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.