Redesign
For my redesign project I will be making 3D printed plier holders. It has to hold 3 sets of pliers and in each set there are 4 pliers. These plier holders will have a French cleat to be held on the tool rack in the woods lab in our school. I will design and print one part that holds one set of pliers, and if chosen for the tool shop it would be printed 2 more times to hold all 3 sets of pliers.
Initial Pictures
These are some images of some plier holder designs I found on the internet. There were lots of good ones but I liked these the best. I like the style of these and will try to generate my design after something like these.
Pre-Search
Below is the pre-search and initial ideas I had that I wrote down in my designer notebook to get some knowledge on what I would be building. On top of the pre-search I did of different designs I have to keep in minds I have to add a French cleat. Below is also an initial sketch I made of my idea to design.
Designing the Tool Holder
I will be designing my tool holder for the pliers in Inventor. Below are the images of my work in inventor to make a model that I can 3D print. The image on the right is the finalized 1st attempt of my 3D print for the project in inventor. We will see how it works after it is printed.
MakerBot and 3D Printing
The left image is my makerbot screen which is where I took my design from inventor and put it in a software compatible with the 3D printer. Once I take that file in makerbot, I take my flash drive to the 3D printer and start my 1st print which is what the right image is showing. My first print. The last image below is how my tool holder ended up after the print. I tested it out and noticed some changes that needed to be made. I need to make the 2 bases thicker, and I needed to make the bottom holes bigger. These are the holes that hole the pliers.
Revisions
After my first 3D print I needed to make revisions to my design in inventor. It was a few dimensions I needed to adjust so you won't notice a big difference in the photo, but I did make some changes. Then I printed again with makerbot, and started my final 3D print, which is the image on the right.
Final Images of Plyer Holder
These are the final images of my tool holder in Redesign form. I have completed a newly designed plier holder that can successfully hold one set of pliers with a french cleat. To hold the other 2 sets, you would just need to print off the part 2 more times.
Summary
Overall I enjoyed this Redesign unit. I enjoyed getting to design something that I know could be put to good use. One thing I learned during this unit was to use my time wisely, and whenever you have an opportunity to work take it! I ended up coming close to running out of time toward the end of the deadline to finish the project. I did not think I would get to this point but I had to work outside of class to finish the project. Coming into to school on our Friday we had off was not what I wanted to do. I wanted to sleep in and not come to school. But after I came into work and got done what I needed too I realized how good it was that I took that time to work. I would have been in panic mode the following class and might have not had time to finish the project or the project might not have ended up well. So I learned to take work time and use it wisely when its offered! I learned it will only benefit me.