MattJ Posted November 9, 2016 Author Share Posted November 9, 2016 4 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said: I noticed the slight surface texture from the faster print speed. Is it possible to sand the rough areas down with 3M finegrit sandpaper? I know for autobody work they have various grits that you work down from to get a smooth finish. I don't know how whether you can do that with plastic, but if it's hard enough maybe? Wet sanding? I only used 25% infill on this one and the shell is less than 1mm thick, so sanding might not be a good option. Unless you want to use some plastic padding afterwards and repaint the whole thing. Using a slower print speed is probably much easier and cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 I wonder whether you could design a flat spot on the fender shell and incorporate some "Lego" round cylinders pegs onto it. That way you could play around and change out headlight / tail light components by plugging them onto the fender without needing to print the entire fender again. Or maybe screw mounting points to secure everything might be better. I was just thinking you could make like a GoPro snap on mount, a headlight snap on mount, etc... Maybe a simple raised, curved mounting surface with space on the sides for screw holes would work. The attachment could have a matching curved rectangular outline to fit over the mounting surface and then small screws could attach it from the sides... Or maybe a raised tube mount would do the trick. When you search for bicycle head light, most seem to mount onto handle bars. If you had a small section of a handle bar cylinder that was raised with a support arm you could select from a myriad of choices and mount them to that spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted November 9, 2016 Author Share Posted November 9, 2016 2 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said: I wonder whether you could design a flat spot on the fender shell and incorporate some "Lego" round cylinders pegs onto it. That way you could play around and change out headlight / tail light components by plugging them onto the fender without needing to print the entire fender again. Or maybe screw mounting points to secure everything might be better. I was just thinking you could make like a GoPro snap on mount, a headlight snap on mount, etc... Maybe a simple flat mounting surface with space on the sides for screw holes would work. The attachment could have a matching rectangular outline to fit over the mounting surface and then small screws could attach it from the sides... Of course that´s possible, but one of my main goals is to maximize the crash resistance. A screw mount will work great, but it is easily torn out and will rip the fender if it hits something or a crash occurs. That´s why I prefer to use housings that are integrated. Designing the housing it is not a big deal, the headlight took me about fifteen minutes to add to the plain fender. However after doing some measurements, I noticed that it can be improved, I was able to shorten the headlight housing by 10 mm compared to what you see in the picture. Now I still need to find a nice tail light unit for which I can design a similar, but hopefully smaller housing. Time to have a look at what´s available on aliexpress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swvision Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 5 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said: I noticed the slight surface texture from the faster print speed. Is it possible to sand the rough areas down with 3M finegrit sandpaper? I know for autobody work they have various grits that you work down from to get a smooth finish. I don't know how whether you can do that with plastic, but if it's hard enough maybe? Wet sanding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 @swvision That will only work with ABS, not PLA and I wouldn´t use that kind of treatment on any parts where precise dimensions need to be maintained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swvision Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 This is what instructables says: " Acetone will only work with ABS or PET items. " http://www.instructables.com/id/Safe-way-to-do-Acetone-bath/?ALLSTEPS It says it's safe as long as you follow the instructions carefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 7 minutes ago, swvision said: This is what instructables says: " Acetone will only work with ABS or PET items. " http://www.instructables.com/id/Safe-way-to-do-Acetone-bath/?ALLSTEPS It says it's safe as long as you follow the instructions carefully. Like I said, it will not work with PLA. And printing this kind of parts with large flat surfaces would be very challenging in ABS. There are other chemicals that produce similar results with PLA, but they are very expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 Another option for a nice finished look: https://www.smooth-on.com/product-line/xtc-3d/ https://www.smooth-on.com/tutorials/smoothing-surface-3d-printed-model-xtc-3d/ Torch it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 1 hour ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said: Another option for a nice finished look: https://www.smooth-on.com/product-line/xtc-3d/ https://www.smooth-on.com/tutorials/smoothing-surface-3d-printed-model-xtc-3d/ Torch it! I´ve seen most of those techiques and even tried some of them myself. I spent a lot of time looking at different options when I first started 3D printing 3 1/2 years ago. These are probably ok for single small items which have no other purpose than decoration. Not very practical for larger technical parts that still need to precisely fit together even after a possible surface treatment. Feel free to test it if you have doubts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted November 12, 2016 Author Share Posted November 12, 2016 Seems like I might have found a possible candidate for tail lights, apparently these will even work direclty with 60V. I´ll start saving for a set of those and then make another version of the fender for them http://www.banggood.com/12V-Motorcycle-Taillight-Scooter-LED-Strobe-Light-Decorative-Bulb-p-1085678.html?rmmds=search Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electric_vehicle_lover Posted November 12, 2016 Share Posted November 12, 2016 Maybe someday you will use the RGB LEDs ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted November 13, 2016 Author Share Posted November 13, 2016 I just noticed that the step-by-step how-to article has now been published: http://makezine.com/projects/3d-print-electric-unicycle/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted November 14, 2016 Author Share Posted November 14, 2016 Actually, it is currently on theFrontpage of Make:http://makezine.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electric_vehicle_lover Posted November 14, 2016 Share Posted November 14, 2016 Congratulations!!! It is really good the article and you really are a Maker :-) I believe this work is really important to increase the awareness about EUCs and the small personal electric vehicles. I can tell you that me and my girlfriend, we are very happy to see the EGG app on the article and the links for the github of EGG. I also <3 3D printing :-) I just printed the page for a PDF file that I will put on github and link on the wiki. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted November 14, 2016 Author Share Posted November 14, 2016 1 hour ago, electric_vehicle_lover said: Congratulations!!! It is really good the article and you really are a Maker :-) I believe this work is really important to increase the awareness about EUCs and the small personal electric vehicles. I can tell you that me and my girlfriend, we are very happy to see the EGG app on the article and the links for the github of EGG. I also <3 3D printing :-) I just printed the page for a PDF file that I will put on github and link on the wiki. Thanks! Hopefully this will help to get some more visibility for EUC´s in general. I myself only sent them some info on the assembly steps, required parts and some pictures that I made. It´s a good thing they decided to also put up links to other files Github, so the readers of this article will be able to see that there are also other options available for 3D printed EUC´s besides mine - like the one you designed. I´m really curious to see how many people will start printing their EUC´s now. As I understand, Make is quite a widespread publication with exactly the right kind of readers, so it will probably reach a wide international audience of potential unicycle builders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted November 15, 2016 Author Share Posted November 15, 2016 Mail from the U.S. - my short moment of fame now also on a printed copy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electric_vehicle_lover Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 BIG wins on ours DIY EUC projects!!!!!! <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted December 2, 2016 Author Share Posted December 2, 2016 On 12.11.2016 at 10:59 AM, MattJ said: Seems like I might have found a possible candidate for tail lights, apparently these will even work direclty with 60V. I´ll start saving for a set of those and then make another version of the fender for them http://www.banggood.com/12V-Motorcycle-Taillight-Scooter-LED-Strobe-Light-Decorative-Bulb-p-1085678.html?rmmds=search My potential taillights arrived. They are red, even though the overexposure makes them look white on the video. They do blink and are definitely bright, so you will certainly get noticed with these, but the question is, are they too bright? Sorry for the video quality, had to make it tiny. video-1480678176.mp4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted December 3, 2016 Author Share Posted December 3, 2016 Too cold outside to ride, so I´m using the time to do some more brainwork. A few months ago, I did a set of pedal covers/extensions. They worked great but they sometimes touched the ground in sharp turns. So I now did a revised version. More rounded than before, I pulled in the outer corners inwards as much as possible and also added a possibility to secure the cover with two recessed screws. I ´m starting my printer to see how it fits in real life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizardmech Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Do you think you could print the structural parts with CF filament? I have seen a bike and few other things using it for structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted December 4, 2016 Author Share Posted December 4, 2016 6 hours ago, lizardmech said: Do you think you could print the structural parts with CF filament? I have seen a bike and few other things using it for structure. I have never printed with CF filament, but why not with the right equipment. Even though I have to say that PLA has turned out to be incredibly strong. Never had any problems, so I don´t see any immediate need with my unicylce structure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizardmech Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 I mean the aluminium parts. Supposedly it works on most printers it's just a little harsh on the nozzle. In theory with 100% fill and a metal bushing it should be able to replace the aluminum parts. http://colorfabb.com/xt-cf20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted December 4, 2016 Author Share Posted December 4, 2016 5 minutes ago, lizardmech said: I mean the aluminium parts. Supposedly it works on most printers it's just a little harsh on the nozzle. In theory with 100% fill and a metal bushing it should be able to replace the aluminum parts. http://colorfabb.com/xt-cf20 Those parts need to handle a lot of load, so I wouldn´t use anything but metal. But as I said, I have never printed in CF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted December 4, 2016 Author Share Posted December 4, 2016 Pedals printed and test fitted. They fit nicely and still fold up. The outer corners don´t portrude as far as earlier, so tight turns should be a lot easier now. Stability should not be an issue since all the main weight is still carried by the metal pedal underneath, no significant load on the extended parts. Still need some anti slipping tape on the top surface and I need to cut a M5 thread into the metal pedal for the attachment screws. EDIT: Files are now published:http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1938679 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattJ Posted December 7, 2016 Author Share Posted December 7, 2016 The latest version of my fender with headlight. This bulb turned out to be the brightest one of the several options I tested, so I finalized the design for this one. Also the print now came out much nicer than before. The other fender with rear lights is still printing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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