Is this a functional thing then or needs to look nice aesthetically? For functional things- I love using heat set nuts and small bolts to marry pieces together. Plenty strong.

The design needs to hold water and my son was not keen on multiple pieces for fear of leakage.

Thanks for the idea of using heat set nuts. It doesn't work for this particular case, but may come in handy in future creations.

Your resin star post looks awesome, but just be aware that it's quite possible a ball strike will shatter it. Resin prints aren't nearly as strong as injection molded plastic, just dropping them can break them.

Hopefully they hold up great, just thinking if you ever want to take it to a show or something might be good to have backups on hand.

if you added joints with gaskets and clamped it properly it would probably be fine, but i get wanting to print as a single piece too

Thanks! Its surprisingly strong. I tried crushing it and hitting it with hammer, I think it will hold up just fine. If there is an issue I’ll make some a bit thicker.

I started messing with a design for a pop bumper cap for addams family last night too. Maybe in translucent black like my posts so it lights up a bit.

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Nice! I've heard too many stories about a drop breaking prints, glad to hear that.

Maybe put it in a vice, simulating it being mounted on a PF, and hit it w/a hammer (within reason) to mimic a ball strike? That might be more of a real-life test.

Just tossing that out there to help, not to hinder. Very nice print!

Also worst case, you can mix in some reinforcing resin. Lots of folks been enjoying 10-50% mix with Siraya Tech Tenacious

Your other option is to use the detailed resin print to make a silicone mold and then cast the part with a stronger material. Obviously overkill for one part, but if you decide you want to make a bunch and sell them at a show or whatever, it'll save time instead of doing a bunch of prints.

Like so:

I love Robert so much, we watch his videos all the time.

Damn I need to watch that.

First time looking at this thread, just want to say great stuff guys! Looking at getting my own printer now. Maybe I missed it but has anyone made a new ship for space shuttle?

Don't recall seeing one here, but check out thingiverse.com. Plenty of shuttles there you can mod.

On a side note, it there anyway we could get some key posts marked in here so it is easier to find the prints others have made available in this thread easier to find?

Sorry for the dumb question, I'm new to modern Stern and AIQ...Do you have any pictures of this installed?

My 3d prints for South Park around the Kenny area: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5373842

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Here's a coil cooler fan bracket. I tried the freely available model and wanted to improve on it (i.e. strengthened in the right places). After looking at the commercially available products, i wanted to make it easier to print (i.e no supports or side dependent). So, this is the result. Clean model that is optimized for printing. 2 pieces so you can print the same parts wether you have a L or R side flipper bracket. No supports required so print it fast as hell. 1 screw attachment to the playfield because the other screw is obscured by the fan but this model utilizes the 2nd screw for alignment only. Open to suggestions and criticism. If there is interest in a full BoM to print, assemble and install to a Stern i can post that as well.

Here's a video showing the assembly:

Here are the thingiverse files: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5377598

Godzilla Premium AIQ Premium Description Link
Bracket 4 3
Screw base 1 1 .stl file https://cdn.thingiverse.com/assets/71/3a/0e/d7/a0/screw_base_v111.stl
Fan holder 1 1 .stl file https://cdn.thingiverse.com/assets/b4/20/a6/9e/d4/Fan_holder_v10.stl
Screw 3 3 M3x25mm SHCS https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Details.aspx?product=6384
Nut 3 3 M3 https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Details.aspx?product=4773
Fan 1 1 40x40x20 fan amazon.com link »
Screw 1 0 #6x3/8”, for magnet bracket https://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Details.aspx?product=2344
Harness 1 1
Inline Fues holder 1 1 Use 1A fuse amazon.com link »
Diode 1 1 1N4007 https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=1N4007
2 cond wire AWG 22 amazon.com link »
Shrink tube 3/8” amazon.com link »
Shrink tube 3/16” amazon.com link »
Connector 1 1 2.54mm, locking ramp, polarized https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CP100-04-LR
Contact 2 2 2.54mm https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=08-52-0123
Locking key 1 1 2.54mm https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=15-04-9209

linked the wrong connector, use the 5 pos version instead: https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CP100-05-LR

Sorry, I didn't snap any pictures when I did it. Here is a picture of the stock metal one on a TMNT (stolen from the Mezel Mods install guide for their character select RGB ramp lights)

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This is brilliant.

On another topic, has anyone designed a centering bracket for pop bumper socket (WPC and Stern) ?

I'm interested

Are you using the integrated fan (which is rated at 5V) ?

Also, wouldn't it be better to use a model with the fan sitting on top, like this one:
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005002806098212.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.72ad378de2sgyd&mp=1&gatewayAdapt=glo2fra

Regards

Haven't got my 3D printer set up yet, so, new to this, and to the thread. But I was wondering if people have success printing scoop and kickout hole protectors. Cliffy's are great, but I'd love to print my own if it's a thing that can be done.

doubtful, cliffys are super thin (like 1/32"). thats like 2 layers using a standard .4mm nozzle

It's 6-7 layers if you use a high quality setting with 0.12mm layer height. I see some solutions for the Rush scoops being printed out of TPU so I don't think it's the craziest idea, but I've never used any myself.

See original post edit. Table didn't paste over too well but its all the parts/qty/links needed for Godzilla and AIQ Premiums

your bed better be REALLY flat if you go down to that layer thickness otherwise its not sticking that first layer where it dips low.

TPU has outstanding adhesion. With a PEI sheet first layer sticks too well. Also....auto bed leveling. It's good for what ails you.

I routinely print down 0.07mm layers with my Prusa Printers (on a 0.4mm nozzle). Using variable layer tools in your slicer is one of the keys to resolve detail. I usually set 0.2mm as a first layer height. The other key is geared extruder motors. These have finer resolution and control, IMHO.

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Good question, I tried this one but it was much more rigid than the side mounted fan version. With the side mounted version you have an amount of wiggle room to bend the heat sink to perfectly fit the specific coil thats in the machine. That being said, there are machines that this one fits perfect on (ie AFMR).

Just converted to PEI flex plate and holy crap did it up my first layer success rates dramatically. Such a clean/smooth first layer too

Cliffy uses .3mm stock. For the height, if you were 3D print on an FDM printer your first layer would be .2mm and then you could do 2 x .05mm layers (at least on my Prusa MK3s). For the width you would have to purchase a .2mm nozzle and do .4mm at a minimum for thickness. With these specs, assuming you could print the part, such a thin piece of plastic would be useless at protecting damage from a steel pinball.

There are a couple of axioms I have when it comes to 3D printing:
1) Just because you can design it, doesn't mean you can print it
2) Just because you can print it, doesn't mean it will be functional

I stumbled on a new technique (at least for me) for reducing support garbage removal and thought somebody else might find it interesting. I designed a power supply mount for Spike2 back box. I wanted to enclose the screw terminals of the PSU to give a little additional safety to accidental shorting of the live wall AC and the 12v output. The end result included basically a 5 sided hollow box that would require support for the "roof". This meant the supports would need to start on the "floor" of the box and would require a lot of removal of the bottom interface layers which tend to fuse to the model more than top interface layers. A separate design choice I made was to add a pattern of hexagon holes anyplace that I thought I could save material without compromising structural need. Screenshot 2022-05-06 100854_sm (resized).png

While playing around with PrusaSlicer's paint on support tool, I had an ah-ha moment. I targeted my support enforcers to the holes in the "floor". This meant that the vast majority of support tower's bottom interface were restricted to the build plate. The picture is looking up from the build plate. The blue is where support enforcement is painted on. By manipulating the support painting tool, the brush size can be made to easily paint inside the hex holes. One thing of note I found is that if I made the paint dots too close to the size of the hex holes, the support engine would spill support up and over and would still include a bottom interface layer on the floor of the print.
Screenshot 2022-05-06 094450 (resized).pngScreenshot 2022-05-06 094657 (resized).png

The only potential downside is your printer creating a clean first bridged infill layer that builds off of the support towers In my case, this wasn't a problem, but it will come down to material used, general printer bridging performance and the spacing of the holes. If the bridging goes fine, there is a secondary support removal benefit with less interface points to the roof. This picture is looking up at the underside of the box and shows the end of the support towers (green) and the first bridged infill interface layer (dark blue). Screenshot 2022-05-06 094921_sm (resized).png

End result of the mount. The Spike games and the SAM vault games use a metal backbox, so I needed to design the mount to work with any available factory mounting screws.
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Cool idea, I'll be adding this to my 3D design/print repertoire.

Anyone have an stl for a fester to sit in my chair?

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Fantastic work! I'm always finding new uses for Prusaslicer. Exclusion zones, variable layers, offsets, etc.

Isn't the Rush 'ninja' scoop 3D printed?

I am looking for a .stl for a .156 IDC punch tool - anybody have one? I found one on Thingiverse that said .157 but it was waaaay too small.

It wasn’t about 1/2.5 the correct size by any chance? I have loaded some STL files that were stored in inches while my slicer expected cm, so the model was about 40% size (might even be 4%). A quick scale by 2.54(25.4) usually fixes things right up.

Will a 3D print be strong enough for a punch down tool?

There is a .100 on Thingiverse. It may have also had the larger size. I printed one and it was sufficient for use a few times. I actually printed the tips and when they break (and they will) you have a spare.

Usable in a pinch though!

No, it must be for a different type of connector as I now see the shape is a little different than the IDC tool.

I just need to do 1 4-pin connector so it doesn't need to last long

If you could share it that would be awesome!

are you guys talking about making your own .100 board connectors? It seems like that would be a great idea, it might not make sense economically but I remember my Harlem Globetrotters had a 23 pin connector or something like that and I never could find the right size, I finally had to use two 12's butted up against each other.. being able to print one out, maybe even with a bit more heft to it would be awesome.

Should be something like this. The tool is sort of like an automatic center punch. Push down on it and at some defined setting it 'pops', pushing the wire into the contact correctly.
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Found this on Thingiverse. Made it for my friend who has Elvira.

Next step sand, prime and paint.

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This is pretty cool. I'd like to print a set for a friend who has a South Park and gets the ball stuck in this area pretty often. Probably broken plastics or something. I went and got the files and the base is coming in way undersized compared to the others. I could probably figure out the scale needed to make the base the correct size, but wanted to run this by you to see if you had any idea what happened. I got it a second time and it's the same size both times when I pull all 3 files into Cura.

SP_mountains (resized).JPG

Sorry about that, probably needs scaled up to 1,000%. I think I did the base on a different computer and CAD that may have been in cm instead of mm.

A newbie question. In talking to my local school which has a 3D printer, he recommended a resin printer rather than a filament. Looking at some web pages, The increased resolution looks impressive but some of the descriptions don’t sound promising (brittle, grows weaker in sunlight, not preferred for large models)

Do you guys use resin models for some purposes?

decorative vs functional. Resin tends to be more brittle if it gets in rough situations. There some special resin formulas that have high durability properties, but price is considerably higher per bottle. I'm about to experiment with that to have some of my models safer with airballs.

As far as weaker in sunlight, not sure where that might come from. Generally you finish a model with primer/paint/topcoat so it has some protective qualities from overexposure if its outdoors a lot. But then thats the other thing, how often does something you print in resin stay outside in use.

Now the large models...Think the "not preferred" part comes from it being more challenging to have a proper support system to print successfully. Thats the only downside I see printing big. I'm slowly printing this that'll be almost a couple of feet tall. Think the bigger challenge outside of successful supports is that build plates are considerably smaller compared to FDM printers in ratio to the cost of the equipment.

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