Practical CAD (3D printed solutions)

I have taken classes in both Keycreator and Solidworks and am self taught in Fusion 360

Practical CAD

Door handle and latch for a wet abrasive cutoff saw


The handle that held the door closed on my father's abrasive cutoff saw rusted away so I modeled up and printed one that won't rust. The 'tong' has later been thickened slightly and printed out of tougher PETG as it broke off.

Prototype gearbox for my electric bike project


This Electric bike project that I have postponed until the Collablab club at WPI can resume normal meetings was modeled in Keycreator to ensure that nothing would collide before I constructed it. The only thing left in the project is figuring out the VESC software and final construction.

Sunfish plug


My neighbor lost the plug on his old sunfish (a DePersia Bailer ) so I modeled a new one in CAD and printed it out of flexible filament. We tested it and it works great.

Mask template and earsavers for the Covid-19 response (more info in the Covid-19 response section)

Plug to fill hole left when speakers taken out of hot tub


The speaker system in my families hot tub was not being used and was letting water out of the tub and into the electronics so i modeled some plugs in Solidworks and printed them out.

Sewing machine tray


This part is a great example of the power of 3d printing, my grandmother lost the plastic tray on her sewing machine that holds spools. This part is most likely not made anymore and would be extremely difficult to source, for just a few dollars worth of filament and 15 minutes worth of work 3d printing was able to replace the part.

Dish drain feet

The dish drainer in my house rocked because it is on an uneven sink surface so I modeled, then printed some feet that make up for it and stop the dish drainer from moving around when you put stuff on it.

Keyboard foot

I bought a second hand Logitech keyboard from Goodwill but it was missing a foot so i modeled one up and printed it out.

Dial caliper hanger

I wanted to hang up my calipers behind my desk for ease of access so I modeled and printed up a hanger.

Fusion 360 chair

This chair is my first Fusion 360 project, it is made to be easily cut and constructed out of plywood cut with a CNC router.

The bottom of the chair uses a dove tail

the side of the chair has slots for both the bottom and the back, the chair is designed to have 3 different seating heights depending on how it is oriented. A normal 18 inch seating position if you tip it on its front, a short 8 inches from the ground if it is in the position shown above, and an in between 12 inch position if it is flipped over.

Universal mounting system

I wanted to develop a mounting system that would allow me to temperately mount something to the wall (or just other object) and be able to rotate it so I invented this system where a disk is captured under a lip. The larger circle mounts to the wall by one screw and the smaller one can be adapted to have a hook, spot for glue, or many other mounting systems.

I went through many renditions where I messed with the final angle of the revolve, different sizes, different fillets and other factors before settling on the current design. This process is where I learned how powerful Fusion 360 is, both of these objects were entirely generated off one sketch making it incredibly easy to quickly change a parameter and print out a new one

This is the most recent version, I ended up increasing the thickness to a reasonable 0.15in, fixing a stress riser that caused the print to split under force, and landing on a sweet spot of 205 degree revolve. The print, even though it was printed with print speed in mind rather than durability, has lasted for several hundred couplings and uncoupling and can take several pounds of force downwards and outwards.

Telescope mods

I bought a cheap telescope to watch the great conjuncture before realizing that it had a spherical mirror and not a parabolic mirror, this means that it is not ideal for planetary viewing. A little bit of research led me to figure out that an aperture mask can help this by covering up the part of the mirror that deflects the light furthest from the focal point.

I designed and printed out two different aperture masks, a focuser that allows for higher magnification eyepieces, a new cap, and a sheath to hold my laser pointer to the telescope to aim it.

Unfortunately, I gave my telescope to my younger cousin after the conjuncture and do not have pictures of my telescope all tricked out.

The first aperture mask is just a simple one the second one is supposed to be more efficient as it avoids the mirror, I could not notice the difference optically.

this is the laser pointer holder for aiming the telescope and the lens holder that allowed me to focus lenses with higher magnification.

With these modifications I was just able to make out the rings of Saturn and one of Jupiter's moons.

After this I got pretty into astronomy and upgraded to an 8 inch Newtonian as well as a set of binoculars which both needed mods

This mount allows me to use my binoculars attached to a tripod

This will be a carrying structure for the telescope that I will be laser cutting when I get back to school

Microscope polarizer holder

I made a polarizer filter holder for an old Nikon Epiphot that parts are no longer made for, It has a living hinge in it to retain the polarizer. This solved a problem that would have cost $500 to solve without 3D printing, having Edmunds grind down the filter to the right side.

This tube end on the left and clothes drier hardware on the right broke and my grandparents wanted to know if 3D printing could solve the problem. The replacement parts fit in great and have held up so far.

Headphone stand

I needed a headphone stand and wanted to get my DAC off my desk so I designed and printed this headphone stand, I think it's one of my best-looking/fitting projects. There is a little wedges stop on the back so the DAC doesn't slide all the way through and the whole thing prints in one piece with no supports.

Turn table knob

This turn table knob wore off after years of use so I CADed and printed a new one, I suspect I'll have to reprint it our of a tougher materiel if it breaks again since the shear is across the layer lines.