3D Printed – Lannix Design

Emmet’s Room Sign

Nick — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 21:30:38 +0000

When my son was born it was the best thing that had ever happened to me. He inspires me to keep going with my work in the hope that I’ll make him proud to be my son.

A fun little project I decided to build was a bedroom door sign for him inspired by the Back To The Future movies. I’d been experimenting with colour changing 3D printing and since I already had the colours it was a no-brainer. Being a more artistic style 3D model it presented some challenges and required the use of Blender to post-process before printing but overall it was an enjoyable project.

I made a YouTube short that skimmed over the process of making the sign so check it out if you’re interested.

EDIT: I’ve entered the model in the ‘Typography Fun!’ competition on Printables.com. Click the Printables logo below to take a look at the model on their site and download if your named Emmet or know someone with the name!

Check out the link from our YouTube channel

Gallery - Emmet's Room Door Sign

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3D Printed Drilling Templates

Nick — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 21:30:24 +0000

As you may know from our recent blog updates we’ve been busy with home renovations. We’re up to a point where we’ve moved in to the house but still have quite a few jobs left to do before we can call that place done.

One of the many small jobs left was to attach the door handles to the cabinetry throughout the house in the kitchen, bathroom/laundry, bedrooms and loungeroom. While it may have been easy to knock up a template from a piece of scrap timber, I’d had great success using 3D printed items in the past with our spool storage unit, end table and 3d printing cabinets.

The whole house needed eight templates in all including left door, right door and drawer centres for three different offsets. I really like using variables in the CAD software so that once the base template has been designed, it’s easy to copy the part and change the required variables to output another unique part. Check out the gallery below to see the results for yourself.

Cabinet door handles fitted nicely in the bathroom/laundry.

Gallery - 3D Printed Drilling Templates

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Toyota MR2 Turbo Manifold Adapter

Nick — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 21:30:36 +0000

This was an interesting job I did a few years ago that I thought I’d share. I met a guy who had just acquired an AW11 Toyota MR2 that already had a turbo conversion. He planned to use it for rally racing and wanted to upgrade the existing turbo to a larger unit. The problem he faced was that the existing turbo had a T3 inlet flange and the larger turbo he already had used a T4 inlet profile.

No problem I thought so I got to work measuring both parts and creating an adapter plate to fit them together. It was a relatively straight-forward job and to evaluate the fit I offered to 3D print a test part before commiting to a more expensive stainless steel item. I’m happy to report that it fit perfectly first time.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any pictures of the finished stainless part or the car itself… I have heard on the grapevine that he has the car up and racing now. I’m sure he’s a talented driver but I’m not sure it’s what I’d want to be driving as a rally car with the MR2’s reputation for snap oversteer… Good luck though mate!

A custom exhaust manifold for the 4AGE engine with a T3 turbo flange.
(Not the customer’s car!)

Picture courtesy of Manon Racing Products. https://www.mrpltd.co.nz/product/4age-turbo-aw11-manifold/

Gallery - Toyota MR2 Turbo Adapter

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Reusing Empty Filament Spools For Storage

Nick — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 21:30:00 +0000

The idea to reuse empty filament spools as parts storage isn’t new. When I first started 3D printing I recall seeing that people had made curved containers that fit within a spool and thought that was a nifty idea. I’d always thought I’d make one for myself once I had a few empty spools laying around so here we are.

Back in the day I was using Tecor filament that was quite cheap and not bad for the money. The Lannix Design 3D printing cabinet is full of custom made ducting parts that I designed and 3D printed to suit what was needed for filtration and dehumidifying. Long story short, I ended up with many empty spools that were the same size and just begging to be turned into something useful.

Design

I need to be able to visualise my projects before I start to make anything so I have something to reference. All parts of the organiser were modelled in CAD before a tool was picked up so that the end result could be seen and any changes could be made.

The finished assembly, now used to house many tiny screws.

Since the major parts of the project were to be 3D printed, CAD modelling was completely necessary. One of the Tecor filament spools was measured with Vernier calipers for accuracy and 3D modelled which aided in creating parts that would fit around and inside it. I took the time to design a drilling template that would help to accurately install the parts containers when the time came which worked perfectly. I’m a big fan of these drilling templates and I’ve used them in all the projects I’ve done that require drilling.

A carry handle was designed to be 3D printed in the orientation that would produce the strongest part. This necessitated a three-piece assembly that screws to the top of the PVC pipe and includes the top handle (ring), the handle support and a press-fit top cover.

Gallery - Filament Spool Parts Organiser CAD Model

Building

The build was very straight-forward thanks to the time taken to model all parts and create the previously mentioned drilling templates. If you’d like to make one of these organisers for yourself I’ve outlined parts needed below and created a video guide for assembly that’s been uploaded to YouTube. The 3D models are available for download on Printables.com

Materials

The previously mentioned Tecor filament spools and the obvious 3D printing filament are needed to make the parts organiser. In addition to these, you’ll need a 72mm rotary (lazy Susan) bearing and a length of 60mm PVC pipe whose length will be determined by the number of spools you want to use.

Fasteners required are 8Gx20mm and 4Gx12mm timber screws. A small pack of each will be enough for the task.

The 3D models were printed with extra perimeters for strength and at a slower speed to give the best finish. Click the Printables logo below to download the models for 3D printing.

3D models are available for download on Printables.com.

Tools

Only basic tools are required including a drilling machine of some sort, a 3mm drill bit, a Philips screwdriver and something to cut your PVC pipe to length.

Assembly

The build process has been outlined in the linked YouTube video. It’s a very easy project if you’re interested in making one for yourself.

Take a look at the gallery below to see the finished product. It was assembled in one day once the parts had been 3D printed.

Gallery - Filament Spool Parts Organiser CAD Model

Conclusion

This project was designed to highlight the fact that it isn’t necessary to throw away your old filament spools to landfill. Although they are made of ABS plastic that can be recycled, reusing them is better than recycling in that no energy needs to be used to melt them down and mold them into something else. I’m hoping I can come up with more projects in the future that involve using parts that would otherwise be thrown away.

Until next week, ciao for now.

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Audi R8 Air Filter Adapters – Part 1

Nick — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 21:30:38 +0000

If you’ve read our previous blog entry on making parts for this car, you’ll know how I feel about the price of its replacement parts. Our customer isn’t a fan either so he’s commissioned us to create more parts for him.

The air filters are past their use by date so the idea was to replace them with the high flowing K&N units. A K&N filter for just about any car will set you back between $100 – $150 which is reasonable but to buy a setup for the Audi costs over $700.

With a small amount of research we found that the filters have a bracket built into them that enables them to fit into the Audi air box.

The 3D printed part on the right compared to the Audi part on the left

Considerations

With a small amount of research we found that the filters have a bracket built into them that enables them to fit into the Audi air box.

Design

Using the tool mentioned above, the outlet part of the filter assembly was recreated so that it would take the place of the OEM part. The inside half of the bracket was then adapted to fit the dimensions of the K&N air filter. The bracket was designed to be 3D printed in two parts and epoxied together with high temperature adhesive. Two parts were needed to account for the fact that parts need a flat surface when they are to be 3D printed.

The Audi part has a support bracket on the non-intake end that has a tab that needed to be replicated. A cradle type arrangement was designed as a two piece part to be epoxied together with high-temp adhesive. Again, two pieces were required so that a flat plane could be used for 3D printing, only with this part the print orientation was leveraged to increase part strength as well.

Testing

Fortunately the quoted dimensions for the K&N filter matched the part when we finally received it so no modification to the design was needed. Unfortunately at this stage, we’ve only received one filter from the supplier so we have to wait for the second to arrive before we can fit the parts to the car.

In the meantime, my man has created an Instagram for the car to document his shenanigans. You may have noticed the UK plates on the car in the picture to the right. This is because it turned out cheaper to import one of these from England than it was to buy second hand in Australia.

I was planning to make this a single blog post but waiting for parts has us behind schedule with this project. Check back here on our projects page to see more in future posts or follow our social media accounts for regular updates from Lannix Design. If you’re on Instagram click the image below to see what’s happening with the car.

To be continued…

The Audi needs a little TLC before being registered in Australia

Gallery - Audi R8 Air Filter Adapter

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Dashcam Bracket For Rear Window

Nick — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 21:30:10 +0000

After upgrading the front dashcam to a 4K unit, the old dashcam sat collecting dust. Since the bracket it had was designed for a sloping windscreen it wasn’t able to be used in the vertical rear window of the Lannix Design Holden Colorado. This became a great opportunity to come up with a custom bracket in CAD and test the heat resistance capabilities of our PETG 3D printing filament.

The standard PLA type filament always gives a great looking result but is notorious for deforming when exposed to the higher temperatures seen inside a car. PETG filament on the other hand is able to withstand these temperatures easily with the trade-off being that it can be more difficult to get a decent looking part. Fortunately our custom 3D printing enclosure allows us to get good results with PETG.

The design is relatively simple and incorporates the use of suction cups that enable it to stick to the vertical glass.

After more than 18 months inside the vehicle, the part has shown no signs of warping or deformation of any kind. Some say that ABS or ASA is necessary for high heat environments but for this type of application it is not necessary. The significantly higher level of difficulty of 3D printing ABS/ASA makes PETG a wise choice for vehicle interiors.

The dashcam bracket social media post

Check out the gallery for more pictures of the bracket and if you’d like to download the 3D model for yourself or have a closer look at it, click the image below to see it on Printables.com.

Gallery - Dashcam Bracket Assembly & Heat Test

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End Table With 3D Printed Parts

Nick — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 21:30:21 +0000

Tripod End Table Project

Sometimes you just need an end table. I can’t say that these small tables are a passion of mine. I’m not sure that anyone would say that. This one was designed and built out of a need that arose after my baby son arrived. But let’s not get into that.

I guess we could have gone to Ikea and picked up something for a quarter of the price of making this, but where’s the fun in that. This was the perfect opportunity to get creative and to dust off the old router.

Materials

Keeping to the Lannix Design philosophy of going Australian made where possible, the timber chosen was Tasmanian oak panel for the top and 25.4mm dowel for the legs. The panel was 1200 x 405 x 17mm which would provide enough for the 400mm diameter table top with material left over for another upcoming project.

The timber has a nice dark contrasting grain through it which came out looking very nice when given a few coats of oil.

Render of the CAD model

3D printed parts & tools

It’s obvious that the table brackets are 3D printed but I thought it would be fun to create 3D printed tools to assist with the build and keep some accuracy.

A bracket was designed and printed that would fit to the Makita trim router that my partner gifted to me for Christmas last year. It’s a fun tool to use so this was a good excuse to bring it out. The circle template worked well but was a little flexible so care was needed to keep the router vertical when cutting. The bracket pivots on a timber screw drilled into the centre of the timber panel.

Since the table has three legs that need to be in the exact right position, a pilot hole drilling template was designed and 3D printed. Using the same pivot point as the cutting bracket, it was designed with equally spaced notches to maintain a perfect 60˚ between brackets. It proved to work perfectly and made assembly about as straight-forward as it gets.

Drilling template in place for drilling the leg bracket pilot holes

Assembly

Once the oil had dried on the timber parts and all the 3D printing was done, the table went together surprisingly smoothly. Past experience assembling furniture with angled legs proved to be tedious but with this one it was really not the case.

The leg top brackets went on first then all the legs were inserted through the mid brace which was temporarily set at half-way up the legs by eye. The leg assembly was then positioned upside-down on the table top and lined up with the pilot holes drilled earlier.

The table top brackets were then screwed to the table top. The mid brace was held in place by the angle of the legs which meant that it couldn’t really move even without screws. A level was used to confirm its position and it was screwed in place just to be sure.

Finally, the feet were attached. This was probably the easiest woodworking project I’ve ever done. As long as the legs are all the same length, it would be difficult to mess it up. I may have to use this as a project for my son to learn the tools when he’s old enough!

The finished table

Some changes I’d make are adding rigidity to the router template so it doesn’t flex as much. This wasn’t a huge problem or really a problem at all since the table came out great but it would probably aid in confidence!

The 3D printed parts will be made available for download on Printables.com in the near future if you’d like to try to make a table for yourself. Click the Printables icon below.

Bye for now!

View video part 1 on Facebook Watch

View video part 2 on YouTube

Gallery - 3D Printing for the Office

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Ford Ranger Rear Bumper Prototype

Nick — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 21:30:34 +0000

The first prototype part for our offshoot business collaboration, R-Spec, has been designed and 3D printed using the 3D scans we produced a few weeks ago. My business partner Michael has had this Ford Ranger part in mind for quite some time and has already produced a few parts for his Ranger in his garage from fibreglass. As a proof of concept I thought this bumper would be perfect for developing a 3D scanning/modelling/printing workflow for the business.

Ford Rangers are sold all over the world and are a good looking vehicle. Consequently there are many who have taken to modifying them for looks and performance including Michael.

The 3D printing process took around 35 hours total for all seven parts using the super-speed print setting I’ve developed. The individual pieces were then epoxy glued together as they came off the printers.

The fitment was very close to perfect. The length was right on the money leaving a perfect panel gap. The face of the bumper sat around 5mm proud of the rear quarters so we’ll need to take material away in the design. The number plate needs some extra room to fit properly which can be easily fixed by angling the recess slightly higher than it currently sits.

Successful test fit of the Ford Ranger custom rear bumper design prototype.

We’ve decided to add a few additions to the design after seeing it on the vehicle such as a vertical upright section that covers the spare wheel access hole with a removable cover piece. Openings for the number plate lights are also needed.

The next step is to make the changes mentioned to the 3D model and 3D print another prototype to confirm we have something ready for mass-production. Once we’re satisfied that we have a perfectly fitting and quality model we’ll search for a manufacturer, hopefully locally, to produce the finished product. In the meantime the admin part of this business needs working out. Web domains have been locked down as well as Facebook and Instagram profiles.

It’s encouraging to see that this workflow can be successful for a small business and we now have high hopes! We’ll keep you posted on the progress of the part.

Until next week…

Gallery - Ranger Rear Bumper Prototype Test

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3D Printing For The Office

Nick — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 21:30:01 +0000

Starting a business means you’ll be spending a lot of your time at a desk. The amount of USB sticks, SD cards and random stationery floating around the desk makes you wonder where all this came from. Things can get messy pretty quickly if you’re focused on the job at hand so a little organisation is in order. Sure, you could go down to Officeworks and get some cheap ugly thing to do the job but where’s the fun in that? Fortunately, 3D printing can help.

If you have some CAD skills you could design something yourself that fills your needs but chances are that someone else has already designed what you need. Any number of websites devoted to 3D models may have something you can download for free. Take for instance the USB ‘Stickasaurus” which was found online.

Our Designs

In the event that you need something that is pretty niche, for example a small basket to catch the labels that are shot out of your label maker and end up down behind the desk, a bit of computer aided design can sort you out. See the photo gallery below to see what we came up with.

A phone stand seems like something you’d be able to get anywhere and I guess it is. Unfortunately, what was available didn’t really work with a phone case so designing one that works with the case and, I think, looks pretty cool was the answer. The stand has a truss look to it and is able to be 3D printed in three separate pieces then clipped together when you want to use it. I now have a bunch of these around the house and workshop. They’re so handy!

The finished enclosure in its temporary home.

It seems, as always with 3D printing, that the possibilities are only limited by your imagination. A quick search for office items on Printables.com shows letter holders, signs, fidget spinners, laptop stands, vases and even an entire desk lamp. The phone stand and the label maker basket are available to download for free if you’d like to 3D print your own or have us print one for you.

A short update this week for you. Come back next Wednesday for our article on our custom designed and 3D printed Ford Ranger rear bumper. Until then!

Gallery - 3D Printing for the Office

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Guide To Decorative 3D Printing

Nick — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 21:30:48 +0000

Talking to people about 3D printing tells me that people aren’t always aware of the beautiful results that can be achieved through the use of a few different printing techniques. I’d like to highlight a few of them now.

Filaments

The use of metallic, silk and colour changing filaments can add a significant amount of appeal to otherwise boring 3D models. Take a look through the gallery below to see a few examples of these. The three vases are printed in quite different filaments, those being Aurarum metallic purple PETG, Prusament clear PETG, Tecor rainbow silk PLA+ and Tecor matte rainbow PLA. The two foxes are also in the matte rainbow PLA and the dragon is a Prusament royal blue PLA.

Vase Mode

As you may already know, 3D printing is usually a build up of many horizontal layers to form a three dimensional object. Vase mode uses a slightly different technique to print a solid base then extrudes one continuous outer layer to create what is essentially a vase. This can be done with any solid 3D model with just one vertical section as the software will modify it to suit.

The benefit of vase mode is that the prints become less opaque, allowing varying levels of light through depending on the filament. A future Lannix Design project involves experimenting with this mode to create a new shade for a broken lamp we have laying around.

Objects made with vase mode are very thin and therefore aren’t particularly strong. To remedy this, it is possible to setup your model with 0% infill and no top layer to create a strong vase as is the case with the pink-to-green vase shown in the gallery.

One of many possible logos for the new business.

Lithophanes

A lithophane started in ancient times as a pottery technique where an artist would produce a piece of varying thicknesses so that it would allow light through the ceramic and appear as a picture. A 3D printer can achieve the same result using software processing, taking any digital photo and creating a 3D model with varying thickness dependent on colour gradients.

If you’re unsure what I mean by my dodgy explanation, check out the photo of the train and my nieces in the gallery. The resultant 3D prints look a little strange until you pass a light behind them. The effect is quite amazing if you ask me!

These are just a few of the techniques used to make our prints look pretty.

Bis später!

3D Printed – Lannix Design

Emmet’s Room Sign

Gallery - Emmet's Room Door Sign

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3D Printed Drilling Templates

Gallery - 3D Printed Drilling Templates

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Toyota MR2 Turbo Manifold Adapter

Gallery - Toyota MR2 Turbo Adapter

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Reusing Empty Filament Spools For Storage

Design

Gallery - Filament Spool Parts Organiser CAD Model

Building

Materials

Tools

Assembly

Gallery - Filament Spool Parts Organiser CAD Model

Conclusion

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Audi R8 Air Filter Adapters – Part 1

Considerations

Design

Testing

Gallery - Audi R8 Air Filter Adapter

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Dashcam Bracket For Rear Window

Gallery - Dashcam Bracket Assembly & Heat Test

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End Table With 3D Printed Parts

Tripod End Table Project

Materials

3D printed parts & tools

Assembly

View video part 1 on Facebook Watch

View video part 2 on YouTube

Gallery - 3D Printing for the Office

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Ford Ranger Rear Bumper Prototype

Gallery - Ranger Rear Bumper Prototype Test

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3D Printing For The Office

Our Designs

Gallery - 3D Printing for the Office

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Guide To Decorative 3D Printing

Filaments

Vase Mode

Lithophanes

Gallery - More Experiments With 3D Scanning

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