Console Puck Charger cavity tray

[GA_Rivian]

I pulled out the console puck charger in our R1T because neither of our phones can use it, and decided to turn the space into a small tray.
Model (FreeCAD) and .stl file on printables.com. It's not a uniform space, unfortunately; the bumps on the side are to accomodate protrusions, and the box in the back is for the original USB connector; I didn't want to push it down below because it might interfere with the pop-out drink tray. Not perfect, but usable.

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[R1Thor]

Curiosity: how are you getting the geometry so well? Are you *that good* at metrology, or are you using CMM or 3d scanning?

I have a handful of projects I want to tackle, but with strange 'organic' shaping, it's albeit impossible for me to match things perfectly, and I don't have the patience (nor time) to iterate 100 times to get things to fit perfectly. I've debated getting 3d scanners, but point clouds converted to useful CAD are still seemingly unreliable and very cumbersome to deal with. Notwithstanding, it's a ton of investment and risk for something that still requires a ton of work.

So, that's a long winded way of saying 'this is what I think I know about the technology' and 'how are you bridging the gap, so I might cheat off of your homework?'

THANKS!

 

[nc10]

So, that's a long winded way of saying 'this is what I think I know about the technology' and 'how are you bridging the gap, so I might cheat off of your homework?'

Great question.....

 

[Wing]

I'd like to know as well. Currently the best I got is a take a photo and try to draw based on it.

I've been successful after 3-4 iterations for most things. But something that needs to fit into slips etc that would be nightmare.

 

[Polar]

I pulled out the console puck charger in our R1T because neither of our phones can use it, and decided to turn the space into a small tray.
Model (FreeCAD) and .stl file on printables.com. It's not a uniform space, unfortunately; the bumps on the side are to accomodate protrusions, and the box in the back is for the original USB connector; I didn't want to push it down below because it might interfere with the pop-out drink tray. Not perfect, but usable.

I love this! Printing now!

 

[GA_Rivian]

Unfortunately, it was mostly painful iterations. Measured as much as I could with a micrometer; totally missed/omitted a few of the protrusions first time around. Fortunately 3 of the 4 edges are straight, so it was only the front edge that was as issue. Also fortunately there is "air" below the top rim, not counting the protrusions.

I made a crude guess using b-splines for the front curve and had to iterate twice, for the curves themselves and for the slope from the bottom set of curves to the top. Fortunately that's empty space and the only thing that had to fit was the top edge, the posts sticking out in front, and the clips that hold it down. I don't know that I got the clips right; they may not be actually holding much. For cavities, I erred on the side of bigger is better rather than try to squeeze as much space into the bin as I could.

It was/is a pain in the butt changing the positioning and/or shape of the lower b-splines to make the clips fit, probably because I don't understand b-splines very well. It's close enough for now.

After the front curve, the hardest part was getting the wedges for the front clips acceptable. They aren't in one of the standard planes and I don't know how to anchor them to arbitrary points on the b-splines. I ended up with approximate positioning and sizing on them, with the major discrepancies buried in the front wall where it doesn't matter. Rather than precise angles, I oriented them relative to each other by eye; the eye is amazingly accurate for some things.

So no breakthroughs. But hey, it's not a telescope mirror, so being off a bit is tolerable.

 

[GA_Rivian]

I love this! Printing now!

Let me know if it fits/works. Be careful inserting it. Getting the USB cable to stay out of the way and under its "box" while you slide the back tabs in place was a bit frustrating. Also, the tabs for the front snap-clips tended to be brittle and can be broken easily, at least with PLA / PETG -- their orientation when bent is along the layer lines.

 

[Kacey3]

Unfortunately, it was mostly painful iterations. Measured as much as I could with a micrometer; totally missed/omitted a few of the protrusions first time around. Fortunately 3 of the 4 edges are straight, so it was only the front edge that was as issue. Also fortunately there is "air" below the top rim, not counting the protrusions.

Yep, that's pretty much how to do it... it's how I do all of my modeling.

 

[GA_Rivian]

Side note, I didn't even try to position the front divider accurately. Almost left it off completely, but decided it was useful to stand things up. Others might find it a PITA and prefer it omitted. If you can work with the model (.FCStd file) and not the .stl, I believe you can simply delete it and the model will still hold up, even though it is buried mid-way in the construction chain.

 

[Polar]

Let me know if it fits/works. Be careful inserting it. Getting the USB cable to stay out of the way and under its "box" while you slide the back tabs in place was a bit frustrating. Also, the tabs for the front snap-clips tended to be brittle and can be broken easily, at least with PLA / PETG -- their orientation when bent is along the layer lines.

Tying a new Nylon filament … any issues could be my own doing as well.

 

[GA_Rivian]

Tying a new Nylon filament … any issues could be my own doing as well.

I see you're running a prusa MK4; mine is an MK3S. Can you send me the print and filament settings you're using for nylon? What kind of nylon are you using?

 

[Polar]

It is Overture “easy nylon” - never tried it a coworker bought it


Quoted temps are new to me - usually PETG ASA PLA ABS - so 260 and 50 - so we’ll see how this goes. When I’m back I’ll pull other details off, also used a bit of glue on the bed as the filament recommended it.

If when I come in tomorrow it hasn’t puked all over itself - I’ll pull all the settings for you.

 

[GA_Rivian]

also used a bit of glue on the bed as the filament recommended it.

If when I come in tomorrow it hasn’t puked all over itself - I’ll pull all the settings for you.

Thanks. I hope that works. My attempt to print this using Talman 645 with glue everywhere and a 10mm brim resulted in the part sticking fine, but still warping and pulling the magnetic sheet up from the print bed. I've since printed some clips to help hold the sheet to the bed but haven't tried them yet. The advice I got was something like "Don't even attempt it without a heated enclosure (I have a front enclosure, but not a complete one; will probably put a bag over the back on my next attempt) and to use a bed temp of 80-90. That's way above the bed spec for 645 (55), but I'm not surprised as it would help to reduce warping.

 

[Polar]

Thanks. I hope that works. My attempt to print this using Talman 645 with glue everywhere and a 10mm brim resulted in the part sticking fine, but still warping and pulling the magnetic sheet up from the print bed. I've since printed some clips to help hold the sheet to the bed but haven't tried them yet. The advice I got was something like "Don't even attempt it without a heated enclosure (I have a front enclosure, but not a complete one; will probably put a bag over the back on my next attempt) and to use a bed temp of 80-90. That's way above the bed spec for 645 (55), but I'm not surprised as it would help to reduce warping.

That is the worst when adhesion overcomes the bed….
Good progress six hours in so far here

 

[R1Thor]

Unfortunately, it was mostly painful iterations. Measured as much as I could with a micrometer; totally missed/omitted a few of the protrusions first time around. Fortunately 3 of the 4 edges are straight, so it was only the front edge that was as issue. Also fortunately there is "air" below the top rim, not counting the protrusions.

I made a crude guess using b-splines for the front curve and had to iterate twice, for the curves themselves and for the slope from the bottom set of curves to the top. Fortunately that's empty space and the only thing that had to fit was the top edge, the posts sticking out in front, and the clips that hold it down. I don't know that I got the clips right; they may not be actually holding much. For cavities, I erred on the side of bigger is better rather than try to squeeze as much space into the bin as I could.

It was/is a pain in the butt changing the positioning and/or shape of the lower b-splines to make the clips fit, probably because I don't understand b-splines very well. It's close enough for now.

After the front curve, the hardest part was getting the wedges for the front clips acceptable. They aren't in one of the standard planes and I don't know how to anchor them to arbitrary points on the b-splines. I ended up with approximate positioning and sizing on them, with the major discrepancies buried in the front wall where it doesn't matter. Rather than precise angles, I oriented them relative to each other by eye; the eye is amazingly accurate for some things.

So no breakthroughs. But hey, it's not a telescope mirror, so being off a bit is tolerable.

Yep, that's pretty much how to do it... it's how I do all of my modeling.

Appreciate the insight!

I was afraid of that, but not surprised. I need to learn patience, add some time to my day, and iterate

Hopefully one day we'll have some better tech so we can convert real-world-to-CAD faster (I'm sure machine learning and AI will help with that).

Also, in case it wasn't clear: thanks for the effort and sharing your files. It's very appreciated around here. Quite a few of this forum's...uh..'sponsors' are 3d print farms who won't share their models, then charge (in my opinion) outrageous prices for anistropic prints.

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