Author Topic: 3D Printed work holding widgets.  (Read 3436 times)

Offline Joules

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3D Printed work holding widgets.
« on: April 30, 2018, 09:36:32 AM »
These are some prints I did a couple of years ago for modifying some expensive plastic components that needed re-machining and couldn't be marked.

The first image is the soft jaws I printed to hold one of the parts, it needed a groove machining internally so the jaws pick up the contours and support the part during the operation.   The jaws take only a few hours to print are easily replaced.  Since the design work was done I can modify the jaw prints to any odd shapes needing LIGHT machining.

I had another part to modify but it was a different shape, again no visible marks allowed.  I could grip this one internally at the rear, but it had a long stick out and being plastic would just distort without support.

I needed to use a large bearing that could be held in the fixed steady, I didn't want to mark or distort the bearing and it needed to locate in the same place each time.  A 3D printed collar that was a good press fit with flats that picked up the steady fingers gave me a rigid and repeatable setup.

The final part of this setup was a two piece collet that fitted round the part and pushed into the bearing.  I didn't have space in the bearing to go over the external ridges and by having the collet back to a shoulder the part couldn't creep forward during machining.

The soft jaws and bearing support did about 50 parts each, the home made grooving tool also did a good job on all the parts.

It was an end of batch run and the client needed these parts altering to a new design I had done for them before they committed to brand new parts incorporating the new feature.  The parts are used in a clinical environment, hence the need to keep them as clean as possible during machining, the printed parts did just that.


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Offline awemawson

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Re: 3D Printed work holding widgets.
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2018, 10:34:02 AM »
It just shows how versatile 3D printing can be if you have the imagination to apply it  :thumbup:


Excellent looking prints Jules.
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Online Brass_Machine

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Re: 3D Printed work holding widgets.
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2018, 11:16:26 AM »
Very cool. I like this...
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Offline awemawson

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Re: 3D Printed work holding widgets.
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2018, 11:38:13 AM »
. . . . and that lime green colour . . . so fashionable  :lol:
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Offline Joules

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Re: 3D Printed work holding widgets.
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2018, 11:46:25 AM »
 :thumbup:  I have loads of the stuff, some reason the clinical types really like the colour, so most parts printed for them are in that.  I even got a deal bulk buying it as no-one else wanted the rolls  :scratch:
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Offline Toolshed

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Re: 3D Printed work holding widgets.
« Reply #5 on: May 02, 2018, 01:37:21 PM »
Nice color coding!!
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