3D printed velcro is something you have to try

Check out my 2nd channel, TT Racing: / @ttracingyt
Velcro is cool but fully 3D printable velcro is better (or maybe I’m just biased). In this video, I explore the models available on Printables and then convert my favourite to be fully parametric in OpenScad. What will you make with 3D printable velcro?
Printables page with OpenScad file and some pre-exported STLs: www.printables.com/model/5685...
0:00 Introduction
0:42 What is velcro?
1:57 How does 3D printed velcro work?
Velcro competition on Printables: www.printables.com/contest/39...
Plastic Velcro! Super Strong “Hook and Loop” BowieInc Connector! : www.printables.com/model/5495...
Printable Velcro by MM Printing: www.printables.com/model/5438...
Printable VELCRO by eried: www.printables.com/model/3330...
4:38 What material is best?
6:20 Strength testing
8:44 Parametric version in OpenScad
OpenScad free download: openscad.org/downloads.html
12:22 Example usage
Import scad files with Freecad guide: wiki.freecad.org/Import_OpenS...
13:41 Conclusion
Buy quality and affordable filament from X3D. Buy 3, get 1 free and a free sample pack with every order: www.x3d.com.au
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[@BraveRubberDuck]

1:25 how did you get microscale footage that crispy? That is an insane level of quality.

[@BurittoSandwich]

All this time I thought it was just plastic and string loops but they were actually human-like fingers all along.

[@johannes7856]

​@@BurittoSandwichAlways has been

[@shrekshrek]

What

[@b03tz]

@@BurittoSandwich LoL you have no idea what you're talking about...you can clearly see that an electron microscope is used as it has the characteristics of those type of images!

[@alexisjuillard4816]

DUDE YOU ACTUALLY MADE ME GO BACK TO SQEE IT AGAIN

[@JonS]

This is more like what’s sometimes called “mushroom tape”, like 3D Dual Lock. That uses mushroom-shaped towers instead of the hook and loop of Velcro. Regardless, this is really nice work and a very thought-provoking video.

[@SteffenBauer]

one example is 3M Dual Lock. I love it for mouning USB Hubs as its more rigid than velco.

[@why6212]

I was going to mention this. it's satisfying to play with.

[@tomsko863]

Aplix (another manufacture) also has a similar product.

[@ecumenicalheretic]

I use it to stick a power bank to my phone 😂. I imagine they don't come from their molds like that, but like straight pins and then they melt their tips into their final shape. Wouldn't it possible to replicate that, even if the pins end up looking more like lollipops than mushrooms?

[@SteffenBauer]

@@ecumenicalheretic interesting idea! You could try to print a blob on top or squish the pins down with the hot nozzle

[@Makex_sweden]

People are so smart, its insane

[@kaseyboles30]

A person is smart, people are dump panicky animals. -K

[@Flourish38]

A dog wrote this

[@Wonback]

And so stupid at the same time

[@SDSypher]

@@kaseyboles30what?

[@kaseyboles30]

@@SDSypher Quote from the Movie "Men In Black". Seemed appropriate here.

[@jonny5alive123]

Would have been interesting to see how the various different materials worked with each other. Combining a ridged side with a flexible one.

[@Elitekross]

I was thinking that too. It might also be interesting to use a dual extrusion to have a more solid backing plane and a less firm velcro patch

[@besewaxe4985]

perfect idea for AMS

[@Rapha83br]

I liked Senna's jacket, as a Brazilian, Senna was one of my heroes. The best pilot ever.

[@dmax9324]

I don't know if I'll ever use this 3D printed Velcro, but this is truly awesome work which I'll keep in mind. Thanks for the OpenSCAD work too, you're efforts are impressive!!

[@iamdmc]

Stuff like this is why you're my favourite 3D printing channel and educator! You're awesome!

[@DavidOster]

Great for a stack of computer components that don't get very hot, but can slide if bumped: attach a DVD drive, an external hard disk, and a hub - print the holders separately and just stick them together without committing to a single large print to hold them all that must be reprinted as things change.

[@achannelhasnoname5182]

That's a neat idea!

[@FingerinUrDaughter]

except double sided tape exists, and dosent require hours of re-printing and trying out different variables to find what isnt garbage.

[@tommythebiker3081]

I hit like as soon as I opened the video. The fact that something like this is actually possible amazes me. Thanks so much for letting us know!

[@christophervankammen8340]

Seriously love what you do! Teaching and providing!

[@samtheengineer]

thank you for what you do. you are actually the one who got me into 3d printing!

[@tomsko863]

6:40 - Michael, on the material data sheet for hook and loop products, a standard woven strip can hold: 12 PSI in shear, 6 in tension, and 2 in peal strength. It looks like you have about 30in^2 (3" x 10"). It would take 360 pounds of force (or 1600 Newtons) to shear the sheets. Please don't hurt yourself, or your floor.

[@TheJDIMSTR]

This is entirely incorrect. There is no standard hook and loop. The peel, shear, and tension strength depends on what hook is mated to what loop. Also peel is performed at 1"x7", shear at 1"x4", and tension at 1"x1" if I remember correctly.

[@tomsko863]

@@TheJDIMSTR No, that is correct. Go onto any manufacturers website and pull the Technical Data Sheet for their products. The strengths are always listed as per area (either inches squared or cm squared). The hold strength is linear per area or material. Second, that is the standard. If you have an issue with that contact the sales teams and argue it with them. The Woven Polyamide (Nylon) product is the most manufactured and most ubiquitous material they sell. That makes it THE STANDARD. Also, that is the "basic" product for those companies. So the baseline, is what I listed. You can only go "higher". What you are talking about is a PEEL Test. I am familiar with those test. I run those tests. They are to used determine the adhesive strength of composite materials, laminates, etc. For example, you would use that test to see how well the hook or loop strip was adhered to its mating material.

[@bowieinc]

Well that was cool! I super appreciate you sharing and working to improve the design. Videos like this inspire more people to enter into 3D Printing which compounds development and creativity!

[@TheOnlineCorner]

Wow! Awesome! Excellent work! Thank you for sharing and creating the parametric version !

[@glennfelpel9785]

Outstanding. I am truly impressed with this nice work. Also, I certainly enjoy your way of teaching. Thank you.

[@AndrewAHayes]

I spotted this on Printables the other week and printed a small sample piece out and was blown away by it.

[@AlbertScoot]

I like this as an alternative to magnets for making objects that connect together temporarily, modularly or in configurations. Such as webcam mounts, cable hook holders for running cables, workstation configuration, light fixturing, etc.

[@killsalot78]

wow even more amazing things I didn't even imagine, putting out some bangers lately

[@hexinli]

Great gift to the community - thank you!

[@siberx4]

This seems more similar to dual-lock (mushroom hook) type fasteners rather than velcro (hook & loop), which also use plastic symmetrical towers rather than two different surfaces (hook & loop) to stick to each other. Strong, but a lot more fiddly than actual velcro and takes much more force to close. In terms of your OpenSCAD customizer values, it would be more useful to have the generator specify an X/Y coverage area in millimeters rather than a number of tower pairs because as you demonstrated, changing the other parameters makes the total size of the pattern change which makes this design difficult to integrate into other designs as-is.

[@davak72]

I think the interference value could be set in mm of tower overlap/mm of tower gap as well, which shouldn't change with scale

[@viper33802]

You may be interested in checking out 3M Dual Lock Reclosable Fasteners. Very similar product but they use mushroom shaped pins to increase connection suface area and require a steep engagement/disengagement angle.

[@JessicaFEREM]

I believe you can get command strips that work nearly exactly like this but much tighter. would be interesting to see comparisons between that, especially since command velcro is rated super high for it's size, and both sides are the same.

[@Leif_YT]

Would love to see that in PrusaSlicer to "paint" that structure on 3d models like they've done with some other joints.

[@shenqiangshou]

Thank you Michael for content like this!

[@duaneswaby622]

Thanks! This is great. Very cool concept

[@kendokaaa]

I wonder how many cycles this can go through before the towers start to delaminate. There's strength in numbers when loaded but unsticking pulls individually on the towers. In any case, this is pretty cool, gonna have to try it soon

[@CollectiveSoftware]

Even worse the popped off tower would stay locked in the other side and jam future attempts to Velcro that piece unless you pop out the bits

[@SonicKiwi123]

I'd probably print this in PCTG. Similar properties to PETG but with the interlayer bonding of TPU in my experience

[@timwright7738]

I was thinking of cranking the nozzle temp up high in order to make it stronger - might increase stringing also.

[@kendokaaa]

@@timwright7738 Good idea

[@Gienbfu]

I would guess a ton less than fuzzy velcro. 3m makes plastic ball on a tree style strips and those have significantly fewer cycles than the fuzzy kind

[@chrislewandoski3383]

This could be a game changer. I’m impressed.

[@MrLoerch]

thank you very much for the inspirations. it got me thinking and started to play around with it, which led me to other tools and helped me organize and set up my print area. good video with good explanations and thanks for testing it with different materials!

[@TrueRewire]

This was pretty interesting. Didn't know about this being possible until your video. Very cool!

[@joetkeshub]

Great post and great pedagogy. Thanks a lot. It's always a pleasure to be notified of each and single post of yours... despite your monotone tone😉

[@alttabby3633]

Intuitively I guessed this would fail at the layer lines. Interesting to see how strong it is, going to give it a try.

[@gregorpamula8939]

As a big fan of OpenSCAD i tripple-approve for idea, execution and tools used 🙂

[@Benjamin_Reese]

This is cool, it can definitely improve a number of different designs I've seen.

[@dysphoricpeach]

i'm not sure about this, because it could be that the tiling of the pins is not exactly hexagonal, but if it is, you should be able to rotate the halves in 60 degree increments and they should mesh properly.

[@mytuberforyou]

They aren't hexagonal. they are 2X:Y

[@dysphoricpeach]

@@mytuberforyouthanks for the correction

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic! Thanks a bunch, Michael! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@FunDumb]

Textures like this always end up in my mouth.

[@bw_boulder_problem3878]

Again a great Video. Thank you!

[@Lampe2020]

Muscles also use this principle of strength in numbers. Each piece actually creating a force is microscopically tiny but there are so many that animals can push and pull pretty hard.

[@tbengineering7066]

It's the same for the interlocking of the Yellowbook pages. The friction adds up very quickly and it becomes impossible to rip apart without tearing the spine.

[@BernardoBerndsen]

Love the hoodie! Great video as well!

[@lindseyjohnson1130]

I would suggest testing with a 75D TPU like NinjaTeks Armadillo or a PCTPE (Nylon and rubber blend) like Taulman PCTPE. I use both. Phenomenal layer adhesion, very strong, and semi rigid. I think for this application either one would give better results.

[@Graham_Wideman]

Yeah -- that's the obvious question -- what is this print like in nylon or similar!?

[@tbengineering7066]

The strength test was surprising. I didn't expect the PETG velcro to be as strong as it was. Its strength reminds me of the Yellowbook test the MythBusters did back in the day. Individually, the friction between pages and the velcro is really small, but you add enough pages or hooks, and the strength increases drastically. Also, similarly to that MythBusters test, the weakest point was actually at the base/spine.

[@StrikingCrayon]

I've been designing some geothermal greenhouse/duck-coops. They transform twice a year to swap between a winter-coop and a summer greenhouse. I've planned a system of cranks to roll the winter skin down over the south side. I've been looking for a way to adhear the insulated skin to plastic covered uprights. But UV rated Velcro, and of the sizes I need, is prohibitively expensive. This likely solved my problem. I think ASA velcro will be perfect!

[@shpenki7927]

the demonstration with your fingers sold me. take my sub. take my like. more finger stuff.

[@wandererstraining]

What an awesome idea! These days, I'm working on a 3D printed arm that I can clamp to my desk to hold my second monitor wherever I want (in height, depth, rotation, and with a ball head to choose the monitor's angle). Adding patches of "velcro" to it could be super useful for cable management add-ons. I might actually add velcro bars on the sides of the main tower in a new iteration!

[@Krilium]

You gotta make these tests last 24 hours, most failures of Velcro happens after days/weeks/months of stress

[@SpydersByte]

but thats why velcro is meant for quick connections that arent really supposed to last weeks or months. If you need something that does then Im sure there are better solutions than using velcro. You know, like actually bolting them or connecting them in a normal way.

[@thomaskletzl6493]

@@SpydersByte then why its used for cable managment huh

[@SpydersByte]

@@thomaskletzl6493 thats not a situation where the connection would be stressed so it wouldnt have trouble staying together. He specifically said "after days/weeks/months of stress".

[@rallyfeind]

​@@SpydersByte You are under the wrong impression. Combat rated velcro is a thing. There are several protective vests and fast release but long term wear scenarios where velcro is used. It requires maintenance and it is more than the stuff you get from cable holders. But you need to look up things before you fire off about designed purpose when there are both special and general purpose of the same thing. Oh and velcro has been in war since around Vietnam so you are way behind the facts being common enough to findout if you researched at all.

[@SpydersByte]

@@rallyfeind first of all, in what kind of combat use is velcro being used for weeks or months at a time? Second, I said its for quick connections, which is exactly why theyd use it on body armor and the like. I didnt say that its *impossible* to make a strong bond with it, simply that that is not its design purpose so if youre expecting it to hold up under months of stress then youre probably expecting too much. Also if youre claiming that they use "special purpose" velcro then youre only further supporting my statement that *normal* velcro doesnt hold up in those situations. I made no claim about special types of velcro.

[@timwright7738]

transformative video - thanks!!!

[@andyb7754]

Very nice, informative and interesting video, thank you.

[@ArmadusMalaysia]

Loving the micro scale animation.

[@davidglynnguitars8119]

I may have to redesign my pedalboard for my guitar rig. This sounds interesting. Thanks!!

[@Mirrormn]

I love that this video comes all the way back around to "Instead of modeling and printing the exact thing you need, you can just make a large generic sheet of 3d-printed velcro and cut it to size!" ... Which is what you can do with normal velcro lol

[@TeachingTech]

In the end that was the easiest solution I figured.

[@MrKyle700]

yah but normal velcro is like 23 dollars for some small strips. have you guys ever gone and bought raw velcro to use for projects? good quality stuff is NOT cheap. It would be way cheaper to print this. Also, not everyone lives in a place where its easy to just get velcro. if i wanted velcro id have to drive 1.5 hours or wait 7 days for a shipment.

[@AlbertScoot]

@@MrKyle700 I would also trust this to hold far more weight than velcro.

[@harmless6813]

@@AlbertScoot Um, no. I'm pretty confident real Velcro is _much_ stronger.

[@AshrZ]

Finally! My stringy prints are of use now!!

[@TheCardq]

Just a note on the finer printed velcro (from MMprinting) that you showed off, you should be able to get the two pieces to mesh after rotating either piece 60 or 120 degrees.

[@ObGoRat]

Dear Michael, thank you for this and your other awesome videos! I just subscribed as I've been forgetting that multiple times despite watching almost every video you put out. This idea is really cool and could be very useful - I will try that out. Maybe, we could come even closer to a real hook and loop system by choosing e.g. petg and deliberately (in other use-cases) bad temperature and cooling settings to get an enormous amount of stringing which could form "loops" (like super small bridging towers) and hooks for the other side. I hope someone comes up with a suitable idea to circumvent the layer adhesion problem of those basic cones. Maybe we could subdivide rows of those cones and print them on their side individually to profit from the better print orientation and then afterwards interlock those rows (melt together?) to a velcro pattern.

[@DeaShoost]

Nice Senna sweater! Very interesting video!

[@some_random_wallaby]

Nice! And thanks for scripting up an openscad model.

[@bloopez]

For some 3d models where I want to customize I use Blender and it's Boolean modifiers. I imagine if you rendered the large matt of velcro, but wanted it in the shape of the heart you cut by hand, you could instead just overlap the heart model and the velcro model and apply a boolean to get the desired shape, though I can imagine that some of the edges would need finessing to prevent weird islands or floating geometries.

[@pistolao_vr]

As a Brazilian myself can't ignore your hoodie, Senna was amazing!

[@Runoratsu]

Look at 3m Dual Lock, that‘s a similar system, but commercial(ly produced). I‘m pretty sure their design is well optimized, I have some of it in use and it works really well. Could serve as inspiration for further 3D printable velcro designs.

[@FrugalShave]

Well this is awesome! I will have to noodle with how I can incorporate this into my designs.

[@RogerHammond]

Would be good if there was a formula for calculating how much surface area holds how much weight. With pool fence certification, everything is geared around a 25kg child. I've got some hanging lanterns within the NCZ of one of the barriers that most likely would need to be gone when getting a certification - but to add on a hook-and-loop fastener that is rated to say 10kgs then when the certifier chokes on their coffee at the blatant code violation, you can calmly ask them to test how much weight it holds and watch their disappointment set in when they realise they're not getting their extra re-assessment fee later.

[@hanif72muhammad]

man, I haven't even try 3d printer myself, and it already took so far, can wait

[@Master_Ed]

lol perfect timing, I was going to buy some to build something for my window but never mind, may as well use this

[@brunoscalco1902]

Great hoodie!

[@tench745]

I would love to see a sample tested to failure, perhaps something with the bolt-boss you demonstrated for better work-holding during the test. I’d also be interested in how different materials interface with each other; like one TPU side stuck to PETG or PLA.

[@maxdon2001]

Great video!

[@TobyRobb]

the metal mushroom type used by the American military is incredible and extremely strong !

[@colinfielder6695]

Your videos are always great Michael, it would be interesting to see how well they old up hanging pictures! Can you test how mu h weight they can hold when placed on the back rather than the end of the print?

[@MTurtle]

time to go print this 👍

[@SerialChillerBH]

i absolutely love your channel, the F1 shirts and jackets adds a lot crediability as a technical guy, EXCEPT when you wear RB, looking forward for Mercs jacket! cheers ( JK OFC keep it up)

[@3DPrinterAcademy]

I've been waiting for this for more than 2 years haha.

[@Spazzzn]

Love the Senna hoodie!

[@Estelagremista]

Great video! Thanks!

[@wh7787]

Had to subcribe with that Senna drip alone!

[@squidcaps4308]

It could work best as one side PLA and one PETG. You would get some elasticity in one side but rigid and hard on the other.

[@nathan22211]

those don't stick together too well and I don't think cura can help with that with this scale

[@TinaDanielsson]

I was thinking of using PETG with TPU. TPU might act more like the fuzzy side of a regular velcro to make it more bendable without breaking apart as easily.

[@DanielSMatthews]

If you add a rigid sleeve to slide over your plates once joined you will get a connection that will never separate without the plastic itself failing. For the design that has larger pins if the base plate has dents in it and the pins have a bump that matches then once it snaps into place there will be no room for horizontal movement.

[@DEtchells]

Wow, what a *fantastically* useful video! My immediate thought was to use it for a tool wall. I don’t like the hexagon-based walls; besides being ugly, they force you to use a fixed grid, inefficient when trying to arrange tool-holders as tightly as possible. I have a tool wall that’s just plywood , with 3D printed tool hangers stick on with 3M Command adhesive strips. I’ll very rarely move the hangers, but didn’t want to mar the backboard when I did. It works fine, but the Command strips are kind of expensive. 3D Velcro would be ideal for this use! The only thing is that I’d prefer the backplate to look “clean”, without the stringiness of PETG. Maybe I could use PLA for the backplate and then PETG for the backs of the hangers? I need to experiment with it a little… - But this is a fantastic solution to add to our bag of general “removable attach object A to object B” bag of tricks! THANKS!!! 👏👏👏👍

[@philippef3110]

Great trick!

[@philthethotdestroyer4194]

thank you for the video Tom Cruise!

[@brandonhooper7748]

This looks great for toys on a base.

[@sierraecho884]

This is a really innovative and absolutely practical useful idea, great. I hope this Slant 3D dude who talks about "mass production" in 3D printing sees this xD

[@Dailytech02]

Would have liked to see a vertical strength test as i mostly use velcro to attach power bricks and stuff to the underside of my desk

[@llpBR]

What a nice jacket you have!

[@joenagel6644]

You could always make the opposite (Negative) of what shape you want, and import it into a slicer as a negative space

[@woodwaker1]

Thanks for the great video

[@markifi]

that looks great

[@frankearl9285]

Well, this one's interesting. Not sure WHAT I'm going to do with this right now, but you've given me a toy to play with for the Holiday Weekend at the least. Going to try this with ASA (There's a reason...) and a few other filament types other than the PETG....

[@ennbee]

I’d be curious to see how the materials would have interacted. Say PETG on one side and PLA on the other, etc.

[@bitzbox]

Amazing. Very surprised at just how strong it can be

[@JAYTEEAU]

Well that was a little bit fantastic. 😉 Cheers, JAYTEE

[@richardbriansmith8562]

Awesome Video

[@richardwatkins6725]

nice work

[@vdrhussar]

Really nice jacket my bro

[@TS_Mind_Swept]

10:41 I think it's also worth noting that whatever your base is should be a multiple of whatever layer thickness you're slicing at, otherwise you're either going to get more or less thickness than you're expecting

[@marty4286]

Love that sweatshirt!

[@Deses]

This is so cool

[@WJCarpenter]

Thanks for going to the trouble of experimenting with different materials and parameters. That's something many of us would be curious about, so it saves us collectively a lot of time. Did you do any experiments to see if infill percentage made much difference?

[@josephKEOarthur]

great to see. glad i subscribed! can we 3d print out velcro sheets in a COLUMN or a ROLL? to save space, on smaller 3d printers?

[@pavarinodu]

Nice hood! SENNA 🇧🇷

[@medyk3D]

Great idea.

[@ruediix]

I noticed a lot of them use Cleat Clips instead of conventional Hook and Loop. Notably Velcro makes lines using those as well. Of course using more advanced manufacturing equipment they can make them a lot smaller. It is notable that many of their "professional" lines use Cleat Clips.