Better Printed Calipers

An attempt at making basic modeling equipment.

master-puller

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Description

This project attempts to solve the downfalls of regular 3D printed calipers regarding flex, smoothness of motion and repeatability. I won't pretend that this will be a perfect pair of calipers (If you want some, Mititoyo!), but this should be "good enough" for most measurements.

This design is meant to be used like vernier calipers, but you print your own scales, which allows printers that aren't super dimensionally accurate to create this. Side note: this can possibly also serve as a slide rule with the correct scales

Backlash is eliminated with the use of recirculating ball bearings embedded in the calipers, with adjustable spacing.

Project Logs

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First Prototype
master-puller • 11/29/2022 at 04:00 • 0 comments

I've finally made the first version.
I've used it for a bit, and I've noticed that measurements are a bit off. I took out my 123 blocks, and sure enough, it's losing 1/32nd of an inch every inch. Time for... Calibration!
Considering that it's only paper that gets used for the scales, accuracy should be vastly improved after two iterations of scaling the lengths.
As an added bonus, the paper can overhang the printed support, further eliminating cosine errors. Preliminary Scale will be up on github soon
Parts are ready
master-puller • 11/19/2022 at 01:02 • 0 comments

This is the first iteration of the design, with recirculating ball bearings. They may not be necessary, as I noticed PLA has surprisingly low friction against itself. Project log about the bearings coming up soon.