GuruBlog

During my homeoffice phase one of my USB-Sticks brock - not a big thing I usually would simply go to a store an buy a new one - especially since this was a very cheap noname USB-Stick. But on the other hand it really anoyed me - there was only a little bit of plastick inside the housing that broke that rendered the stick basically useless because whenever you tried to plug it in it completely dissapeared inside.

Since I had some files on the stick I really needed, I removed the housing and used it for a few days without it - which worked perfectly fine - but felt really brittle and I didn't like pulling directly on the circuit board.

After a few days feeling a little bit angry about how cheapt the plastick enclosure was made and that it was obviously designed as a throw-away product, I decided to repair instead of replacing it and turn it into something like this

I created a box holding up to 5 rolls of solder, to help me mitigate the entropy on my workbench.

I uploaded the desings to thingiverse - but it seems to be really slow currently (probably due to the current stay at home situation)

so I also uploaded the files to my server and you can download the openscad file here or the exported stl file here.

One of my kids needed storycubes for her homework and her teacher provided them with instructions how to cut and glue paper-cubes. But since we have already arrived at the 21st century we 3D printed them instead :-)

if you are interested in making your own the openscad code I used to generate the cube mesh is

translate( [0,0,10] ) {
    cube( 20, center=true );
}

I just printed a Heptagonal-Finger-Ring for my wife. I like 3d printed jewelry. And I also like to work with heptagons. I dont't get that chance very often, since they don't make patterns that easy - at least not in an euclidian space that doesn't cause your mind to explode

you can download the openscad source or download the stl file if you like to print one yourself

I own a Ikea-pen holder on my desk which I like very much, but It has one very large compartment in the front, where I wanted to put my markers. Since I don't have enough markers to fill the whole compartment, I designed a small box in openscad and printed it on my makerbot - et voila! a smaller compartment for my pens.

The box is for sure not the biggest innovation in 3D desgin and I could have used cardboard boxes too, but I really like the idea using a 3D printer to personalize off the shelf furniture :-)

If you like to print your own you can download the openscad-source or download the stl-file

Bathroom-real-estate is a very limited resource in our flat, so I designed a brush-holder that can be glued to the wall and printed it on my makerbot.

I really like how a 3D-printer helps from getting "would be nice if .." into "cool - lets try it"

you can download the brushholder openscad source or the exported brushholder stl

Have you ever lost a button? One that is unique and cannot be found anywere? Do you want to sew something special and need very special buttons?

And do you own a 3D-Printer?

Then there is a solution to your problems - The Parametric-Button-Generator!

Download the openscad file, adjust the parameters and print your buttons

I made a lightning bolt to test the openscad polygon and linear_extrude functions.
To define a polygon you have to define a set of 2D-coordinates and some sets that define the paths. In this example only one path is defined that connects all the points. Then I extruded the polygon to make it 3D and centered it using translate, to make it printable.

translate(v=[0,-45,1]) {
    linear_extrude( height=2, center=true)
    polygon( points = [[-5,0], [15,40], [5, 55], [20, 75], [0, 90], [-15, 55 ], [2, 36]],
        paths=[[0,1,2,3,4,5,6]]
    );
}

you can download the openscad source or the stl file

I need Battery compartments for many of my electronics projects and buy them usually in various sizes, but since i have a makerbot I am thinking about how to print them myself. So I just wrote a openscad-script that generates battery compartments. It handles various battery types from AAA to D and can generate compartments for even and odd battery numbers.

Download the OpenSCAD file enter the type and number of batteries you need and generate a stl file. Then either add it to your model or use it as a standalone compartment. The only thing you need to add (besides batteries) are litte metall stripes for the contacts.

I designed a simple stand for my phone unsing openscad. click here to download the stl file or click here for the openscad script