I have lost a steel retaining clip from a vintage sewing machine and would like to try printing a 3D replacement. The following picture shows it in relation to a Canadian dime.
Trying to draw this has stopped me cold. That shepherd’s crook would seem to need freehand drawing skills that I don’t have.
There is nothing critical in the dimensions, they just have to be close. The lost clip is .10mm thick. The following pictures show other relevent dimensions (I hope).
Terry, I’ll see what I can do for you. It would be nice to see an edge on view.
If you model it remeber work with millimeters as if they are meters to avoid the tiny face issue.
I have a student shortly but if you can hold out until about 1:15 Central time I’ll do a screensharing session with you. It would be nice to chat anyway.
In the meantime maybe this will help.
I drew a side view of the clip (outside edges first and then offset 0.10 m) and the shape of the slot on the long side, extruded them with Push/Pull, making the first a component before extruding the second. I made sure the slot cutter object didn’t extend up into the curved part of the clip. Then I used Trim from Bool Tools 2 which I remember you have to trim the clip with the slot cutter volume.
Spring steel? I wonder if any 3D printing material would be able to replicate that. It would probably have to be cut out of sheet material, bent to shape and hardened.
this picture shows it in place. The slot keeps a shaft from moving up and down and a different clip keeps the shaft from moving horizontally. I don’t think there will be much stress on a 3D version.
It’s too small for me to even slice it. I mean by thickening a bit the curve, I can, but there is a floating piece (in blue) and the removing the support will just kill it.
I had thought about using an old feeler gauge to try and make a steel replacement. While I think I could cut the slot to size and file to fit, it’s getting the bend in the metal to form the clip that stumps ;me.
Ateliernab, you got the scale right.
The clip keeps a shaft in the proper position. This clip restricts vertical movement, another clip restricts horizontal movement, but the shaft has to move freely between both clips. Hopefully the video helps clarify.
Hi Terry. Looks like you don’t need my help after all. I was going to say that I’m not sure I could get a 3D printed version of unstuck from my printer’s build plate. I used to have a lot of trouble getting things to stick but after cleaning the plate with IPA (not beer) I have more trouble getting things to release.
