Penrose tilings cover a surface in a pattern with some remarkable properties: they are aperiodic, have 5-fold symmetry, and are self-similar. There are several variations of Penrose tilings--this Thing contains the two tiles needed for the rhombus (P3) tiling.

The edge of each tile has either a notch or a protrusion, which is either round or triangular. These notches and protrusions keep you from creating a repeating pattern when tiling. Round notches need to be lined up with round protrusions, and triangular notches with triangular protrusions. It is fairly easy to wind up with a "defect" where there's a spot no tile can fit.

For more information, see the Wikipedia article, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrose_tiling (also the source for the pattern I used), and these two more technical discussions: ams.org/samplings/feature-column/fcarc-penrose and ams.org/samplings/feature-column/fcarc-ribbons

Note that a proper Penrose tiling will require about 16 large tiles for every 10 small tiles, so if you just print a bunch of this file you will have an excess of small tiles.

This is a vortex amplifier, a fluidic element for amplifying a fluidic signal.

The supply flow(flow going straight into the circle) can be modulated by weaker control flow(flow going

tangent to the circle) by the control flow inducing a vortex in the chamber.

This vortex increase the resistance to flow, thus amplifying the signal from the control flow.

In short, apply flow to the control flow port and there will be less flow coming out of the output port.

This is a vortex diode or Zobel diode, apply flow in one direction and it will pass fine(center port to side port), apply flow in another(side port to center port) and a vortex will be formed in the chamber increasing resistance to flow.

For more info vortex type fluidic devices and fluidic devices in general see: tippettsfountains.com/fluidicsbasics.php?width=1920&height=919

This is version 2.0 of a 3-digit, base-10 register for an electromechanical computer I'm working on. It is stepper-driven, and works like a 3-digit counter, counting from 000-999 before rolling over. When all three digit wheels read '0-0-0', 3 reed switches will close and a circuit will be completed to detect the condition.

This one uses fewer parts and has at least been slightly tested. It also has larger digit surfaces for better visibility, and comes with printable labels!

The Penrose tiles by pleppik got me thinking and I decided they would be cooler if they held together on their own. The snap shapes enforce the matching rules (as long as all the pieces are right-side up), which means any pattern you make out of them will be aperiodic.

This is an experiment with different ways to connect multiple pieces of a model together. The model is a hollow sphere which has been split about 3/4 of the way along one axis. I then added different structures to reconnect the two pieces together. I put the male component on the larger piece of the sphere because that seemed more mechanically challenging.

One model uses a simple peg-in-socket design. Nothing but friction holds the two pieces together, and I found that a difference of 0.5mm to 1.0mm in the diameters of the pegs and sockets gave good results with the vagaries of my printer.

The other model uses a more sophisticated clip design with a half-sphere on one side, which mates to a similar socket on the cap. Here I found that a 3mm thick clip gives a good compromise between strength and flexibility.

Laser cutter coolant flow sensor.

The concept was to have a sensor that wasn't inline with the coolant line and couldn't restrict the flow if it seized up. I'm sure that the design is scaleable within reason for other projects. It is simply tywrapped to the outlet end of the coolant pipe and dunked in the coolant reservoir/bucket.
The sensor is a simple hall effect switch.

BTW, if anyone knows how to embed a YouTube link to movie, let me know - the movie is at the bottom :-)

Nikola Tesla's "Valvular Conduit" for your printing pleasure.

Seeing the other tesla valve, I was pretty certain that the same principle could be extended to 3D. I came across a more symmetric, optimized design of a tesla microvalve at senlin41.org/topology-optimization-of-tesla-type-microvalve/ and traced it.

The following is a trace of the optimized valve in openscad with added support to make it printable without overhang or flying parts. Parameters allow you to set the coarseness of the rotational extrusion ($fn=32 works fine for me), and the distance of the support bridges.

I have not printed or tested that yet, so I suggest you start with the scad file and adapt it to your needs.

Paste extruder based on the Moineau pump principle.

The pump geometry is based on thingiverse.com/thing:7958

Should work as a plug-in replacement for a hot plastic extruder in a 3D printer. However, I have NOT used this to actually print anything. I'm just publishing it in case someone else wants to try it out. (I think it's ready for printing a very small pizza without toppings, but beyond that I cannot say.)

Almost everything is parametrized and adjustable from the SCAD file. However, the resulting design should be evaluated to see if it is still sane after adjustment, since not all of the features are automatically calculated. Particularly the flange and driveshaft diameters must be adjusted by hand to match the other measurements.

See it in action: youtu.be/OHQiKuQvuEU

Note: obviously it is impossible to build an object from material that flows on it's own - the object would not hold it's shape. So in practice the material has to either be pulled into the extruder by a negative pressure (impossible with PLA printed pump parts) or pushed into the extruder by a positive pressure. In either case the motor axle has to be sealed, or it would either relieve the negative pressure or allow the material to flow up and out from the inlet block.

This is pure fluid full adder(a component of a computer which adds two numbers together), it was "ripped" from the following patent:
google.com/patents?id=fmRiAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&dq=fluidic%20adder&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false

It is not designed for high speed operation and the output ports are probably not impedance matched. It is highly recommended that output be amplified as this circuit contains a great deal of "passive" elements(no integral fluidic amplifiers).



It has been printed, but it has not been tested.

This is a wobbler engine that I printed on my Reprap :)

a Wobbler engine has no power and is good for absolutely nothing (except the satisfaction of having made one) and is the most basic engine you can make I think

see it working here: youtu.be/yNW0m6YCkxA
and check out my other stuff at backyard-workshop.com

This is a parametric printable bearing with a two-piece hub that allows the tension on the balls to be adjusted. Tightening nuts against the hub pushes the balls against the outer ring to adjust for printer tolerances and so that it won't become wobbly once its worn in. The two-piece hub also makes it easier to assemble.

The script includes variables for inner diameter, outer diameter, bearing width, ball diameter, and the angle of contact between the balls and the hub/ring. It is designed to be used with vitamin bbs or round beads. All of the pictures are sized to match a 608 bearing (7mm width, 22mm diameter). The bearings are, from left to right, 6mm plastic airsoft bbs with a 3mm shaft, 4.5mm metal bbs with a 6mm shaftt, 4.5mm metal bbs with an 8mm shaft, and 3mm spherical beads with an 8mm shaft.

My first post! Hello everyone, I designed this CNC Spindle for education purposes and it serves as a model of a working spindle and moving draw-bar used to release and grab tools in CNC machining. The design is for educational purposes and does NOT directly reflect actual Spindle design.

The bearings are loaded with roughly 40 "3/16" delrin balls and work wonderfully. The inner shaft houses the R8 collet which has 1/4-20 bolt threaded into the R8 collet where the spring applies an upward force clamping the tool in place.

These parts were printed at school on a very expensive machine and have the highest detail possible which is why my STL files are large. It took 23 hours to print the parts.

If you want to finish this project, there are some extra holes to be drilled and threaded if mounting a motor etc.

This is a Bistable Fluidic Logic Element. Its operation is described in a US Patent issued in 1974: google.com/patents?id=tZAzAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

The final design will be usable for fluidic logic circuits. This gate can be used as both a memory element as well as logic element in digital logic circuits. It will be possible to combine many of these fluidic logic elements into one large integrated digital logic circuit that can be printed by a 3D printer.

It is currently a work in progress and this printable version has not yet been demonstrated to work.

Anyone who can help is encouraged to check out the github repository with the OpenSCAD source code: github.com/hardtoe/Printable-Fluidics

This is a working zipper mechanism. I printed it as an experiment, inspired after the zipper on my wife's coat broke. (I don't think I can print a replacement, yet.) There might be applications to join small sections of a structure to make a large object, but mostly it's a toy.

It's Saturday, it's raining, there's work to be done!

After I posted that SuperShape stuff, user mattmoses pointed me at this site: steelpillow.com/polyhedra/five_sf/five.htm suggesting there are interesting space filling polehedra in the world that need to be turned into nicely printable models.

This thing is the one that came first, and that I could easily pronounce.

It's an interesting polyhedron in that it is self dual, meaning, it has 11 vertices, and 11 faces, so it can fit vertex to face, within itself, just like my favorite tetrahedron.

Mostly what is in this thing is a translation of the cartesian coordinates from that web site. I used their schematic to create the faces and edges. I could improve the edge selection so that it looks better when you're rendering in wireframe mode, but that can be an easy revision some time.

So, what's neat about this easily pronounced polyhedron? It's stackable!! That means, if you put a bit of stickyness onto the faces, you can stack these together and fill a space. Isn't that what Legos do? Yah, like that, except it's a much more interesting shape than a rectangle.

Another of the steelpillow.com/polyhedra/five_sf/five.htm

Updated Design
Change Log - 12-04-2011
-Updated Spindle Base Design to Make Pockets Faceted for Easier Printing
-Updated Masters to Include New Spindle Base
-Added Counterbalance Hardware
-Removed WIP, Design Complete!

Change Log - 11-25-2011
-Yarn Guide Added
-Ball Winder Base Drawing Added
-Spindle Updated to Remove Mtl
-Spindle Base Updated to Remove Rounds & Add Support
-Carriage Updated to Remove Mtl & Add Spacer
-Spindle Updated to Add Support
-Updated all STL Files
-Added Creo (Pro/E) Native CAD Files
-Added Exploded Assembly Views
-Updated Parts/Fastener List

This printable wool winder creates center-pull balls from raw hanks of yarn, it must be used in combination with a yarn swift, I will work on a printable swift in the future.

I designed this winder for my mother who was having troubles with her current ball winder, a new equivalent winder was priced around $50. I felt like I could design and make a better winder for only a few $ in purchased parts (most I had around) and plastic. Plus I know how it works so if it breaks I can fix it.

The winders function is pretty simple but really fun to watch. The motion of the winder can be explained as such. The hand crank, when turned causes the center carriage mechanism to rotate around a stationary cone. The motion of the carriage in combination with the stationary cone causes the winding spindle to rotate about its axis. The winding spindle completes one rotation for every nine rotations of the hand crank. The dual spinning motion of the carriage and the spindle is what causes the yarn to take the form of a cylinder.

Video of the winder in action. youtu.be/iS2732Mlz7k

To build the winder you will need a few non-printable parts.

Qty 4 - 624ZZ Ball Bearings
Qty 2 - 606ZZ Ball Bearings
Qty 2 - 608ZZ Ball Bearings
Qty 1 - Compression Spring, McMaster-Carr P/N 9435K93
Qty 1 - O-Ring Size -237, McMaster-Carr P/N: 9396K226
Qty 1 - O-Ring Size -254, McMaster-Carr P/N: 9396K245
Qty 1 - 1/4" PTFE Tubing, McMaster-Carr P/N: 5239K12
Qty 3 - M3 x 30mm SHCS
Qty 3 - M3 Hex Nut
Qty 1 - M4 x 40mm SHCS
Qty 1 - M4 x 30mm BHCS
Qty 2 - M4 x 16mm SHCS
Qty 3 - M4 Flat Washer
Qty 2 - M4 NyLoc Hex Nut
Qty 2 - M5 x 25mm SHCS
Qty 2 - M5 Hex Nut
Qty 1 - M6 x 40mm SHCS
Qty 1 - M6 Flat Washer
Qty 2 - M6 Hex Nut
Qty 1 - M8 Hex Nut
Qty 1 - M8 Threaded Rod (65mm Long)
Qty 2 - M10 Hex Nut
Qty 2 - M5 Acorn Nut
Qty 2 - M5 x 35mm FHCS
Qty 4 - 1/2" Tall Rubber Bumpers

Shown here is a portion of my 8th version of the MultiRep. I'm not sure how well this device is panning out, but I wanted to post it for posterity. This version has a few interesting features:

Printed Linear rails and shuttles riders
Printed threaded rods
Use of dovetails for connectors

This axis would be perfect for use EXCEPT the threaded rod is too wobbly, binds a bit too much, and was difficult to align. Could I use a metal threaded rod? Of course, however I consider that a failure of design. My ultimate goal is to remove ALL non-printable parts from the design.

I'm going to start working on my 9th version now, which greatly reduces printed parts and adds stability, Feel free to cannibalize any parts you see here. You may need to change around some paths in the scad file to get it to compile.
-S

Continuing the madness... I was getting laughed at in my Design 101 class, so the only way I thought of to silence the other kids was to come out with my SuperShapes!

After having done the previous SuperEllipse work, it was just a matter of time before the formulas came knocking at my door wanting to be implemented.

This thing implements the SuperFormula (muwaaahhhaahaaahaaa)!!

What the heck is that? Best thing is to take a look at the pretty pictures at this web site: paulbourke.net/geometry/supershape3d/

If you're really a math nutter, then take a look at the math as well. It's actually not that complicated. The complication here is just turning the formula into something that can be dealt with by OpenScad. In particular, making sure the thing turns out to be 2-manifold, so that you can actually generate .stl files and print the results, therein lies the rub.

The supershape.scad files contains two rotines of interest:
RenderSuperShape2D() - This takes the definition of a single supershape, and renders the curve of that supershape in 2D, using wireframe. With this single routine, you can go to the wiki entry for Superfomula (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superformula) and plug in the various numbers, and see pretty pictures.

RenderSuperShape() - This takes two supershape definitions (one modulates the other), and renders real pretty pictures. You can look at the Paul Bourke site to get very interesting parameters to plug into that one.

Another source of parameters might be POVRay files.

That's enough for a Friday post I think.

But wait, there's more...

You also get the procedural texture mapping checkerboard pattern, thrown in for free. What is procedural texture mapping? Well, instead of using a bitmap to represent the different colors (or heights) on an object, you can just call a routine and ask it for the color at a particular position. No fus, no muss, no arrays to slow you down! At any rate, it's just a little hidden gem.

This code is public domain. I figure having such a nice routine freely available might encourage people to make some very interesting shapes.

Challenge: How the heck do you get OpenScad to display in wireframe, and with a fade on the other colors?

UPDATE: 22102011
Added the tristar.stl file. This was an experiment in rendering the 2D shapes with faces, and not just wireframes, then using them with CSG operations. The result is of course a deadly weapon once rendered in hardened steel and sharpened.

Share your voice. Save your voice.

This thing is part of a DIY megaphone to acoustically amplify your voice. It's great for gatherings where electronic amplification is forbidden. All you need is a coffee cup, some card stock, and the printable MIC CHK (microphone check) clip. Once assembled, like the movie directors of yore, you can make yourself heard loudly and clearly.

youtu.be/hlzPJrGIbTo

Print out a bunch and bring them to your next gathering!

Share your voice. Save your voice.

This is a rough draft of the framework necessary for an axial flux generator, a type of non-commutated turbine ideal for home construction. Great for wind turbines!

A stepper motor wire winder. Great for creating electromagnet coils, and other cool stuff. In the future it would be cool to have some sort of a guiding arm to do precision spaced coils, and a wire cut off/coil slide off/new coil start mechanism. But this should get people who know how a proper wire wrapping machine should work to start thinking.

This bearing is a test piece for a home project. I want to build a working Stirling engine, and I need to get the friction down.

The bearing uses 12, 4mm diameter, steel ball bearings which I got from my local cycle shop. Assembly is very , er... fiddly, but it is possible with a bit of patience.

Disclaimer: This is my first ever 3D project (I just started learning Cinema 4D) so please be gentle on the critiquing...

I built this design (and had it working) in my high school metal shop a long, long time ago (well not that long ago...) and thought I'd recreate it for you folks. I still have my original one I made somewhere, so when I find it (...in a box in the garage...), I'll post some real pictures of it later. I'm also including my original C4D projects if anyone wants to play with the design.

It's a very simple design but I haven't tested this exact 3D model yet so keep in mind it might need tweaking of the positions of the intake and exhaust ports and maybe some dimensions. Precision of the cylinder/piston and the two surfaces of the cylinder/block are the most important to make this work.

My instructions call for metal parts because that's how I made my original one, but I think with some machining with plastics (you need tight fits on piston/cylinder and other stuff...) I think it might still work.

The way it works is simple:
1. Down stroke: As the crank moves clockwise, the piston tilts the cylinder and lines up with the intake hole and receives pressure.
2. Up stoke: With the momentum of a heavy flywheel, the cylinder then tilts to line up with the exhaust port so the pressure in the chamber doesn't stop the upwards motion.

..That's it. Let me know if anyone actually makes one and gets it running. Hope you enjoys it!

Here's a video I found with the same concept engine: youtube.com/watch?v=vcaFWg-FvbQ

This is not the most efficient way to make a rigid heddle loom, but it works. There are definitely some parts that need some editing, the heddle needs to be stronger, as do the front and back round beams. Also, the openSCAD files should be parameterized to accomodate any sized loom and heddle.

The loom took a lot of time/plastic to print and I don't expect anyone else to print it, but it was a great way to learn some openSCAD and to combine two of my hobbies.

This is the first release of the Boot-strappable Open Laser Cutter project that I've been working on for the past few months. The goal of the project is to construct an open design laser cutter with a large cut area (about 1 meter square), for about 5%-10% of the cost of a commercial system. The design draws heavily from other open laser cutter projects out there (such as the Buildlog 2X Laser Cutter) in using inexpensive aluminum extrusion and optics for most of the structural frame, while here most of the custom parts are 3D printed from ABS.

The printed parts represent about 10 hours of total printing time on a Makerbot or Reprap, and have been designed with the hope that they would be of general utility to anyone printing out a large CNC system -- not just a laser cutter. These include parts such as NEMA17 motor holders that mount onto t-slot, idler brackets, pillow block bushing mounts for motors, idlers, and shafts, and so on.

Theo Jansen warns us that the Strandbeests reproduce by seducing people to create them. I'm a victim, and this may be contagious.

Functional Pin Tumble lock. All of the components can be printed with the exception of the helix compression springs. These springs can be taken out of standard click pens. The springs I made this for are 4mm OD and ~20mm long.
I made a small window in the "Outer Barrel" to view the key pin pushing up on the driver pin.
This was a quick project to familiarize myself with the design constraints required for successful FDM designs/prints. I thought I would distribute since it could be fun for teaching and demonstrations.