This morning I decided to check in on the current Kickstarter campaigns and featured as the project of the day was a mine detonator design called the Mine Kafon by Massoud Hassani. I was moved by Massouds vision for the project and general demeanor, and decided to design a 3D printed small model of the Mine Kafon, so here it is.

Short video: youtube.com/watch?v=_wE0XmCH5-E&feature=youtu.be

The main motivation is just to raise a little awareness of his project, which is to design a device to passively detonate hidden land mines and record their locations, so if you're interested go check out his campaign here:
kickstarter.com/projects/massoudhassani/mine-kafon?ref=home_spotlight

The model doesn't look exactly like his design and probably only has around half the number of feet (32 total). I think it turned out to be a fun little toy to play with and a pleasure to look at, hope you enjoy it too.

**Uploaded a second version (all STL's are in the zip file at the bottom). It has thinner walls around the pivot and can only use 6mm Diameter x 3mm Thick cylindrical magnets to stay in position. Otherwise it's basically the same as the first version**

While watching The Illusionist for the first time I was really taken by the scene where Ed Norton's character creates and gives the locket to his sweetheart. I quickly decided to design such a locket, but after seeing a variety of nice designs floating around on the web I pretty much gave up on it until having this idea to create a box based on the same concept - one that can change shapes and only opens when in the heart shaped position. I've been calling it the Secret Heart after listening to Feist's cover song.

I plan to upload 2 more versions within a couple weeks, both with thinner wall sections around the pivot point and one that uses a small store-bought hinge instead of the 'set-screw friction hinge' that this design uses. If the tolerances on this design seem too tight for your printer (part dimensions need to be within about .010 inches or .25mm of model) then I'd hold off until the next version, which I think should be better for less accurate printers.

I tried to keep all the components printable or easily accessible at average local stores, but there are a couple random components in this version - either 2 small magnets or a spring from a clicker Bic pen along with a BB (or any small sphere about .17" in diameter). The magnets are really the best to use because they keep the box in the heart shape and keep the lid halves together when opened, but the spring and BB seem to work decently if you can't find magnets of the right size. If you do use the magnets then the spring and BB only act to keep the box in the rectangular shape, which isn't a big deal since friction seems to do a good job of it. I've uploaded a few different variations of the lid for this design, each with a different hole size for different magnet sizes, so hopefully most people can find a usable magnet. If anyone has a request for a different magnet hole size let me know as it's pretty easy to change the model and make new STL's.

***This is not a printable design - it's a How-To that I thought appropriate for the users here***

Is your room and/or workshop currently composed of over 70% PLA/ABS, strewn about all willy-nilly? Do you take pleasure in indulging your OCD-ish organizational tendencies?

If you answered yes to either then you may like this cheapo 'Things Filing System' and accompanying spreadsheet template that you can use to search by keyword in order to find what you want, when you want it.

This thing is for removing moisture from and storing your 3D printer filament. Basically it's just a container with a low Moisture Vapor Transmission Rate and a light bulb for a heater. After a month of use it appears to work nicely and the components to build it totaled about $28 plus a trip to two stores.

In my limited 3D printing experience it seemed to take a spool of filament about a week out in the open before it sucked up too much moisture to produce decent prints (the beginnings of my prints seemed to get bubbly and I attributed it to moisture, though I'm not 100% sure that was the cause). My oven at home doesn't go below 200F, so that drying option was out. WillWorkForPlastic from the RepRap forums started a thread about building a 'dry box' for filament and Sublime mentioned that welders use a 25 watt light bulb inside an enclosed container to keep their welding rod dry. I wanted to make an inexpensive version for myself and thought others might want one too.

If you want to make only a storage container instead of the dryer you can ignore all the items on the BOM besides the bucket, lid, desiccant and silicone sealant. Actually the sealant is probably overkill since the 'Gamma Seal' lid is air-tight.

Nurture your kids nature with this DNA building block toy/model set.

The design is based largely on a toy I saw at a store and adapted to create with a 3D printer. You can take it apart and put it back together in different configurations to represent various gene sequences.

The test parts shown were printed with 150 micron layers and 100% infill in PLA and they fit together/over the dowel nicely after a little cleanup with an exacto blade. I only printed one each of the A-T-C-G nucleotides to fit-check because blue and white filament is all I've got right now. If anyone makes one of these with a nice color combo I'd love to see a picture of the real thing.


There's another printable DNA playset that's worth checking out - a really amazing design from emmett: thingiverse.com/thing:17343

This is a design I was working on for a headband POV video case, but put aside to work on other things. It's untested (but the initial design is finished and should be ready for testing) and was really meant to be injection molded, so it's only printable on a printer with support material. I figured I'd throw it up here since I had the files and thought some people might like the idea enough to re-design it to be more single-nozzle friendly.

Video shot with prototype POV case(with image stabilization and color adjustments from Youtube, so it's more steady, but lower quality): youtube.com/watch?v=mYpNSIKN9g0

The idea is simple - it just uses a mirror to change the line of sight of the camera lens, allowing the phone to be mounted to the side of the head so the user can take first person video shots while keeping their hands free. I hacked together a prototype for my Android phone and took the above video. It works pretty decently, though it's shaky (like any smartphone video is). The reason there is so much bobbing up/down in the video is that each time I push my skateboard I lower my head - there wouldn't be so much bobbing if I had been riding downhill the whole time.

Use at your own risk.

This dock was created as a birthday present for my little bro and is basically a mixture of my favorite aspects from a few existing designs I liked. It's been printed/tested and it fits an iPhone 4 with or without a case (as long as the case is less than 2mm thick).

Main features:
1. Nice and heavy (weighted with BB's) so just one hand is needed to remove the iPhone and the dock doesn't lift off the desk/table.
2. Quick release sound amplification tubes can be attached to allow for easy to hear speaker/video chat while docked. They're also pretty decent for amplifying music.
3. Will fit iPhones with or without cases - you just have to choose the correct length connector stop piece.

Existing designs I pulled from:
1. kickstarter.com/projects/hop/elevation-dock-the-best-dock-for-iphone
2. thingiverse.com/thing:31079
3. thingiverse.com/thing:7205

Making this requires using a soldering iron to weld/melt threaded inserts into the bottom holes of the Dock Body part. If you don't know how install threaded inserts it's super easy - look here for instructions: thingiverse.com/thing:30576

This is a highly positionable camera dolly system for a Gorillapod tripod. It enables you take some pretty awesome moving video shots and can be easily broken down for convenient storage.

The idea is based on this $150-$200 product and you can watch their video to see what kind of moving shots that can be taken with this device: kickstarter.com/projects/jj1/cineskates-camera-sliders?ref=live

This design has an added axle for two back wheels and an adjustable rod to tie in the axle to the front wheel. This way the wheels don't bind, there is quite a lot more stability and you still get almost the same amount of possible positions offered by the Cineskates product. The front wheel is on a swivel and can be easily positioned to turn the dolly - just like a tricycle.

Total cost of all the hardware was under $10 at my local ACE hardware store (mine has a 12" long threaded rod because the store didn't have 8"). I had the skateboard wheels lying around, but if you don't then thrift shops often have inexpensive rollerblades if you want a set of wheels on the cheap.

If you want to use this dolly with your phone, here is a Universal Smartphone Tripod Mounting Bracket that will hold any smartphone: thingiverse.com/thing:30813

A different shaped/sized handle from Jasonwelsh's design: thingiverse.com/thing:30116

I've wanted one of these for a while (they're awesome for cleaning out holes in your plastic parts with a drill bit) and loved Jason's idea of using washers to weigh the driver handle. This one is designed to fit the specific chuck I bought - a Skil brand keyless chuck.

I ended up nixing the 608z bearing and flipping the 'Bearing Nub' cap because I really liked the feel that way.

Take better pictures and video with your phone!

This adjustable bracket will mount your smartphone to a tripod, Gorillapod etc. Any Android or iPhone smartphone will fit, with or without a case (up to 0.60 inches thick).

This works for all American tripods (1/4-20 mounting screw), but I'm not sure what kind of screw is used in other countries for mounting cameras.

*Making this requires using a Soldering Iron to weld/melt Threaded Inserts into one of the printed pieces. If you don't know how install the inserts don't worry because it's super easy - look here for instructions: thingiverse.com/thing:30576
You should be able to find Threaded Inserts at a hardware store like ACE or online at Mcmaster-carr.*

Printable, removable attachments that turn your Gorillapod into a genuinely altruistic helping hands tool.

Helping Hand tools are usually used for soldering and can be useful in other situations as well.

I saw a brilliant Instructable showing how to permanently modify a Gorillapod into a helping hands tool, so I figured why not make a version that is detachable and won't ruin your Gorillapod?

Original Instructable here: instructables.com/id/Improved-GorillaPod-Helping-Hands-Tool/

Videos:
youtube.com/watch?v=KUEFhiFB6Zs
and
youtube.com/watch?v=yq5uEwbengA

Threaded inserts rock. Hard. If you don't know what they are:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threaded_insert

I was lucky enough to learn this threaded insert installation method at work years ago. After perusing Thingiverse for a while and not seeing anyone else using threaded inserts (after looking over maybe 500 or so things) I thought I'd share this tasty morsel of design goodness with your knowledge-noshing neurons.

This method provides for good torque and pull-out resistance, especially if you use the inserts specifically designed for this soldering-iron insertion method. I've seen lots of people using 'captive hex-nut' designs in their parts here on Thingiverse, and threaded inserts can often be used in a similar manner to provide an alternative and sometimes "better" solution.

Salt and Pepper shakers that will ever so sneakily bobble and wobble their way into your life :)

Video here: youtube.com/watch?v=pD1UP_NhgT8

The weighted, round bottom of these shakers makes them wobble and spin around without tipping over. If you use BB's to weigh them down they'll also make a cool Maraca-like sound when you shake them. Bonus!

I used a .5mm nozzle with .15mm layer height in PLA for my build and the threads came out perfectly on my super-duper Tantillus printer:
tantillus.org/Home.html

A little something for all the engineers (or anyone else :) out there, this is an iPhone 4s (now also a 4 GSM version) case with free fit clearance holes for common metric and imperial screw sizes.