3D Printing a Small Cog

[Angel LaHash]

Hi 

Im Dyslexic so i tend to JUMP right in and think everyone knows what im talking about! makes life dam hard and complex Sorry

This Cog, been working on for a year now (stop start Etc) its for a Switch

location bumps roll along a Ball Bearing with a bit of spring metal to hold it in place.

This bit all Works (i had to put some Packers in to keep it pressed up on the ball bearing as it was tilting) moves along and clicks in to location ok

This Cog has 2-4 Claws on it for Electronic Connection

At the moment i get NO SIGNAL, i Squish the Cog down in the case (Cant see inside the case) and it connects ok!! so i made the cog BIGGER by 0.5mm in the HOPE it will Push the Claws on to the Track a bit better.

Added 0.25mm on to the main base and 0.25mm on to the 3xPost (pushing the Claw end towards to PCB Tracks) only added 0.25mm to the base as there is a Lever that comes out to change the states of the Switch, so i couldnt Push it too much (think that maybe the max it can really go. Added the other 0.25m to the 3xPost (as i cant see 0.5mm that well i used a 0.5mm pencil lead to guess how much Squishyness i had on the Cog and could force it)

Only really want 5 Cogs made to see if the hight is ok or if i Footed it up.

one company (whom i had the old one printed by) said they couldnt do it as it needs to be 1mm thick 

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I designed this in a 3D Computer Game Second Life and Export it out (DAE file) i think use Blender to Convert it to STL file and use another Company to FIX the Bad file.

This seems to have worked a good few times and on another project before..

I know i should use Blender to make things, but once you get used to buttons and how to drive its dam hard to convert to Blender (keep pressing the Buttons in the Game to look around a object) 

[James Trotter]

Assume you're seeking someone to print this for you which is not something I can help with since all my printers are currently mothballed for the foreseeable, but for what it's worth; blender also isn't the right tool for technical dimension-accurate pieces (although would still be far better than second life as you say, lol). Not only is it way cumbersome and over-complicated to get the job done but it also kinda sucks for correctly dimensioning stuff. You're far better off with a proper CAD program, something along the lines of OpenSCAD or Fusion 360 (plenty of other options available too, I just picked two that I have used that are free to use and are very different in terms of how you use them - OpenSCAD totally free and similar to programming, F360 free for non-commercial use and a more traditional feeling CAD). In my experience both can be learnt in a weekend and are infinitely more user friendly than something like blender.

But yeah that's a pretty small part, I think anyone using a standard FDM printer (most common with hobbyists) would have significant problems printing that with enough detail for it to work, a SLA/DLP printer would be able to do the detail but they're generally worse for producing accurate pieces without a decent amount of tinkering and iterations of print profiles and the design itself (again, in my experience with cheap machines at least), plus the material tends to be more fragile so if this part experiences any load that's also a consideration.

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[Angel LaHash]

i found so MANY holes i was Crying when i looked deep in to it 

this one WORKED but i needed it 0.5mm taller 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLVImmG2U6U

i had one working but i had to PRESS the Cog in so the Connectors touched the PCB 

so i figured i need to make it 0.5mm bigger (the width of my Pencil) so PLANNED to add 0.25mm under the MAIN disc Moving the Arm down a bit and hope more in the middle of the slit

And adding 0.25mm on to the 3 Long Posts, pushing the Cog more on to the PCB

I think i've added the Makers for a Resin printer as i didnt think any thing else would work with it .. as you said FINE 

[Angel LaHash]

Right ALL i did was the BASIC what i needed to Rise the legs 

just wanted to increase the LEGs Size

so ADDED 0.25mm on the Main Body Disc.. was 0.5mm thick and now 0.75mm 

as for the 3 Post, i added 0.5mm on each stage, 0.25mm to add on for the 0.25 above and 0.25mm on its own

and that REMINDS me there was a FAULT in the thickness of one of the Ends, PCB was one size and the End was a differen meaning it could move around so i need to fix that

using https://makeprintable.com/ 

to convert it

Second Life -- DAE Download -- Blender -- STL Conver -- MakePrintable -- STL Repair