Attach anything to anything else using 3D Printing!

[@thomasseichter5670]

To be honest most of the parts I print are called something like: "bracket" "holder" "mount" "adapter" "..." and I designed each of them for one very specific purpouse around my house.

[@substratum3d]

Same here, I can't even remember the last time I printed something decorative...

[@DATONALKY]

Haha so true...🤣

[@stefanejegod8644]

This. I haven't printed anything not white or black for the last couple of years.

[@peterrockell1527]

Same here like the clips that hold my camera tripod to my bag straps :-)

[@gavinthomas214]

I'm in the same boat, almost all the prints I make at functional. My 3D printer has become my 'go to' solution for brackets, mounts, adapters, clips and holders. I love the process of designing for printing and the results have been very satisfying.

[@lucifermorningstar6813]

One of the strongest tools in 3D printing is the community. One of the friendliest and most helpful hobby group I’ve come across.

[@purplemossclump5505]

Did you just call me a tool ?

[@anon_y_mousse]

@@purplemossclump5505 Yeah, but he did say friendly. :P

[@Henry_Swanson]

The best tool is the friends we made along the way. Who needs a benchie when we have a friendSHIP?

[@xQKUg9S]

I guess you haven't visted Bambu's community

[@sarahcase9872]

@@xQKUg9S Bambu community forums are wild

[@malcolmhodgson7540]

OMG is that a TEAC 2A mixer I spy on the top rail? I still have mine. It was the first bit of kit I ever bought back in 1983 and it still works to this day! Never seen another one till now.

[@CraigHollabaugh]

I've modelled at least 100 fixtures, jigs, adapters etc and you've taught this old dog a new trick. Thanks from Colorado. Woof woof

[@rogerfroud300]

When measuring hole centres, you're better off measuring inside and outside dimensions with the inside and outside anvils of the calipers, adding them together and dividing by 2. This works even if the holes are different sizes! You can then check if it's made in the USA and see if that rounds to an inch fraction or metric size. If it's really close, use the rounded size because it's almost certainly going to be what the size is.

[@MakersMuse]

Oh that's really handy!

[@mrartistimo1530]

Thank you! Wasn’t aware of the USA tidbit!

[@101rotarypower]

Does anyone have trouble Precisely locating holes, even when triangulating and being as patient and cautious as seems reasonable? Even double triangulate at times and still struggle to hit existing hole dimensions “Perfectly” when 3D printing. Are there any technics to improve that factor when Not doing orthogonally aligned or patterned existing holes? Struggle to hit those accurately no matter the effort expended it seems...then when you add the Z axis into the equation it’s exponentially more difficult to hit those accurately on the first try, and always find manually adjusting them, for me, is almost always required.

[@Duraltia]

Mitutoyo makes dedicated Center Hole Measuring Calipers for almost Two Grand, just saying 😏

[@nbase2652]

@@101rotarypower Well, you can always take a photo (or use a scanner bed), import the image into your CAD program on a plane and trace the geometry stuff on top. There are also some good tutorials how to create a part from a technical drawing (MangoJelly did a few about that on his KZbin channel, e.g. the one where he designs an airplane from front + top + side view in FreeCAD)

[@gusbert]

It's always good to see 3D printing used for something other than fantasy models or skull heads! Modelling your own engineered parts is great fun and failure teaches you a lot about real-world problems.

[@roi9875]

Brackets and electronic housing is basically what I use my printer for the most, it’s extremely useful and convenient. You could have used a 45° chamfer over the bolt holes instead of fillets to save the need to use support material.

[@ybtech]

The people that say that you can only print trinkets and such are the same people that have zero creativity. I use my 3D printer for all sorts of stuff. I made a new thumb pushbutton for my neighbors screen door, cup holders, microphone mounts. All sorts of things that just simply couldn't exist otherwise. Great project you have shown here. Thanks for another great video explanation. Cheers!

[@BitBanger41]

Awesome! Often when I'm worried about hole placement like that, I'll print a

[@baddan]

After this very useful tip, with calipers, I’ll buy your e-book Thanks!

[@tesseracht]

As a person who's two primary hobbies are 3D printing and synthesizers, this feels like it was made just for me.

[@12...]

a really useful trick when measuring things is to try both metric and inches, to see if one of them is close to a round number. most products will have regular dimensions so it's likely that e.g. 76.21mm is actually 5 inches and the item was designed using imperial units. this can make figuring out dimensions a lot simpler (and of course you can convert all the units back to metric afterwards)

[@rods87175]

Angus, I've been watching and enjoying you videos for quite a while. This is an example of why I like 3D modeling & printing, the ability to design and and fabricate something that can't be purchased. There is so much satisfaction in the results!

[@ifell3]

This is so true, the amount of joining things I have made, vacuum nozzle adaptors, GoPro attachments and all sorts of attachments.

[@d3w4yn3]

GLORIOUS!!! You've saved me from dozens to hundreds of failed experiments!!! This was therapeutic!!!

[@TylerLL2112]

In recent times I've made a soap holder, a towel rack (Did use a wood dowel for the roller though) and the most recent thing was a shower caddy for a shower chair (I'm disabled) For that I did 0 top and 0 bottom layers and let the infill show through to give me drainage holes. 3D printing and designing in CAD has been everything I dreamed of growing up. I always had ideas but, not the ability to make them a reality. Going back to music, I also designed a holder for the Boss WL-20 wireless unit. So, 3D printing has been an absolute blast once I dialed everything in. Channels like yours have been an absolutely invaluable tool in learning about printing and all the things related to it. I am extremely grateful for all these tips and guides you give. Thank you.

[@Nifty-Stuff]

Wow, that "triangulation of holes" trick was BRILLIANT! Thanks!

[@JohnSmith-gm4fj]

Brackets and adapters! At least 80% of my 3d printing is devoted to making things that no one makes. Super useful.

[@crushert]

Aside from clamps and brackets for whatever needs mounting, I also use it to replace broken plastic parts, like broken knobs, lids and covers. Repairing stuff like a drying rack that's falling apart with some handy clamps works too. And you know that weird little corner on the stairs that you can't get to when vacuuming? There's probably already a custom nozzle for it you can just download and print. Finally, custom boxes and drawer compartments specifically made to fit stuff make everything much cleaner looking.

[@michaelj3971]

It is *really* useful to see how others approach a new design. This video is pure gold.

[@KittykatOz]

A few years ago, my partner bought a Prusa and designated it as a gift for the family for Xmas (way to bypass permission from "significant other" I suspect!). We printed lots of little stuff amazed at what it could do. I then started watching a lot of your videos and realised I could actually make useful things and use different filaments. I play a musical instrument and decided one day to design a little tool to help me achieve some maintenance on it. Fast forward to today and that little tool I designed is now being sold in 7 different countries as there is no other little tool like it on the market! Family needs another 3D printer as a result 🤣 Keep up the great videos!

[@the4thj]

Angus, I have made Polaris snowmobile parts machinist ad tools and repaired my Mr Coffee espresso machine! My Ender 3 is maxed out I don't know how to Pi it but I am good with a Beagle. Thanks to you and others I have printed your castle and given it to kids and now they bug their parents for a 3d printer. Inspiring man really thanks for making the day.

[@PocketBrain]

Most of my designs and prints are practical. Toys and kitsch are fun and all, but practicality is what brings me to the yard.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Nicely done Angus, the hinge / locking mechanism is a beauty. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@kimtyson9101]

The screw hole tip via triangulation was awesome.. Also kudos to anyone who listens to music that sounds like Tangerine Dream! Nicely done.

[@jayducharme]

Nice design, and good tips! I work with a non-profit. In their building, one of their exhaust fans died. The unit was so old, there were no replacement parts for it. The problem was in the motor bushings, which had disintegrated over the years. So like you, I took measurements and then designed and 3D-printed replacements, saving the original fan and saving the group a few hundred bucks. The tech still amazes me.

[@jonpardue]

Adapting things has been my primary use of 3D CAD and 3D printers since 2014. Great video, right on point!

[@SamsDesigns]

Nice work as usual Angus! One of my favorite 3d printing projects ever was designing custom pegboard mounts for all my tools and printing them. This reminds me of that process

[@Magnaheim]

Just started designing a couple days ago. TinkerCad was super easy to learn, within a couple days of signing up, I fully designed a mount to hold my power-tool batteries. I corrected all issues after the first prototype as you mentioned. Then I began to trim the fat to make them cheaper/quicker to print(I'm new, and I underestimated the strength of PETG). Designing this has been the most fun part of 3D Printing since I got my printer.

[@DEtchells]

Wow, SUPER handy tip to just “triangulate” between holes! You probably just saved me hours and kilograms of filament! 👍👍👍

[@Chad.The.Flornadian]

What a fun way to present the design and print process from beginning to end. Great work as always Angus!

[@impetus444]

Very cool. This might be the only place you can get great information combined with enjoyable original music. Thanks!

[@rossmarzano]

I have used this exact set of guidelines to make a 3d printed prototype brake brackets. The usual ones I've done are calipers from one car fitted to another car, but the craziest one I've done includes calipers, hand brake system and parts from 3 different cars. Sent the cad file to a machinist and he made the prototype out of aluminium. Living in the future!!!

[@Clockdistrict]

Attaching things to other things is my favourite part about 3D printing, I have both my interface and a little breakout box for my VR headset both mounted under my desk, so clean!

[@JakeMcIvor]

Starting on paper and recording dimensions before jumping into CAD is a top tip.

[@falldownandgoboom]

You've outlined the exact reason I recently purchased a 3D printer - to make functional parts. Now I'm just trying to learn Fusion 360. I njoy and learn a lot from your content!

[@boozebeard9501]

I just got done designing and printing brackets to mount a bunch stuff to the underside of my desk. Was a fun learning experience and my desk is much cleaner and easier to use now :)

[@owen_brady]

Awesome tutorial! I really loved the elephant's foot tip with chamfering the bottom edges, I'm currently in a great deal of pain dealing with my Ender 3 max over this issue. I've tried all the tips I could find, and I need some precise parts printed out soon.

[@electronron1]

I like your attachment method. I probably would have designed it with a print in place hinge but your approach looks like it would be stronger.

[@Veptis]

They call it functional print. And it's really the most fun I had with my 3D printer. Making a part from "nothing" to serve an actual purpose is quite nice. I even managed to help other people solve their problems.

[@milesalexandria3862]

My 3d printer has been the most useful organisational tool in my home, I've built do many hyper specific mounts for things like a wall mount for my Saturn v model or clips to hold sick bags. So useful

[@BenEBrady]

Another excellent video, Angus. It's great to see you posting more regularly again. I always learn something new from your content.

[@C01dEyes]

I'm a metal worker by trade and I'm also a synth head with a home studio setup. Well I do use a lot of steel and wood wherever I can I've been using a 3D printer for years to make all sorts of strong lightweight parts to modify my setup and just optimize my workspace. Two things I always keep in mind is cost of material and weight. 3D printed parts over something I could have made out of steel but still come up with the same end result takes care of the cost factor as well as the weight factor. I also use my 3D printer to make custom knobs and volume faders across my entire setup. If you got a home studio and a little bit of engineered intuition a 3D printer is a must to have around.

[@inotoff]

That's awesome! Thank you so much for taking some of your personal time to explain all the process. Greatly appreciated.

[@SneakyJoeRu]

I've been really using my 3d printer to mount my VR system in a rented place using existing holes and bars to avoid drilling holes to skip repair payments when we move to a different place. First things I 3d printed were not benchys and calibration cubes but rather adapters for my vr headset and charging station for my vr controllers. I've made my own curtain holders for my chroma key cloth to fit existing bar too. 3d printer is a great tool for me. Despite I didn't learn any CAD, I was able to get "good enough" results in blender to share them and even get some likes. 3d printer for me is a tool of the same level as screwdriver or a hammer. Very handy when I need something done around the house. Only after 2 years of owning one I started printing decorative stuff and dnd minis

[@elishmittywerminghanjensen1264]

Nice synth collection! I'm not a musician by any means, but I appreciate the craft behind synths.

[@Zayllyaz]

I love making custom mounts for stuff, most of my recent printing has been making custom mounts for stuff to hang on my french cleat system or attach audio devices to my desk. Its super satisfying when everything has a well fitting place to go.

[@LordHonkInc]

Designing simple solutions to daily annoyances is, imho, one of the most approachable aspects of 3D printing. My first designed piece was a replacement button for a broken gamepad, and my most recent one is a much simpler (compared to the default and for my case way too bulky gooseneck) mount to attach the pop shield to my mic. Also, since this was a problem for me for the longest time: If you can't get accurate measurements (or your measurements lead to slightly over-/undersized objects), obviously you have to accommodate for the peculiarities of your printer, like elephant's foot compensation etc, but before you reprint the whole thing, don't forget you don't need 100% accuracy; paper/ cardboard shims or a layer or two of duct tape can compensate for oversized holes, and unless you're taking off a _lot_ of material, sanding or drilling out undersized ones is a perfectly viable "good enough" solution. Sure, it's not perfect, but is perfection worth reprinting that +12h doodad that's not even meant to look particularly good? There's no generally right answer, but just ask yourself that question, y'know ;)

[@EC-gy9pv]

Thank you for sharing this, Angus. You are a very talented young man. It's been many years since I subscribed to your channel, and you never disappointed me. 😍

[@joseguevara184]

Is the best solution ever. In my flat I have parts designed and printed specifically for what I need from a mirror holder up to a DIY CNC router. Is the best if you are creative and really cheap. NICE EVERYONE COULD DO IT.

[@easymac79]

Love the outro music! Just getting into 3D printing and finding all sorts of new channels. That outro music though, I need that vibe.

[@johncaswell2648]

My number one use for 3D printing is custom enclosures. Instead of cramming my projects into an off-the-shelf project box now I can make something custom fit.

[@itsmejim3804]

Loved this video, fixing things or attaching things to another thing is the best thing about 3D printers.

[@sierraecho884]

Very well explained Angus. Dovetail design, also chamfers detents etc. well done. You do have great content which I always enjoy.

[@philosiBlog]

Love the DX-7! Nice design info in the video, many people don't mention much about the things to watch out for.

[@mikegiron3071]

100% this. 3D printing excels in one-off brackets and enclosures for mismatched parts. For example, I'm currently designing a holder for a Zigbee button to control a shop vacuum on a Zigbee outlet. The button will velcro onto the holder (so that it can move between holders mounted on tools), and the holder will be clamped onto the vacuum hose by velcro straps. This makes it really easy to turn on /off the vacuum while using my handheld CNC and sander. I'll also superglue a holder to my table saw. This combination of parts is wholly unique to my setup, and finding a commercial solution would be impossible. It's why I love being able to design and print my own parts

[@brukernavnfettsjit]

This is what I use 3d printer for also; brackets, holders and adapters. Thanks for the triangulation tip, that part always drive me nuts. What I usually do for complex parts is take a reference picture and import it as a scaled canvas. But the caliper trick will come in very handy for smaller parts!

[@therunophil]

Angus, are you secretly a member of the Royal Society for putting things on top of other things? This truly takes it next level! 😂 I did a very similar project to hold a tablet to a crosstrainer, nothing of the shelf would have been able to match fitness for purpose, cost and speed.

[@larsjuhljensen]

I was thinking the same. He should clearly become an honorary member of the society!

[@Arek_R.]

At work we have professional CNC mill, even one person hired specifically to operate it, and we still on some occasions print something instead of having him machine it.

[@DamienWise]

You've given us a bunch of useful tips and some beautiful music, thankyou!

[@apollyonin3d597]

For your bolts on the back, you could use a chamfer leading up to it instead of a fillet to 90 degree overhang and then you wouldn't need any support. It may not look as nice but you'd have a easier model to print in the end? Either way, good job!

[@subsyairsoft]

Great Job, love your confidence and willingness to share! Once I get my enter 3 pro settled and ready I will joyfully steal that interlocking joint! Thanks Mr Muse!

[@airingcupboard]

Really informative video about CAD and design attitudes and thinking. Brilliant.

[@baconsledge]

MOI is my favorite 3D printer design software (moment of inspiration). So flippin easy and not expensive.

[@treelineresearch3387]

This is most of what I use my printer for and why I got one, it's very convenient and cost effective just being able to print up a fixture or enclosure when you need one. Even little consumable things that are usually made from nylon and come in bags of 100 like nail washers for holding down carpet and adhesive backed square wire tie anchors work really well printed in PETG, and only use a few cents worth of filament.

[@MaxQuagliotto]

This is a great video!! From start to finish. Including your music! Thanks for all the great tips and great track.

[@jp_makes]

Nice idea on the "hinge" design, makes it much easier to print this type of thing. When making parts like this I typically oversize the large hole that goes over the pipe by around 2-3mm, and then glue or place some thin cork sheet (or linoleum or similar material) into the hole for more friction, gives a much more snug fit.

[@xnadave]

Great video, as always. There's a slightly easier way to get the dimensions right in Fusion 360. Take a picture of the part, with a caliper or ruler in the picture. Insert the picture into Fusion as a Canvas. Calibrate the canvas (I think it's on the right-click menu). It'll ask you to select two points in the image and then tell Fusion how far they are apart in physical units. Since you wisely included a ruler in the picture, you can just pick two points on the ruler. It'll scale the canvas accordingly. Then, you can easily build your sketch to match the part in the image with physically correct dimensions.

[@torchmd]

I have used 3D printing to make so much useful stuff. Lots of shop tools, car parts, etc. I often find it takes me a couple of versions to get where I need to be.

[@spikekent]

Exactly what I use my printers for, and I'm pretty good at designing the parts in CAD (F360). Thanks mostly to your videos over the years.

[@zoidbergVII]

I find that using the "thin extrude" function can combine the surface/split/remove material steps you have to take with a sketch surface. Thin extrude is in the extrude tool and the second option, you can select a line and choose a thickness. Add that I have been doing CAD and 3D printing for 10 years or so now and never thought to just use triangulation and always tried to estaimte the grid of holes, great tip thanks!

[@ragwafire]

That center hole measuring tip just blew my mind. I have *always* struggled a little with that

[@mylittleparody2277]

A realy great video. Explains in a short time real usages of 3D printers, kudoes!

[@mgilbert754]

This couldn't come at a better time! I'm trying to automate a label machine we have at work. Need a clamp just like this to raise and lower the arm the initiates the label feed cycle. I'm going to attach a clamp like this onto the round arm, but make it slightly larger. I'll attach it to the bed of a linear slide but the lowering of the labeler arm is a slight arc, so the clamp will have to be able to move. Can't wait to try it- your design tips are spot on!!

[@Rouverius]

Exactly. Because of these kind of special use cases, I've been trying my hand at CAD software to make custom solutions. Since they are mostly static objects with no moving parts, it's been a real accessible entry into design and CAD.

[@PaulG.x]

2:47 One of the ways to mount a bracket that is often not thought of is to use high strength double sided tape. Merely design the mount to have sufficient surface area for a strong adhesion. You don't have to modify the item being mounted and the tape can be released by pulling a loop of fishing line through the gap and tearing the tape in two.

[@miccullen]

Perfect timing for bringing the kick into the mix 🙂

[@ke9g]

Yes! This is what draws me to 3D printing. 497 folders (projects) in my 3D Design repository. Some were downloads but most are my own designs to join something to something else. TIP: buy a good quality ABSOLUTE caliper to avoid having to tediously re-zero.

[@ryanokeefe12]

You don't need to turn the cut line into a surface. You can just select the line itself when using the split body tool.. Just make sure the "extend splitting tool" is checked (it is by default). It saves a step and makes it easier to adjust the setout of the split as you don't need to make sure any changes you make to the sketch are mirrored in the face you've created. Also, one less item under "bodies", one less item in the timeline and faster processing times.

[@RichardVahrman]

I have attached a large part of a grand piano to my synth rig, and a new musical instrument called the NovaKordo, which I have attached to my body. Totally agree with the joys of being able to attach anything to anything else

[@davidg5898]

This is why I got a 3D printer. Mostly I print practical items that either cost way more than they should or else don't already exist in the dimensions/style/details that I need. I do print the occasional trinket as a gift for other people, but that's less than 10% of my printing.

[@koolmoedee10000]

This is most of my prints too, it's so useful to just mock up a quick bracket or clip that's a perfect size and send it to the printer. I mount so many things on the underside of tables or cabinets it's a great use of usually wasted space

[@Cyberdactyl]

Another way I have found that is flawless and WAAAY easier than using trig and math is simply taking a photo of the peice directly above the piece and at around two to three feet away for something like the piece in your video. 04:35 Import it into the CAD software, measure the longest dimension and scale it in the software to match that length and build off of that. Takes all of around three minutes.

[@WatchesTrainsAndRockets]

Funny that this comes out now. I just finished a similar endeavor. I has a small web cam and a mini tripod for a go pro. The camera was not a go pro and its mount was just a bracket with a flat bottom and four holes for mounting screws. I was able to design and print an adaptor that attached to the camera bracket and fit into the mount on the tripod. One thing that I find useful is to use a spreadsheet for all of your measurements. You can then derive other measurements from those as needed for the model. If you are using a CAD program that has a built-in spreadsheet like Freecad, use that.

[@licensetodrive9930]

I love being able to design parts that hold one thing to another thing, couple of weeks ago I created a new handle for a neighbour's umbrella, the original is tiny so I created a decent size handle which clips round the original handle and looks like it was always meant to be. Also there are now thousands of racing / freestyle type drones out there with 3D prints of my designs on because I figured out a whole new way of holding antennas & receiver boards like nothing else before them, using folding TPU designs.

[@themistoklisanastasiadis]

Another tip to finding the distance between two centers of different diameter holes is: (distance between the closest point of the holes + distance of the longest distance ) / 2

[@themacbookgamer]

This is what I love about 3D printing! I've made so many mounts to attach random things to my desk that would've been impossible to buy

[@spaycemuuse]

Another great video Angus! I'm wondering - have you ever done a tutorial on how to accurately measure and replicate complex shapes in CAD? Or do you know of any done by others? I've often come across items that I want to design other things to fit around, inside, or otherwise interacting with but the original piece had, for example, too many organic curves and I didn't have a good understanding of how one could measure and replicate the piece in CAD for which to use to design the adjoining piece against.

[@ProXinous]

Hey, did you manage to find one?

[@avejst]

Great walk-through of the process 👍 Thanks for sharing your experience with All of us 👍😃

[@mg_customs8531]

Thanks for all the awesome content Angus! Your channel really did empower my sons creativity! With your family friendly content and the yellow created cockatoo videos, he's given a interest in 3D printing and is imagination has latched onto that. You're one of the best things to happen to the consumer 3D printing corner of the world! Thank you, best wishes mate!

[@chrisperrywv]

I’ve seen all your keyboards in the background and not once did it click that you were a musician 🤣 I loved that beat at the end!

[@SpongeAndLeo]

Thank you for sharing this video! I found it incredibly useful, funny, and interesting to watch. It's great to come across content that can both entertain and educate. Keep up the great work!

[@donswords6671]

Those calipers are a fav of mine! I picked one up after I saw one on the counter of a local McMaster-Carr order desk. What sold me on that particular one were the three measuring options available. millimeter, inch and fractions. Since I work mostly imperial, the fraction option was a winner. There's a tiny screw on the back to change the battery. Don't try to pry off the cap like I did. 😂

[@lordphilbert3838]

Loved the demo of your synth at the end!

[@RiverRaid82]

Apart from the good informational video, the end sound is awesome!

[@seedmole]

Hell yeah! Mounting synths is expensive, heavily reliant on trial and error, and very timeconsuming. Very good use case for 3d printing.

[@scottrobinson616]

This is a great video showing an application I have used many times but I have a few things that may be helpful as additionally information. Firstly for splitting the part in fusion an extruded surface isn't needed and you can preform a split body straight from the sketch geometry, secondly with the elephant foot compensation this is definetley something that I always used to model in but now, in Prusa slicer at least, they have a built in setting for this that in my experience works well so that now it saves me the time of having to manually model chamfers in. Lastly in a model like this if you were wanting to have zero support material one way is to just have a chamfer between the horizontal surface and the cylinder which would not add to much more material/print time, although from an aesthetics perspective it would look better to have this chamfer mirrored onto the top horizonal surface also which would then add more print time/material.

[@tenconer]

probably my fave vid ive seen from you!!! love the moog music!!!

[@geoffcowan2384]

That clamp is brilliant.

[@Lidocain777]

That's, to me, what 3D printing is meant for : solving everyday's hardware issues. I mean, like making brackets, adapters, things like that, and all other (sometimes farfetched) projects my dad submits me. Coming to music, I'm working on new buttons for my AN1x synth (these may have glowing-in-the-dark parts) and enhanced my guitar floorboard with custom markers and footswitch toppers (glowing in the dark too). A friend of mine uses his 3DP the same way, making templates for his luthier hobby activity.