5 Living Hinges for Mass Production 3D Printing

In this video, we discuss various hinge design techniques and reveal how living hinges can drastically improve the way parts are created using 3D printing. Discover the numerous types of hinges and their applications, from traditional living hinges to innovative circular hinges and even hinges that can only be produced with 3D printing. Learn how to design for mass production 3D printing, choose the best hinge for your project, and explore the vast options for creating mass-produced 3D printed parts.
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#3dprinting #designtechniques #livinghinges
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Produced by Slant Media

[@air8536]

One of these videos about snap-together joints would be great

[@slant3d]

Good idea

[@FilamentStories]

Another video jam packed with so much great information! And as always, presented concisely with excellent examples/visuals. I can’t wait to see what's next!

[@slant3d]

Thanks

[@dudea3378]

Bro, you are the man. Just wanted to say thanks. I don't have any projects that require this at the moment but I'm sure I will use it some time in the future.

[@slant3d]

Glad it helped

[@Yavorh55]

We're doing a living hinge mechanism that NEEDS to be vertically printed (across layer lines) and thus far we were using just a straight level with a gap, but we've now addded those toothed grooves to hopefully spread the load out and make the force to bend that mechanism uniform across various user printers

[@mikoaj2323]

While I'm not really fan of your work, I appreciate your editing. Visualising with videos while you talking is done perfectly.

[@slant3d]

Thank you.

[@robinte98]

I like my hinges just like my food: dead. Designing for living hinges is just much more complicated to get precise in many cases. But working with the material flexibility can make for nice and simple locking mechanisms.

[@user-yi1sx3pr5q]

That rime you just rose to the level of bigge smalls or Dr suse yo props!! 👍🏼

[@jynkotech]

You doing so well👍🏻

[@slant3d]

Glad you enjoyed

[@danielhastings3167]

Great video. I found another way to make living hinges when working with PLA. Sometimes I can position the hinge so that I can print its layers as a different color. Instead of actually changing colors, I can switch to Flexible PLA of the same or complimentary color. The layers between the two types of PLA stick really well and the hinge bends better and lasts longer than regular PLA.

[@slant3d]

Multimaterial is a great solution enabled by printing. But it is not viable in mass production

[@danielhastings3167]

@@slant3d True

[@heselmas]

@@slant3d Wil this change if the tool changers + tool changer software are more common? Like Prusa XL. MMU and TPU are not a thing.

[@claws61821]

Can you please provide a video on other common flextures that can be 3D printed besides living hinges? Those alone are awesome and great to know how to make but there's also stuff out there like crossbeams for locking pliers, and linear or angular platforms and carriages.

[@homemovies751]

What the he….ck! Such an informative jam-packed video like I’ve never seen on KZbin. Thanks!!

[@WhatMikeisEvolving1]

I would love to see a video from you on Linkage sets/mechanisms

[@smellycat249]

I love videos like this

[@slant3d]

Glad you liked it.

[@skyrider4789]

I couldn't stop watching your spinning AHNold head. You said something about hinges? 😁 Good video. Thanks!

[@andreas11elias]

I just gotta say, your videos are the best modeling course out there! I just saw your other video about printing boxes diagonally and that made me think, would it ve possible to print a box diagonally if it has a print in place hinge? That would maybe fix the issue you described when printing it flat on the build plate "rotation due to saging" and would be a little stronger than printing it vertically. What do you think?

[@TheRazeryan]

great intro. I love wordplay

[@colbylippincott7173]

One thing you can do with the print in place hinges is angle everything at around 30-35 degrees. That way you get the best of both worlds with it not being as brittle as standing up, and not having that crunchiness from laying flat and having the bridges droop down. If you design the part right this way you can also eliminate the need for the moving parts to use each other as "supports" which again reduces the crunchiness.

[@ChikitoPOWA]

At 4:06 how did you print that part vertically? How where you able to print it so that it would still turn and not stick together? Or is it just print and then break the layer interface between the rotating and static part? Or is there still a small gap to give it a bit of play?

[@EasiestKills]

Same question here. I’m confused.

[@ale6242]

Came from hackaday! Great video, some fantastic information here

[@slant3d]

Thanks

[@DIYGarage_SoCal]

I'd love to see you cover sacrificial bridging layers in more depth.

[@WRLD-FPV]

would love to see a video about 3d printing threads and the different kinds of threads and how to get the tolerances to fit well even when using a not so accurate 3d printer

[@JLake3D]

Search “Design Threads and Inserts for 3D Printing with Shapr3D” 👍

[@RichardBaker1]

I like your idea of a hinge that rotates around a "hinge pin"" and is essentially 3 D printed as one piece - if I understood you right. I would like to incorporate that hinge design into something else. Are there instructions on how to create those "bolt like" mechanisms that rotate around the hinge pin?

[@jstro-hobbytech]

You should resell that as a small vice for straightening the pins on through hole chips. The circular hinge

[@FunDumb]

Have you done anything on compliant mechanisms?

[@KanielD]

Nice!

[@slant3d]

thanks

[@VacuousCat]

When I print a two-layer strap from a bottom layer, the two layers kinda detatch and turns into a nice living hinge when I fold it. Living hinges don't just have one printing direction.

[@qozia1370]

It eould be great if you acruay discussed how to make the livinf hinge in the vad software.

[@melfahnestock993]

Great little tutorial! (Any chance you can get rid of that spinning head behind you? It's really distracting! ;-))

[@darkfrei2]

Can you make a special about axle and how to design it?

[@josephscott5650]

What program is being used to do this

[@ChazX]

i'm trying to design character joins, any tips

[@DalTronPrinting]

Could you do a video on clamps?

[@slant3d]

good idea

[@HunterMayer]

At the end of this video a now we part ways pun was missing... 😂 I smoothed out the rotation action on a horizontal printed 'grown' hinge using a drill and an adjustable clamp to hold the center (safely away from hand). A little lubricant in the form of alcohol (dripped in and let the capillary action carry into the piece void) and some careful application of rpms. A little heat friction goes a long way. YMMV. And you have to work out how to attach it to your drill. I used a socket and and some museum wax/puddy clay in this one case. You don't need much. My hinge wast hex shaped. Tape would have been enough tbh. If it starts to smoke you've gone too far/fast/long. 😅 Again ymmv.

[@brettzGT]

What about hinges that need to lock in position at a given angle? Like to provide an adjustable viewing angle for an lcd screen holder for example.

[@claws61821]

With that last example you can add a cam to it. If you use a hexagonal silhouette like he did here, or another simple polygon, just extrude one of the facets out into a rounded bulge, and make sure there's a lip where you need it to lock. When it crosses that lip, the bulge will have to squeeze past it with the user's help, but then it will be locked beyond that lip until he or she moves it back again. Depending on how closely you need it to lock to that point, or other details of your geometry, you can add more lips to one side or more cams to the other to get that functionality.

[@SirSpence99]

I've found that if you make the horizontal hinge as stubs instead of a shaft it prints quite well and can be very strong.

[@slant3d]

That is a way to do it. But there is a greater danger of pullout with stubbed hinges.

[@SirSpence99]

@@slant3d True. I like to make it so that the stubs actually meet in the middle so that there is minimal bridging being done. Each stub has an angle so the middle part of the shaft is actually a very small diameter. I've found I can get it to be incredibly strong to the point that the part that fails is the outer wall of the hinge even when the outer wall is several mm thick.

[@TS_Mind_Swept]

Kind of makes me wonder what the functional range of each of these is 🤔

[@megauberduber]

Polypropylene, if you can get past the printing challenges, makes for amazing living hinges due to its high material compliance

[@slant3d]

Absolutely. But since 3D Printing allows the creation of more complex geometries you can extend the life even further than the fatigue limits of any materials. PP is great. Printing it can make it even better.

[@ghostwheel9935]

What about bolts and nuts.

[@cosminlesutan3574]

Hi.. quick question: Can you please let me know the software you are using for designing the parts?

[@Madin5]

Fusion360

[@cosminlesutan3574]

@@Madin5 TY

[@slant3d]

Any CAD software can do it

[@samuellynn1470]

Would like a video on rivets or pop-fasteners, self locking fasteners - shafts - hobs instead of bolts and nuts.

[@slant3d]

We will see what we can do

[@akshi_az]

Why, why are you creating stress points in otherwise great hinges?? You start with a hinge with one stress point. Solely by making it of equal thickness you can achieve much better longevity. Ok, you got great idea and made a circular hinge. Why would you introduce a lot of stress points into it by those grooves?!

[@darkfrei2]

Just to make it adjustable.

[@ytrichg99]

A really well-explained video. However, the spinning head in the background, coupled with the rapid-fire explanation, wore me out. This old codger needs a bit more time to absorb all of the talents demonstrated.

[@michaelj3971]

Old codger? You have hair, and it is not even gray... Anyway, as one old codger to another, I like the quick, concise discussion. If needed, I replay parts I didn't get at 75% speed, or in this case 25% speed for understanding how the part was printed on its side. My biggest issue is my hearing. I often replay parts where I didn't catch the words. (the "old codger" talk was meant with self deprecating humor directed at myself)

[@ytrichg99]

@@michaelj3971 Ha Ha...You've reminded me to CHANGE THAT PICTURE! At 83, I do have more gray than black! I spent many years speaking/selling on the phone and face to face. Some people speak quickly, some slowly. The most effective communication (for me ) is to match your speech to the subject's speech. Not easy to do online, though.

[@michaelj3971]

@@ytrichg99 You've aged a little since your last post! And at 69, I have also lost my old codger creds. I know what you mean about effective communication with different people. One of my adjunct responsibilities over the years was teaching technical courses. My son talks at about the same speed as the presenter in the Slant3D videos. It would be nice if my son had a speed control and replay capabilities like KZbin...

[@ytrichg99]

@@michaelj3971 While I lived in the Midwest during much of my working career, I interfaced with my NY brethren much of the time. Their pace was often hard to match. I moved to TX in 1980. The true Texans thought I was too fast! Little did they know. Ha Ha

[@dwang085]

Part

[@slant3d]

Snorkel

[@satchelsieniewicz5824]

naw still tragic fusion