zipsglacier

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/35997313

I've been experimenting with foldable 3d prints for tall thin walls in some game organizers. (Bigger pictures below.) The principle here is sort of similar to a living hinge, but not designed to flex too many times. Just fold once and be a reasonably stable structure.

Here are some individual pictures of the designs I've made, for corner support of some game organizers. Below, I have explanation and the design/dimensions that I use.

Overview

I haven't seen this type of design too often before, so I thought I would share what design and dimensions worked for me. Here is an overview:

1. I design what I call the Wall as an outline, with some cutouts to reduce material. This is the part that prints flat and will fold up.

2. I apply a chamfer to all edges, to help with removal from the build plate.

3. I make a Y-Profile for the fold line grooves. The profile is vaguely Y-shaped, with a short rectangular base and an angled top. (Picture below; the Y-profile is labeled "cut out groove" there.)

4. I use the Y-profile to cut away material from the wall to make those grooves.

5. I print these in PLA (the pictures are matte PLA, because that's what I had). I guess PETG might be more sturdy, but honestly the PLA was so good that I haven't bothered with PETG.

Here is a picture, which I'll explain below.

Design Details

The top of this picture is an edge-on view of the wall (green horizontal lines) and the Y-shaped profile (labeled "cut out groove"). I use the following dimensions:

• wall thickness: 1.5mm
• wall chamfer (not pictured): .5mm
• Y-profile base height (a): 0.3mm
• thickness remaining below Y-profile (b): 0.4mm
• angle of Y-profile sides: 40 degrees from horizontal (45 didn't fold as well)
• Y-profile base width: (pi/2) x a x 1.1 (=.52mm with other dimensions above)

That last measurement, the width of the Y-profile base, is what the bottom part of the picture is about. The key idea is that width is going to be, roughly, 1/4 the circumference of a circle with radius a. So, I computed that amount, and multiplied by 1.1 to give 10% extra width.

With these dimensions, the part that folds is 0.4mm thick (dimension b in the pictures), then there is a 0.3mm clearance (dimension a), and the two arms of the "Y" fold together. In my first trials I used 45 degrees for the Y arms, but found that I got a better fold making them a little wider (so, lowering the angle from horizontal, to 40 degrees). This basically gives a little extra tolerance for variations in the physical print.

Conclusion

I hope this helps someone! I think it's a neat technique, and I'm a little surprised that I haven't seen it used anywhere else. I've seen various designs for living hinges, which are roughly the same principle, but designed to flex repeatedly. Searching around, I found one foldable cube on thingiverse. But otherwise I haven't found any models using this kind of design.

The plastic part inside this latch broke, and I wanted to print a replacement. I was genuinely surprised at how straightforward it was!! This is my first draft: it fit and worked fine! I made a second version with a few cutaways around the corners, and that was the final draft. (I forgot to take a picture of that one.)

There are lots of awkward overhangs, and I was having a hard time figuring out how it could be printed (a) in a good orientation for the stresses and (b) without supports. Then I remembered: we can just use supports!! I usually try to design so that they aren't needed, so I almost never use them. But wow they made this easy.

So, our baking is done, we put those staples on the list, and we'll get them with our weekly shopping.

I've been waiting until the alpha release to try cosmic, so I haven't paid much attention to instructions for installing it alongside my current pop os 22.04. Now that the alpha is out, I see all instructions pointing to download and install the 24.04 alpha iso. But, that's a big hassle! Is there a way I can try the cosmic alpha along side my current install?

My teenage son wants to try a new distro for gaming. Our family has been using pop os for years, but he wants to try something new. The main three I see are

• nobara (fedora based)
• garuda (arch based)
• drauger (ubuntu based)

The machine he's using is a 2018 Intel nuc. It has a strong processor (core i7) but no discrete graphics. I can't tell which (if any) of the distros above would be better or worse for his case.

Reading around, it seems like Garuda might be slightly more fiddly. And, Drauger I only saw mentioned in a couple of articles, but not on this forum. Are these impressions correct? Do you have any other advice for us?!