3D Printer Enclosure

[OnOff]

The first link: is that a replacement fitting to swap on the radio? So that the adaptor replaces the Makita plate that is the radio already? That would be exceptionally useful. 
 

The second link: I don’t have a problem buying one, although never really gave it a thought that they’d be readily available! Only question on the bought option is it looks a little large and don’t know if adding that in would allow the back of radio to shut? 
 

your ones always look neat and compact. 

The first link as I understand it is simply something that slides onto a Milwaukee battery and presents a flat top to bolt something like the top of a Makita battery to...so it slips into a Makita tool. Get it? Some call it a "breakout box" and take two wires off to power whatever.

If adapting the piece in the first link to another tool then how you do that varies. Some print the two (or sometimes more pieces) and bolt or screw together. Some stick together with for instance mitre bond, Super Glue etc. Another way is to screw an actual top half of a "real" Makita battery. The benefit of that is a perfect fit and good contacts you don't have to faff about making.

Take the pics below, this is the beginnings of a DeWalt battery to Makita tool adapter. This is for a mate who wants to buy a cheapo Makita clone grinder and run off his DeWalt batteries.

The bottom half is printed to A N Other's design off Thingiverse and fits onto a DeWalt battery, the top half is off a dead Makita battery. I don't like it though, imho its a bit rough and inelegant. There's a lot wrong with it... the DeWalt print only connects via 2 screws at the front. It sits too high up into the Makita top half forcing you to bend it down to get the DeWalt battery on. 



See how the original spring sits on a stub of the DeWalt half, the design retains the spring clip assembly that clips into the Makita tool.



Sorry but this really does nothing for me! This is how it''ll sit when assembled:



You've have to bend it like this to get the battery on:



BUT...someone has taken the time to do it which I respect. The thing is many are happy with function over form.

So that one's a work in progress! Luckily I'm able to reverse engineer a lot of these models I find as .stl files into editable 3D .dwg models. From there I can add and subtract bits, merge them with my own designs until I come up with something I'm happy with.

PM me your address and I'll print you the first link to have a play / feel with. You might be able to cobble something together. 

 

[Sharpend]

Thanks Onoff, what a guy. 

 

[Sharpend]

Will I be able to drill it for fixings? I presume it will be honeycomb inside? 

 

[OnOff]

Will I be able to drill it for fixings? I presume it will be honeycomb inside? 

That usually doesn't end well. Really you want holes as part of the print and the software beefs them up and puts more "meat" round them.

Leave it with me. I'll grab the .stl and play with it in AutoCAD after converting it to do so. I see there's holes in it already so it might actually line up with the 4 in the top of a Makita battery. If not I can mod it.

 

[Sharpend]

I don’t have the radio with me to take any measurements off but can have a look over the weekend if that’ll help? 

 

[OnOff]

I don’t have the radio with me to take any measurements off but can have a look over the weekend if that’ll help? 

Not really. It takes Makita 18V batteries does it? That's good enough.

 

[Sharpend]

It’s an older model don’t know if that makes a difference to the pin out? But if you are only doing a Milwaukee receiver the I’ll make it fit the radio and remove existing Makita receiver.

 

[OnOff]

The consumption of alcohol tends to slow the design process down...

 

[Phoenix]

The consumption of alcohol tends to slow the design process down...

Doesn't it improve it up until a point? Have you heard of the Ballmer peak?

 

[OnOff]

@Sharpend, printing that first link I put up. Don't wait up, it'll take about 4 hours just for a rough, 0.3mm layer print. You can see how the holes get "reinforced". The "honeycomb" (called infill) on this is just 10% (solid plastic is 100%). It has a solid "skin" around the outside.

 

[OnOff]

@Sharpend, a few quick snaps taken at silly o'clock this morning before I left. Didn't have high expectations but it's come out quite well.

(This took 4 hours. A high quality print, done at 0.1mm layers and incorporating a section to go into the Makita tool could take like 9, 10, 11 hours).





If you read the text, in the first link, the author goes on about using uninsulated crimps. These two rectangular slots are where the wires for those crimps exit.



Compare the bottom of your Milwaukee tool, does it look like this? I don't have anything Milwaukee to compare/check the fit.

I'm going to physically measure this then redraw it up in CAD, the way I know how to draw simple solids. Reason being is when I converted the .stl mesh to a .dwg solid, the resulting file was very slow to render in AutoCAD and very "meshy" still. My pc is hardly a graphics station and being pushed to the limit. Once I've drawn it up I'll pop in the post for you to play with.

 

[Sharpend]

Looks very similar 

 

[OnOff]

@Sharpend, can you take some photos please of a Milwaukee battery. Looking down on top, from the side, at an angle etc. Cheers.

 

[Sharpend]

I shall but it will later in the weekend as have company this weekend. 
will you need any dims? 

 

[OnOff]

I shall but it will later in the weekend as have company this weekend. 
will you need any dims? 

Nope, not for now.

 

[OnOff]

In my quest for contacts to engage with the blades on the tools I'm thinking fuse holders! 0.38mm gap on this: 

FUSE CLIP BLADE 500V 30A PCB

 

[OnOff]

It's a shuttle craft!



It "docks" alright but that big new slot up the front is in the wrong place. Needs to be the slot's width further forward! Easy fix.

I'm aiming for an integral sliding piece that will engage with the Parkside tool base. Hoping to print the sliding piece, captive against falling out, as part of the final model with very lightweight supports I'll remove somehow...maybe through dedicated swarf channels...

 

[OnOff]

I'm going to order some of these Universal Clips. Rated at 30A at 500VAC...

 

[kerching]

I am in awe of the ingenuity on here!

 

[OnOff]

I am in awe of the ingenuity on here!

Really? What I do is one step up from Blue Peter!

You need to look on the mig welding forum, people building CNC plasma tables with water cooled beds all from scratch etc.