearly I did something wrong…I downloaded Jan’s files and submitted them to MakeXYZ.com (there’s a local guy who uses that as his front-end).  The price came back as $239.80 for just 1 unit!!!

The good news is that the price qualifies for free shipping…

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

You are asking for  0.1 mm (0.004″) which is pretty thin.  Cost is going to be based on hours to complete the job.  Your job says that it is 1.97″ tall at 0.004″ that’s 492 layers.

[Kevin Babione]

The parameters in the screenshot were the only options I had.  The handle was set at .2 mm, but Jan’s notes said:

“Designed for PETG, printed with 0.4 mm nozzle.  It’s important to have good layer adhesion, otherwise the pivot may break off.  Both parts can be printed with 0.2 mm layers, but the blade stem looks better if printed with finer layers.”

That’s why I chose 0.1 mm for the blade stem.

I don’t know anything about 3D printers (except that the technology is very cool).  Given what I paid Jan for the Silky Boy blade handle I figured I was clearly missing something with this estimate.  It’s not a big deal, but I’m curious about what other people find.  I was expecting (and this may be optimistic) something between $20-30 total for the two parts.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

The orientation of the part should be such that the generates the lowest height on the platform (Z-Height).  That will minimize the build time.  In general, operators will nest part of a similar make to make sure that the “bus is fully loaded” before starting a job.

MakeXYZ looking like a point person to access shops that have 3D printers (and don’t do the printing themselves).  I would try Craigslist as they are probably a lot more willing to optimize the job.

[Matthew / BPL]

I’m totally down to print once I return to my classroom. I’ve been teaching from home since around March 15 of last year. We may be returning to our classrooms in March but it’s not certain yet. I’d be happy to print up a bunch of them once that happens.

[Ben H.]

Each component is $5-10 shipped on Shapeways:

https://www.shapeways.com/

 

I am not sure which material option to select (you can get it done in platinum for a couple thousand dollars!)

[Ben H.]

Jan, what number blade did you use? #10?

https://www.usamedicalsurgical.com/blog/surgical-blades-which-scalpel-is-right-for-your-operating-room

[Kevin Babione]

Thanks Ben!  That seems WAY more reasonable!  I’ll give it a try and report back.

[Kevin Babione]

Jan says it’s a #24 blade in the “Print It” summary.

[Ben H.]

Thanks Kevin! $8/100 blades shipped on Amazon:

[Author]

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