PrintABlok Anatomy - How I built a better building block for 3D printing to beat Lego

[@3dpprofessor]

Brace yourself, Spaceships are coming! www.3dpprofessor.com/2022/01/06/how-i-invented-printablok/

[@WF3D]

Your Design is super impressive! Wish I would have seen this video earlier. I just designed my own 20mm blocks also with a snap fit connector. However I wanted a non releasable permanent snug fit. You design is really amazing. Rotating it 45° and the snap fit connector is really genius!

[@nobodyimportant9073]

I had been wondering how you made these blocks for a long time. Thank you so much for this video! I love explanations of how things are designed. The little "gotchas" that happen during design are super interesting. Also, I love the little hole in the connectors. I use a paperclip to pull them out so I don't crush them with pliers. My hands are too big and messed up to use pliers well on small things.

[@seangholland3055]

My dad worked a plastic injection molding company in the 70s and they made an educational cube which was 1cm x 1cm x 1cm. It had 5 sides with a circle indent and the 6th side had a circle pip. The whole thing weighed 1 gram, i played for hours with these, as Lego was very expensive and he brought home bags of these. But interesting update to Lego here.

[@nath042]

I love this electroblock idea, I will see if there's anything I can add

[@cybersake]

Happy to see a video about PrintABlok again. I look forward to the ElecktroBlok video, they have my interest. I made a my own PrintABlok frame for a solarcell and made a small ElecktroBlok project.

[@Leonardokite]

Good stuff Prof!! Keep up the good work. Make printablok a household word!!

[@PortalFPV]

You say you're working on a design that works with resin. I used a Form3 and got to use their Tough1500 resin. It has amazing deflection properties. Granted that stuff was $200 a liter o.O, but maybe you can find a resin with similar attributes at a more affordable price. Maybe just adding some flex resin (80a) to some ABS like resin will give you the flex needed without snapping

[@BuilderTrevin]

Wow the holes in your blocks have an optical illusion! I enjoyed watching this, I also learned alot just now. Even about my own developments. Thank you sir!

[@ethansdad3d]

Thank you for sharing the full story. I learned a lot. I especially like the final design of your connector, how you can just change the number of perimeters.

[@erobwen]

I think that the printa-block needs flat-bricks 1/3:d of the thickness of a full block. So many lego designs are dependent on these flat sheets and bars.

[@3dpprofessor]

It has them. And it has panels that are even flatter.

[@ericlotze7724]

12:50 I have "Rokenbok", and this removal aspect (for better, or for worse) was difficult, and also kind of sketchy at times in that you could snap the connection block/points. So the addition of this is nice!

[@MakerBees333]

It is interesting that all connectors highlighted are H style connections.

[@brendanowen7563]

Thank you for sharing your design process. Very interesting.

[@HackMonkey]

Hey check out that project at the end!! Oh, and PrintABloks are pretty awesome as well! Kidding a side, PrintABloks are lots of fun for all ages, and only limited by the imagination!

[@3dpprofessor]

But that project at the end, though. Practical and attractive.

[@WoLpH]

Those pins look like a slightly flattened copy of the LEGO Technic pins to me. Definitely a great design but he certainly wasn't the first :)

[@avejst]

Great design, love it Thanks for sharing your progress :-)

[@Francois_Dupont]

it is extremely hard to design! thank you for sharing this. just a couple of days ago i was designing a clip that needed to electrically connect to something while being springy enough in a perticular direction to both hold itself and put pressure on the electrical contact points. i am only using TinkerCad because i cannot manage to learn other software, but seeing your presentation with the cuttaway and animations i really want to switch now. edit: i forgot to say, it took me 6hours and about 4different part to finally get it working right. is Blender a free program? i this better suited for 3D printing design or it is more a general engine? i actually tried some other program in the past and some are made for entirely free-hand design and such. i love TinkerCad because it is easy to select shapes and size them.

[@3dpprofessor]

Yup, and I have a tutuorial series that might get you going. kzbin.info/aero/PLaE_P552lCIFruOpwdxcYFY3WsE9EkD35

[@Francois_Dupont]

@@3dpprofessor woah!! thank you very much!

[@Francois_Dupont]

isnt that microphone backwards? the buttons need to be towards you. its a cardioid meaning its like 300% worst when its backwards.

[@3dpprofessor]

The buttons are towards me. Those are the dials that chose the mode and gain. They're on the back.

[@Francois_Dupont]

@@3dpprofessor ahhh sorry for the misunderstanding.

[@MakerBees333]

Challenge accepted!