Yet Another Dice Tower Tray

Update
I realize now that I wasn’t very clear about which dice tower I was designing for, considering I marked both Lau85’s and BouncyMonkey’s towers as ‚remixed from.‘ To clarify, my original design was for BouncyMonkey’s ‚Yet Another Dice Tower.‘ I’ve since added a design that will fit Lau85’s ‚Another Dice Tower.‘

So:

  • If you have BouncyMonkey’s ‚Yet Another Dice Tower,‘ print yadt-tray.stl
  • if you have Lau85’s ‚Another Dice Tower,‘ print adt-tray.stl

Sorry for the slight confusion!


I wanted a tray to catch the dice as they came out of BouncyMonkey’s Yet Another Dice Tower and loved the style of Tray_v2 from Lau85’s Another dice tower, so I created a new tray merging the styles of both. The tolerances might be a tight between the base of the tower and the tray, but some light sanding will fix that.

Edit 7/1
Added a new version to fit the original ‚Another dice tower‘ by Lau85. I haven’t tested this for fit. Let me know in the comments if it works.

Another dice tower

Here’s my take on a dice tower. I really liked the look of all those medieval towers, but also wanted to be able to watch the dice going down. So I designed my own.

This design uses a piece from a plastic soda bottle for the outer wall, diameter 87mm – length 170mm with a straight wall. I used a Dr.Pepper 1,5L bottle. To get the opening for the door, you can place the bottle on the base, then trace along the inside of the door using a pen or pencil. Then cut away the opening.

Note: If you have a bottle with a slightly different diameter, you can scale all the parts by X=d/87, with d diameter in mm. The required length, in mm, would be 170*X. For the 1,5L SmartWater bottle, that’s commonly found in the US, X would be 103.5%.

The little knight is something i liked for decoration in the window behind the entrance. It was sliced and scaled from the model by bs3 (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1239427). But it’s optional, you can leave it out or paint or put something else in there to personalise the tower. The measures of the window are width x height x depth:26x45x7mm.

As for printing, I gave all the parts steep angles, so I was hoping they would print without much support, but they still need some, particularly the staircase. It’s all easily removed though, I had no problem cleaning the parts.

Update: new Spiral.stl. The mesh is a lot cleaner now.

Update 21-11-2018: New Top_v2.stl. There where a lot of comments the outer rim came off after printing due to the small contacts in the brickwork. I’ve increased the wall thickness a bit and hope it’s resolved now. Please inform me if it’s still an issue. Also added a step to cover the alignment hole and improved the paving a bit as well.

Update 4-12-2018: Finally found the time to add a matching tray. It will fit on the tower without modification and can be nested for easy transportation. It should print without support if your printer can do some small bridges, but with will probably be safer. (I didn’t design the floral decals at the front of the pillars, they came from Bruxxus –https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2168783– scaled to 12mm)
The file turned out quite big though, so I added another tray that’s more basic. It will fit on the tower just the same though.

Update 10-5-2019: New Tray_v2. There were comments on difficulties with printing the bannisters, so I’ve increased their thickness and hopefully that will make it better. Also included versions for low resolution and high resolution (small or big file).

Playseat Challenge Shifter Mount

Description

I couldn’t find a Logitech shifter mount on Thingiverse that satisfied me, so I made my own in Fusion 360. Note, I have only tested the right-hand version of this mount, however I expect the left-hand version will work fine. I just mirrored all of the components. There are 3 parts required for this print; the inside bracket, outside bracket and the surface to which you mount the shifter. The surface is designed for the Logitech G27 shifter, and I expect the other similar shifters. I only have the G27 to test.

Update 6/26/2019
I’ve confirmed that this works fine with the Thrustmaster TH8A shifter using the provided clamp. It’s secure enough, and positioned well enough, that I’m not going to bother making and reprinting a hard-mount plate for it. Much better shifter than the G27/G29/G920 variants by the way.

There were a few main goals for the utility of the mount:

  1. Securely mounted without the fear of it shifting
  2. Extends back towards the seated position to reduce the reach required to the shifter and buttons, and to make it feel more natural. It seems if the shifter is back much further, the velcro straps start to get in the way.
  3. Clear the wheel mount tubing latch

The outside mount and surface are in 2 pieces for a couple reasons:

  1. Can hopefully be printed on printers with a smaller build volume. If it were a one-piece assembly, it would not fit on the print bed of my Qidi Tech 1. In 2 pieces, it fits with plenty of extra space. I could make the shifter surface a good deal larger.
  2. Allow the design of surfaces for other shifters or peripherals such that you do not need to re-print the entire outside part of the mount. You could probably come up with a way to quick-detach the surface.

Assembly Instructions

This was designed to be assembled with either M3 screws with 5.5mm nuts, or M4 screws and no nuts. I did not try this with M4 screws as I have a lot of M3’s around used for quadcopters.

  • The brackets mount to the tube with 30mm M3 screws and nuts inserted from outside to inside. Any longer and the screws will extend beyond the inside bracket, which is fine, but causes an exposed sharp surface. I also used washers under the screw head, but it’s probably not required. You can use slightly shorter screws if using M4’s. I did not need to use all of the screw holes. When looking from the outside bracket in, I used the top 2 on the far right, the bottom right, and top left. If using the bottom left, you’ll need to use an M4 screw, or a wood screw of the correct size, no more than 30mm. With the screws I used, it secures nicely to the tubing with no movement.

  • The surface slides onto the outside bracket and mostly locks into place. The outermost screw holes are countersunk as the shifter sits over top of them. That is the primary reason for the step-down, so there is enough material for both the surface and bracket. The inner holes do not side under the shifter, and I wanted to ensure plenty of strength where the surface and bracket meet. I’m not sure how well this part would hold up with M4 screws attaching the surface to the bracket, but I expect it would be fine.

  • The countersunk nuts are a tight fit on purpose. I just get them started by pressing them into their holes slightly, then use the screws to pull them into place. This essentially integrates them into the print so they won’t fall out when disassembling.

  • The surface is not wide enough to use the rear clamps effectively, but you will want to use the front screw clamp. I tried to reduce the material requirement for the surface by minimizing the size where possible.

Printing

I printed this with red MatterHackers PLA Pro, with print settings as described in the ‚Print Settings‘ section. It is plenty strong with minimal flex. I don’t expect it will break easily without a straight up karate chop. I expect this would also print great in PETG. If printing in ABS, you may want to increase the size very slightly to ensure you can get the nuts into their recesses and so the brackets fit around the tubing. All of the files should import into your slicer in the orientations suggested below.

Inside Bracket

I printed this with the tubing cutout towards the print bed, using supports under the tubing cutout. This ensures the outside fillet is smooth.

Outside Bracket

I suggest printing this as it imports into your slicer with the base on the print bed to ensure strength where the bracket attaches to the surface. I used supports for the horizontal part of the tubing cutout until the angle reaches near 45 degrees. I also used supports in all of the holes, but it may not be necessary. Finally, I used supports in the nut countersinks.

Surface

I printed this with the top of the surface on the print bed. You could print it the other way, but you will need to support the surface-to-bracket cutout and then it may not fit together well. I only used supports for the countersink for the screws.

Remix

If you want to remix this, ie. to design a surface for a different shifter, you can download the files that Fusion 360 will export here:
https://a360.co/2v8bojh

Notes

  1. For some reason, every time I make a change to this design, I need to execute the Combine-Cut functions again for the part<>Screw_Hole_Tools before exporting to STL. I’m not sure why, but the countersink holes always disappear on me.
  2. It’s best if you properly roll back history to the component on which you’re working, and only edit the ‚Right‘ components. This will ensure changes propagate to the ‚Left‘ versions, as well as the ‚Print_Bodies‘ component, of which you use to export the bodies for proper orientation on your print bed.
  3. The majority of the model is parametric. I tried to describe each parameter well, but you may need to jump around to through the sketches and features to find the correct ones to change.

Low poly tree sculptures

The company i work for http://www.wolffolins.com has a ’sit where you want‘ hot-desk policy, but how do you show people which desks are available? Easy, just download and printout these cute low poly trees, glue together and pop them on the desks – job done!

You can also choose the ‚blank‘ based versions and just print them as sweet little window trees

They could also make great ‚build‘ toys for children.

4 tree designs – each tree is split into 4 parts:
Pot (with additional ‚Hot desk‘ or blank base)
Soil
Trunk
Tree
Optional ‚fruit‘ to add a touch of colour

Printed in Faberdashery PLA

Print them at low res, low-ish infill, no supports needed.

Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER:
If using as a toy, Please, please keep small parts away from young children.
They could be a chocking hazard.

UPDATE: 290515
Added a ‚desk hottie‘ base – for that ’special‘ work colleague!
Tree_4_pot_hottie.stl

Customizable Filament Swatch (Filament test)

You need filament swatches for testing different colors and makes? You want to know the colors you have on spool at the moment?

Here are customizable filament swatches / tests, where you can change all the text using the thingiverse customizer (Press the button „Open in customizer“ above). This way you don’t have to print and stick any labels anymore.

You can customize:

  • 3 lines of text (for make/type/color/printer settings for the material): upper, lower left, lower right
  • By default, all kinds of test patterns are included in the swatch. This way you can easily see how well the filament printed. You can select how many round test pattern are included. You can check overhangs, bridging, pyramids, roundness, etc.
  • There is a fourth text on the top side to indicate the material type quickly when the swatches are in their box. You can set this text using a drop-down box or a free text field, as requested by Sembazuru.
  • Thickness progression of the ‚layers‘, defined as an array of numbers
  • New: Wether the thickness steps numbers have include leading zeroes, trailing zeroes or nothing, as requested by sparkyman215 and Sembazuru
  • Font, font size (font size can be set for the main text and the steps separately. Setting a font size to 0 removes the text), text line distance, wether the text is raised or embossed
  • Size of the swatch
  • Hole diameter, grooves, etc
  • Wether to rotate the text on the steps, as requested by IllyStorm
  • As default, „Pathway Gothic One“ font is selected for better readability. You can also check the V5 .stl files as font samples. The first line on each swatch is the fonts name. You can check if the text is still well readable after slicing these swatches all at once.

If you print a swatch, please share a picture using the „post a make“ button.
This way we can collect here filament print quality via pictures…

If you like it, please have a look at all my customizable creations. There are configurable-text-based creations, multi-line label, gadget display stand, sweeping name plate, bunting banner, customizable text box III, pyramid text, name plate, Customizable text box with lid and round text. Have also a look at my configurable pack of dogs, rabbits, reindeers and santas. There are also useful coat hangers and finger toys.
Just have a look at all my customizable creations.

And…

As they are, the swatches fit into the configurable box from Jaxel. You can see the box in the 2nd picture. The box shown is also added here as .STL. Thanks a lot for the design!

Insipration came from different swatch cards here on thingiverse, all attached in the „remixed from“ section, and they seem to all go back to the design from venegade. Thanks go out to all of the designers for the idea and the subsequent iterations!

Thanks go out to teruteru314 for supplying the same model as solidworks file (.sldprt) which is now also included here.
There are some bug fixes in version „S“, thanks to Lyl3t for the review.

Thanks!

Duck Headphone Hanger

Made this for my sis to hang her headphones. A lot of hangers on thingiverse are great and waste less filament, but I wanted to make her something special.
Printed at 0.12, 10% infill. No supports, most printers should handle the bridging on the notches for the screws, and I left room for some sagging.
Holds my big MDR-Z7s no problem, you could scale down if you have smaller cans. You can fix it to the wall with one or two screws, nails or some heavy duty double sided tape.

UPDATE: Fixed a problem that base was not completely flat.

Russian Doll Random Maze Puzzle Gift Box (Updated Xmas 2018)

[Note for those saying „do you have the old version“, or „tolerances are crap“. Follow the link below and you can make pretty much any version and adjust tolerances as much as you like.]

This is a multiple level maze puzzle box. i.e. you solve one puzzle, and find there is another, and maybe another, before you finally get to the middle and the prize.

Customise: https://www.me.uk/puzzlebox

Multiple parts often print better (and faster overall) if printed separately rather than all together, and you can change colours for each, which is a nice touch. No support needed.

Ideal for birthday/Christmas presents like cash or lottery tickets – or even a ring!

Examples here include a lottery ticket gift box, a box for pound coins, some useful boxes (e.g. for a ring, etc), and a number of test boxes to check the clearance works on your printer. Use the link above to make a random maze with your choice of settings (of which there are many).

If you like this, do click like even if downloading from www.me.uk

The example files here have been updated from time to time – see version.stl for date/time.

New Version (Christmas 2018)

The new version adds: maze inside and alternating version; text on end and side of box; helical mazes; grip on the base to make is easy to use; cleaner model with much faster render in OpenSCAD; many more controls; and, a simple web form to create mazes.

You can create a new, random, and customised Open SCAD file from https://www.me.uk/puzzlebox
Or make it yourself – the C code is in github https://github.com/revk/PuzzleBox

The possibilities are endless! Credit to my son, James, for the idea of taking my maze boxes one step further for multiple levels – well done.

P.S. Yes, there is one small loop near the end of the maze just for fun.

[Note, licence is creative commons ATTRIBUTION. A commercial licence is available if not using CCA, at £10 per print sold. If you are not attributing you are either breaking the law by using without a licence and so costing me the £10 I would get, or are agreeing to the commercial licence. Either way you owe me £10 a print, plus legal costs if I choose to sue you to get it. So ATTRIBUTE any usage of this model.]

Hairy Lion

This is a Hairy Lion. As the name says it is lion with hair.
This is a remix from Geoffro’s design Lion HD (no supports required).

UPDATE #2: I made about 3 times bigger version. It has a lot of hair and they are also very long.
Watch Joel Telling’s (3D Printing Nerd) video about it: https://youtu.be/OTXPU2P-ElE

UPDATE #1: I made 50% smaller version. It should only take about 1-2 hours to print. But you must be much more careful when cutting the hair. This model has much less hair, so if you break or pull out too much hair, there will be visible bald spots.

The hair is connected to sacrificial wall, which is removed afterwards.
(See picture: post_processing.jpg) You can also try hot water to form the hair. Anyway, be careful not to burn yourself.

There was a request to add a brim to sacrificial wall. So I made it: „Hairy_Lion_with_brim.STL“

This was printed with ABS, but it should also work with other materials. If you are having problems, adjust bridging settings in your slicer.

You can find dual extrusion version here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2050208