BLF GT 3D printed handle experiments

Mon 02/26/2018

The last print went fine, printed at 101% for Y and Z axis and 100% for X axis, it’s still a tiny tiny bit loose (all considered the 100% print might have been fine if i cleaned the inside of the tube section of support remnants more thoroughly, a safe settings might be 100.5% on both Y and Z if printed in the same orientation as below)

I printed it with 1.2mm wall thickness, it seems plenty strong.

Here is a video of the flashlight with the handle mounted:

And here is the STL of the model if you’d like to print one or have one printed for yourself: DL.FREE.FR


Sat 02/24/2018

I modified the model yesterday evening, rotated the handle on vertical axis, increased the filet radius at the junction of the handle and tube sections, i also made the 2 flats symmetrical at the rounded portion.

After that i launched another print, this one at 101%, but the tree support that i praised yesterday were my demise , this morning one of the support branch sprung up, the print head came in collision with it and knocked the handle over very near the end of the print.

I made some modifications to the support settings and launched another print a few moments ago.


Fri 02/23/2018

The second print finished, i printed 102% instead of 101% in Y and Z axis to be sure than handle would fit loosely enough to be able to use it quickly and validate the design, as expected it’s loose on the light but perfectly usable, that’s what i did for a much longer time and realized changing the modes with a quasi straight finger is not optimal, i need to change the model by rotating the handle, it will be less pleasingly symmetrical but more ergonomical.

The new tree support in Cura saved me a ton of PLA, it looks creepily organic, here it is out of the printer:

Support removed and handle cleaned a little bit:


Thu, 02/22/2018 - 11:42

I’ve been printing the first iteration of a 3D handle for my BLF GT, it’s a handle you slide in from the back of the GT, it requires the button cap ring to be unscrewed and screwed back once the handle is on, there is a hole to hold it with the tripod screw.

This one was too small in ID on both tube sections to slide in so i had to brake it to mount it and see how it felt.

It looks terrible but i like the ergos very much, and i can access the switch with my index finger.

The section of the handle is oval, what you see on top of it is remnants of print supports that i had a hard time removing.

I’ll try to print another one with corrected dimensions in the coming days, if i manage to get it to fit right i’ll share the STL.

Wow, that's pretty cool!

Interesting—Nice Looking

That’s pretty cool. How long did it take to print?

This one was 11 hours, but there was a ton of non optimized support, almost half the weight was from support, in all it was something like 130g of PLA

I’m going to lauch another print scaling 2 dimensions important for the ID of the tube sections at 101%, i also doubled the wall thickness and slowed the print speed by a good margin, with the new experimental tree support from cura i’m at 96g of PLA (and that is after doubling wall thickness) and 12h of print, probably going to start a print tonight.

Are the drawn dimensions correct? If so, I’d leave the dimensions intact, but calibrate your printer.

I like where I see this going and how you open up the handle towards the head to help address the imbalance in this light. You might also try splitting it into two parts that are glued into an aluminum tube.

Dimensions are exact in the drawing as far as i can tell, i’m just going to print it at blown up size in two of the dimensions that concern the ID, the third dimension (in the length of the handle) was very good in the print.

It’s very strong at the handle, printed longitudinally, and i also doubled the wall thickness for the next print.

Nice job James. Very impressive. :+1:

Updated the OP with second attempt.

That’s nearly exellent :+1: much better than the clunky looking metal ones :+1:

Wow. That’s pretty cool!

Very nice. I like your approach. :+1:

It looks nice.
How’s the balance? Nose heavy?
Did you figure the design for 4 or 8 batteries?

Updated OP with third attempt.

This is the balance point with no batteries

And this is fully loaded with 8 batteries

I have another concept altogether i’m thinking about with a handle that goes further to the head, but this will be for later.

The more you show the more I like the direction you’re heading.
This particular ^above^ strikes me as being cramped while trying to mix balance and comfort.
Just my opinion, I’ve been experimenting. The handle extended over the head has better over-all results. In my effort this changed the design entirely.
I will say, I’m very impressed with the ability of your 3D printer :+1:

What printer do you have? My Prusa Mk3 is going to arrive any time now and I’d like to try to print this with NylonX. I haven’t been contacted about my blf gt yet so I wouldn’t be able to test it :frowning:

Creality CR-10, 300x300x400 mm work envelope, it comes in 2 parts, it takes 15 minutes to assemble and be able to start printing, very very good right out of the box, excellent with a few cheap mods most printed by the CR-10 itself, paid 350$ in the end of 2017 for it.

I’m using 3D870 PLA, it’s supposed to have better mechanical properties than ordinary PLA, and benefits greatly from annealing.

Updated OP, i’m happy with my last print, the position of the clicky reative to the handle is very good now, if i print another one i will try one at 100.5% for the 2 axis that concern the tube parts, 101% is fine but not as completely snug as i would prefer.

I will stop the experiments for a moment as my printer is in a below freezing room and i need to seal and pre-heat the enclosure i made for it for at least an hour before i lauch a print, it’s a bit of a pita, and i have other things to print.

I left a link to the STL file in the OP if you’d like to print one for yourself.

Let me know if you have any comment or request.

Thanks for reading.

Sharing your time and efforts are very kind. I’m downloading the .STL file in hopes of finding someone who can print it out for me.
Thank you JamesB :+1: :+1: :beer:

If I want to print this I need to scale the height (I have to rotate the part so it is standing) to 98% otherwise I wont be able to print it :person_facepalming: .

Have an Ender 2, with a 150x150x200 mm build area.