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• Using OpenSCAD Customizer as a Proxy for Thingiverse Customizer

  Hank Cowdog • 02/20/2018 at 23:09 • 0 comments

  I downloaded the development version of OpenSCAD which includes its own Customizer interface.  I tweaked the OpenSCAD code to allow my model to work with this customizer.  This is now working (Yay!), so I replaced the earlier uploaded model with this version (which uses Mills  [1/1000 of an inch] rather than fractional inches so the sliders in the Customizer render properly).
  
  Hopefully that will make the integration with Thingiverse's Customizer painless (assuming they ever fix it).

• Making things easy for the Judges

  Hank Cowdog • 02/19/2018 at 17:59 • 0 comments

  How well did the repair work?

  Much better than the original brass pins.  This clip top is wide enough to grasp the top of the shelf and prevent it from popping up if knocked from below, but thin enough that it allows the shelf to drop down from above and lock in place.

  My parametric design worked well, but making it available in Thingiverse's Customizer is thus far a failure: not because my design is flawed, but because Customizer itself is currently broken.

  The part, and it's parametric design, is still usable, but currently would require the installation of OpenSCAD to use.  I hope to address this once Customizer is fixed.

  
  

  Was 3D printing a better solution than just buying a part?
  Yes, for several reasons, including:

  Availability: I have seen similar clips provided with some flat-pack furniture, but not all brands.  My parametric design allows an OpenSCAD user to set two variables and print out a clip that should work well for their particular project, regardless of the original manufacturer.

  Performance: the clips work better than the pins that are available for purchase.
  

  Ease of Printing: The parts are small enough that they print in about 20 minutes each (YMMV) and one can plate up several on a single print.  I can fit 8 on my small delta 3D printer's 4.25" round bed.  Larger printers could easily print a dozen or more at a time.  The design is such that print failures are unlikely - it's a simple, clean design.

  Effort-Savings: I could customize and print out a pair of brackets quicker than I could drive to the local big-box store and buy replacement pins, and the clips
  

  How well is the project documented? Was design of the 3D printed parts explained?
  I believe I covered this pretty well, from the initial inspiration (helping out a friend), to the initial hard-wired designs in Google Sketchup, to the final parametric re-implementation in OpenSCAD.  The .scad code itself is also reasonably well documented.

  Is the project open source? Could the work be replicated based on the documentation?
  Yes, it is Open Source and the file is available both in the Hackaday.io entry as well as on Thingiverse.  The source .scad code will make it easy for others to make their own customized brackets.

  How complete is the entry? Projects don’t have to be complete or working to enter, however those which are finished and working by the deadline may be judged higher.
  Well, I think I took it as far as I can without having the Thingiverse Customizer working.

• Calling this complete - Thingiverse Customizer still broken

  Hank Cowdog • 02/16/2018 at 22:51 • 0 comments

  I've been waiting and hoping for MakerBot to fix the Thingiverse Customizer before this contest ends, but I am going ahead and publishing what I've done to date.  The OpenSCAD file works fine IN OpenSCAD, but as of today (16 Feb 2018) I still cannot test it within their Customizer UI.

  
  The .scad file is attached to this project.  I hope someone else out there finds it useful.

  I'll continue to check in with Thingiverse and hope to see a fix for their system soon.  Once it is fixed, I'll go back to making this part Customizer-friendly.

• The Danger of Relying Upon the Kindness of Strangers

  Hank Cowdog • 01/31/2018 at 23:17 • 0 comments

  So, it appears that the Thingiverse Customizer is currently broken, so progress on making a Customizer-friendly version of my OpenSCAD file is kind of at a standstill.

  Opening ANY file in Customizer seems to generate the following error:
  

  Note: This particular error is from a "Featured Customizer" Thing - I thought maybe is was my code, but it is affecting every Customizer thing I've tried over the last few days.  Not my code, not my site, no apparent feedback channel or timeline for getting it fixed.  I guess I need to just lay it aside for a day or so and read some documentation instead.  *Grrrrrr*
  

• OpenSCAD code working, but not in Customizer

  Hank Cowdog • 01/23/2018 at 15:29 • 0 comments

  I spent some time in OpenSCAD and have a working, parametric design for the shelf pin.  The design looks good in the viewer and has parametric hooks in place for the pin size and the shelf thickness.  Other measurements (like the length of the horizontal arm) are currently set to a constant because I don't envision them needing to change.  Since they are set by a constant, however, I can change my mind on that without having to chase hardwired constants through the code.

  I made the bottom support on the pin a little more rounded, for a cleaner look.
  

  
  As it stands today, the OpenSCAD code works in OpenSCAD, but is not yet working correctly in Thingiverse Customizer - that's the next step.
  

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