I’m posting this because it’s such a nice example for the standard “What are 3D printers really good for?” question.
When I got to the lab today, I was told the can chute in our mini-fridge was broken. Inspection showed that too many of the little plastic inserts/bushings that retain the bars were missing and/or broken. This is a years-old cheap GE minifridge, so it isn’t even worth looking for OEM replacements.
Now we get to the “Thinking with 3D printing” part: I plucked one of the remaining ones, went over it with some calipers, transferred the measurements into OpenSCAD, and printed one off to test fit. The ID was a little tight, so I adjusted the model, printed 6 more, and fixed the problem.
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- The lab fridge’s can chute fell apart, because the little bushings that hold the retainer died.
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- Rack with intact bushing on the floor.
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- Bushing installed properly. They’re sort of loose.
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- Grab some calipers and describe the bushings to OpenSCAD.
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- Pass the model through Cura and the M2 to get a test fit. Slightly too tight on the ID.
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- Iterate model, print 6.
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- OEM and Custom comparison. Made them a little bigger.
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- ID looks cleaner on the ones that were printed in a group, more cooling between layers.
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- And fixed. Note also the awesome retention bar made out of a chopstick from a previous repair.
In case the model is useful for anyone else: OpenSCAD and STL.
Important Details:
- This took like an hour from start to finish, and wasn’t the only thing I was doing at the time. The printing itself was around 1 minute per insert.
- The new inserts are better than the originals. Not quite as pretty in some ways (though they are blue and glow-in-the-dark, because that’s our current junk filament), but the fit is considerably better.
- That “iterate” step in the middle, where you just try it and adjust if needed is among the most beautiful things about 3D printers.
Calipers? That’s utterly ridiculous. Maybe long ago you could find calipers in every household across Kentucky, but not anymore.
Ah yes. The 3D printer isn’t a big deal. The modeling software and its learning curve isn’t a big deal. But the calipers that have been around since the 6th century BC, that’s a show-stopper 🙂
Not to mention they cost like $20
Well, he /did/ mention that it was the Laboratory fridge, and labs seem like a substantially more likely place to have calipers. Though, to be fair, I do have several sets of calipers laying around my apartment, too, for whatever reason.