3D print graduated dials and rings!

[Technical Ted]

This is actually a sub-project of my current project of making a swiveling base for my new to me Harig grind all. I've been wanting to try making a graduated dial or collar and this was my first chance since I got my printer.

I had the swivel base piece all set and lined up on my rotary table and started to grind the tool for cutting the lines when I remembered I wanted to try this, and I'm glad I did because it turned out very well. It took a few test prints, at a cost of $0.17 ea LOL but I got the tight fit I wanted and nice, crisp lines and numbers.

I love Fusion 360 and haven't found the limitations of the free version to be a big deal. Minor inconvenience, but nothing you can't easily work around.

I've always had decent luck cutting the lines in on my mill, but the numbers were hand stamped and even with making a jig for stamping they always go on crooked and/or uneven.

So now I've got another way of doing it which looks much better and is just as accurate. The ring/collar can either be pressed on or glued. In some applications you might want to make a metal ring for the collar to go around for hard clamping in the center or maybe a high infill will be sufficient. Lots of variations based on design requirements.

So, you guys with 3D printers, here's something else for you to play with !

Ted

 

[benmychree]

The lines, I usually do on the mill, but can do them on the Gorton engraver, the numbers always on the Gorton, using a forming guide to suit the curvature, when doing the lines, I made a simple fixture that fits on the copy table to do the three different lengths of lines. Gorton also supplied a set of small diameter slitting saws and an arbor to cut the lines, I have the set, but have not used them so far.

 

[brino]

Wow Ted!

What printer and material?
I'd never even attempt it given the poor lettering results I've produced on simple flat surfaces.

Thanks,
brino

 

[KyleG]

Wow, that’s really nice lettering. What’s your setup?

 

[woodchucker]

Wow Ted!

What printer and material?
I'd never even attempt it given the poor lettering results I've produced on simple flat surfaces.

Thanks,
brino

I've done a couple. it would be nice to have professional engravings... My lines came out well on the lathe.. but like you say Ted, even with a jig, my numbers were not so great.

 

[Weldingrod1]

Holy crap! That's jaw-dropping amazing!!!

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[Technical Ted]

Wow Ted!

What printer and material?
I'd never even attempt it given the poor lettering results I've produced on simple flat surfaces.

Thanks,
brino

I've got a Prusa Mk3+S printer and for this I used the original Prusa silver PLA filament I got with the kit. I drew it up in Fusion 360 and sliced in PrusaSlicer. Slicer settings were using Prusa PLA filament settings, 0.15mm QUALITY print settings with 20% infill. I had to play around with depth and width of the graduations to get them nice and crisp. If you make one, this will vary with the OD of the ring. The smaller the ring diameter, the smaller you'll have to make the graduations. I used the fairly new "Emboss" feature in Fusion for the numbers. Since you are drawing the text on a flat surface and the embossed number end up on a curved surface you need to play a little with the spacing. But, once you get one section you can do a circular pattern for the opposite side. I ended up doing two sections (one per view) and patterned each to the other side. Didn't take long once I got a feel for it.

The color of the filament seems to be critical. I started with white thinking that the graduations would fill in with grim and show up better, but when clean you could hardly see them. This silver color worked great! I'm sure some other colors would work fine as well, but white didn't for me.

Ted

 

[MBfrontier]

Technical Ted, similar to you I used Fusion 360 to design a larger dial for one of my Logan lathes and printed it on a Prusa MK3S in PTEG plastic using the Prusa Slicer. Happy with the results.

 

[MikeWi]

What diameter nozzle did you use? This would be a great application for the parametric features too! Just plug in the dimensions you want for the ring, and the units of measure and let it do the rest.

 

[Technical Ted]

What diameter nozzle did you use? This would be a great application for the parametric features too! Just plug in the dimensions you want for the ring, and the units of measure and let it do the rest.

I used a 0.4mm nozzle that came with my printer. Not sure how well the parametric features might work... the numbers have to be embossed and manually maneuvered for proper placement on the division lines. Maybe someone can figure out a way of doing it. Worth a try I guess!

Ted