You3Dit.com Blog

July 7, 2014May 30, 2015 Image

3D printing helps fix a design flaw in aftermarket wheels

So as we often explain the myriad possibilities of 3D printers for an uncountable number of potential applications, we reel in our audience’s minds by grounding our expectations with “well, I’m not about ready to 3D print my car axle…but there are tons of applications…” While I didn’t 3D print my axle just quite yet, we did 3D print some rim spacer clips in order to eliminate slop between the brake disc and the rim’s decorative center piece.

Why was this even a problem? No one looks cool driving a car that has wacky noises coming from the vehicle. Vehicle sounds are a big part of the driving experience (ask Tesla motors) and while no one should define themselves by the car they drive, no sense in letting it be when the You3Dit network has design and 3D printing resources to easily resolve the issue.

The workflow was pretty simple:

A thin ring that would fit between the wheel hub and the decorative piece
Measure the critical dimensions of the wheel
Transform the sketch into a CAD model (a process called solid modeling)
Export design to STL
Slice and drive 3D printer using Repetier
Test spacer ring on vehicle
Modify dimensions as necessary
Repeat

Once we iterated 2-3x, we had a part that worked. The first two were too thick. We made the ring into a “U” shape to allow for slop in wheel dimensions, increasing the likelihood that the part would solve the problem.

How the Rim Spacer Ring fits onto the rim and decorative piece.

A screenshot of the Solidworks CAD model we used to print the ring. — A screenshot of the SolidWorks CAD model we used to print the ring.

If you yourself have the same problem with a pesky aftermarket rim, or you’d like to use this file for any other purpose, we’ve uploaded our SolidWorks and STL parts to Thingiverse.com. The rims featured in this video were purchased from Pepboys are 1097 Proline Wheels.

UPDATE (May 30, 2015):

So the rims and tires handled just perfectly for the last year with the 3D printed rim spacers as designed…and as expected. However, it wasn’t until the service guy rotated the tires when they fell out and the wheels were re-assembled without the spacers. Houston…we have a problem? Or do we? Not really, because the wife of the old man who owns the truck has a 3D Printer–A Printrbot Simple Metal!

So with the help of this article (and Thingiverse’s kind gesture of hosting the files), she was able to re-download the STL and 3D print another set.

Rim-spacers to eliminate rattle from wheels. — These were the replacement rim spacers 3D printed by a rather handy grandmother and mother of a 3D printing enthusiast (Chris–the co-founder of You3Dit).

So, just when you thought these 3D printing machines were just for younger kids great with computers, think again (note: the woman who did 3D print these is pretty amazing and is pretty darn resourceful for someone of her generation…especially with respect to technology).

June 10, 2014July 6, 2014

Mini review of the Printrbot Simple Metal – in short – IT’S AWESOME

I definitely made one of the better 3D printing purchases of my life buying a Printrbot Simple Metal for $599 assembled. From the first day I received it, it was solid and started printing without flaws. I’m going to give my opinion here first, but I’d also recommend reading the Make Magazine Review by Nick Parks. He knows his stuff and I value his opinion in the 3D printing world. With regard to my slicing setup, here’s what I’m running: Repetier – 0.95F (link to downloads page) Slic3r engine With the recommended print settings from the Printrbot Forum (see article) Octopi 3D print server (link to Octoprint.org) What I love about this little machine: Super Reliable – Since I’ve bought it, I have yet to have a failed print – seriously. Maybe that is because I’ve gotten pretty used to Repetier and and how to set these things up, but out of the gate, it just seems to be working flawlessly.

May 22, 2014July 6, 2014

You3Dit Logo Design Competition – Summer 2014

Hello You3Dit Design Team, We have a Design Competition for you! We need your help designing a 3D printable object based on our current logo! We’re looking for this to be easily 3D printable and small enough to give away. Here’s the logo file and creativity will go a long way here!! Winner will get $25 credit to print objects in our network! https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/3646162930/0f55d82c22e501408ca7fc23f78c7af0.jpeg Rules: 1) The design should be easily 3D printed – see our articles relating to design for 3D printing. 2) Should be designed using common 3D printing materials 3) All designs for submission should be submitted by August 15th 2014 @ 17h00 PST in the form of an STL file. 4) Any questions can be directed to: info@You3Dit.com 5) Have fun! We’ll announce the winner in our August 2014: Make Anything, Anywhere Newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter now if you’re not already subscribed: (right on the homepage: http://you3dit.com/) If you have any further questions about the competition, please let us know! We’ll

April 28, 2014April 30, 2014

Slick Rock Trail, Mountain Biking in MOAB, Utah, U.S.A.

It seems we’re all in the game for finding the best camera angle for our GoPros and ContourHD cameras. In our limited experience here, we’ve found that a “fixed reference” with moving scenery in the background really makes for a cool camera angle, but we don’t always have a way to the camera to our mountain bikes, motorcycles, etc. For our mountain bike ride in Moab, Utah, we were looking to get a camera down low enough so we could see the terrain of the trail and also stay out of the way of our rider’s legs while they pedaled. So as you’ll see in the video below, we designed and 3D printed a mount to attach to the universal water bottle mount. It’s a quick set up and made for some cool camera angles. The chest-perspective was filmed with a GoPro and the front wheel perspective was filmed with the 3D printed mount and an old school ContourHD which

April 28, 2014April 30, 2014

HD camera mounts for your skateboard

Although it was some time ago, Chris—our co-founder—had the opportunity to work with Fox News and the founders of Z-Boards electric skateboards to film a news story on their company. As part of that story, action shots were needed of the skateboards and they needed to be made quickly. Utilizing Solidworks 2011 and a Makerbot Replicator 2 from the TechShop in SF, both the design and print were completed within a couple of hours. The design leverages two mechanical clamping springs to pinch the skateboard deck and a through hole to w/a countersink / counterbore hole to accommodate the ¼-20 screw head. The story was covered by Michelle Macaluso from Fox News and we were happy we could assist in some quality news-worthy film. For details on the solid model and photos, check out Chris’s blog. You can watch the Fox News Segment at this link. Also, you can download the Skateboard Clamp from Thingiverse.com Don’t know how to get

March 17, 2014March 19, 2014

Hospitals suck…but one You3Dit Maker found a way to improve them

No one likes to be in a hospital, no one. However, Joan–amidst the pain of her surgery–made the most of her unfortunate situation and came up with this brilliant idea for hospital beds–a cable routing tool! Her request (written from her hospital bed using her smartphone) was: Subject: “Invention Need” Body: “Using a Styrofoam cup to manage my IV lines over the bed rail. There MUST be a better way!” Photo Attachment: (see image to the right) While Joan and husband were particularly clever to MacGyver the Styrofoam cup as a temporary solution, there was still a clear need for something better. Thus, You3Dit and its community accepted the design / print challenge…people jumped at the opportunity to help. Enrique–a You3Dit designer–came first to the rescue and had a series of designs that could potentially improve Joan’s cable situation. We were initially a little concerned with the curved bar not being universal enough so we had Enrique propose some alternative

March 17, 2014March 17, 2014

You3Dit helped me quit smoking! Seriously!

Well that’s at least our goal with one Maker in our community. Amine–a San Francisco Resident–would like to quit smoking. But as anyone who’s ever tried to kick the habit knows, it’s not easy and for many reasons. One of which is the standard pack of smokes has 20 cigarettes–always begging to be smoked when the urge hits. Well, what if you’re brilliant like our Maker Amine and said, “wait, what if I could make a pack of cigarettes that only holds 15 cigarettes, then 10, and then 8, and then 5…and finally 1 or 2?” If the smoker only has access to a few cigarettes when they’re trying to quit, the assumption is that they’ll be able to kick the craving and NOT fall weak to the temptation–because the cigarettes won’t be in their possession. Currently, we’re still in the design phases but we’re looking for 3D printers who would be interested in helping us bring Amine’s idea to life.

March 17, 2014March 17, 2014

We’re alive…and we’re excited!

Hello You3Dit and 3D printing fans! While it may seem like You3Dit died online, I can tell you personally that we’re more alive than ever and are very excited about what is in store for 2014. We’re most excited about you–the community–which continues to grow! Today we have 3D printers in over 14 different countries and designers in over 20. Each and every one of you has an interesting reason for getting involved and we look forward to engaging you much more in the future. Here’s what’s on deck for You3Dit: An all new website – beginning Summer 2014 we will have an all new website that will better allow you to manage your jobs, post your incredible work and promote your skills. New business coming your way – although we cannot say exactly how, there will be business flowing your way via several targeted means at encouraging people to start personalizing, fixing and prototyping their ideas. We’re hiring! –

November 20, 2013November 20, 2013

Co-founder Chris McCoy serves as part of an elite team of 3D printer experts!

“It was such an amazing experience being surrounded by so many 3D printing experts” said Chris McCoy in an interview after the shootout. Chris–one of the co-founders for You3Dit, a web-based community based largely on 3D printing–estimated that he printed for roughly 36 consecutive hours that weekend (minus 6 hours fort sleeping and the drive to Sebastapol, CA for two days). He had the opportunity to personally test over 7 different 3D printers and witness the glory and failure of many of the common notables in the annual Make Magazine 3D Printer Shootout. In one solid weekend, the team was tasked to evaluate the 22 or so latest 3D printers and comment on some key 3D printer questions: who are they good for? What are the printers’s strengths and weaknesses and what would be the “Pro User” configurations for each machine. The Make Magazine hit shelves on November 12th and You3Dit was so thankful to Make Magazine for providing the

November 20, 2013March 8, 2020 Image

The Wobbly Table Wedge

Update 2020:

Now called the Wedgie(TM), you can buy these online through the You3Dit Shop: https://shop.you3dit.com/collections/am-products/products/the-wedgie-tm

Give the best Wedgie anyone could ever get!

Original Story:

Back in late 2012, Chris designed and printed a solution to one of his largest pet peeves–a wobbly cafe or bar table. The beauty is in its simplicity. Combining a simple wedge with an integrated clip so that the wedge can easily pop off your key ring and be used to make your table stable.

Or download the “Wobbly Table Wedge” on Thingiverse.com: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:32289